Taste of Melrose Park

Taste of Melrose Park, September 1-3, 2017

Taste of Melrose Park starts today. Vendors are mostly local households who make their family favorite foods and present them to their neighbors once a year. We're talking Louis Ariola's Artichoke Salad, Cervone's Homemade Cannoli, and Mama D's Braciole. Plus nuns make sfingi. Everything $3 or less.

Somewhat disturbingly, it looks like Sicilianos are making mac n ' cheese this year rather than fried bologna sandwiches. I weep.

More information here: http://www.melrosepark.org/36th-annual- ... ember-1-3/

David Hammond wrote:Somewhat disturbingly, it looks like Sicilianos are making mac n ' cheese this year rather than fried bologna sandwiches. I weep.

Between that, and the disappearance of the monkey, I'm afraid the apocalypse is nigh.

It's true. Fried bologna is taking a year off, and we are serving mac n' cheese this year. Easier to do some of the prep work at home, and less at the booth. My health has been hit or miss over the past few years and I have had to miss time, so it is easier for my family this way in some aspects.

However, we also do this for the fun of it and we don't have a restaurant. So, after a decade of bologna, we also just wanted to mix it up a bit. I would like to think my family does more than one thing well. We shall see. Either way, we are fortunate to have no rain in the forecast and the sfingi will still be here.

If it helps at all, we already put down deposit for next year as fried bologna again. No promises on the monkey.

3 hours and counting! This is one of the very best festivals in Chicago.

Wish you guys would stop bringing up the monkey. It's a rather sore topic. I still have his picture in my office and fond memories of the night we met, me holding him, he frantically, furiously digging into my pockets for food or more drugs. We had an understanding. Every year I go back to ToMP, hoping to see my monkey there, but apparently it is not to be (Peggy DiFazio, event organizer, told me that they had to discontinue that attraction as he was freaking out the kids. Snowflakes!). Sniff.

David Hammond wrote:Wish you guys would stop bringing up the monkey. It's a rather sore topic. I still have his picture in my office and fond memories of the night we met, me holding him, he frantically, furiously digging into my pockets for food or more drugs. We had an understanding. Every year I go back to ToMP, hoping to see my monkey there, but apparently it is not to be (Peggy DiFazio, event organizer, told me that they had to discontinue that attraction as he was freaking out the kids. Snowflakes!). Sniff.

I haven't shaved in a couple days, I can go rifling through your pockets if it will help.

Oh Man! Thanks for the heads-up!

The artichoke casserole was the best I've had in years; a new brand of artichoke is being used.

The winner for me of the entire place was the ceviche, clean bright flavor and a mix of the red and green salsas were just right.

We weren't able to make it over to the ToMP, but were close enough on a rooftop in Forest Park to see the tops of the fireworks on Sunday evening. Very cool.

Just a note for new members, the Taste of Melrose Park is coming up this Labor Day weekend (August 31-September 2, 2018). For us older posters, it is in our calendars, but new members might want to know that it is considered the food festival of the year: monkey, fried bologna, and all.

I've been before- and was- extremely-
underwhelmed.
Everything was overpriced-teeny-potioned-Low-value,
meek-&-mildly-bland-Red-Sauce, with, the "Sauusseege"-
no where near as good as
say-Freddy's in Cicero, and in fact I'd add-
every-single-thing-served-at-Freddy's,
blows the "Taste"? of Melrose Park outta The Parking-Lot.


Why-Bother?

For some folks them's goin' be fightin' words.

But that's why it's called Taste of Melrose Park; it's a matter of taste.

Taste of Melrose Park is this weekend: Friday August 30, Saturday August 31, Sunday September 1.

This is the food festival beloved by many (tho' not all) LTHers.

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With a heavy heart we regret to inform you, like many events across the world, the 2020 Taste of Melrose Park has been cancelled.

While we hope that by Labor Day weekend we’ll be speaking of COVID-19 in past-tense, that is not a certainty, and continuing with our festival is not a chance The Village of Melrose Park is willing to take. The priority right now is health and safety.

Please abide by local, state and federal guidelines for the remainder of this outbreak. We don’t like being cooped up any more than you do, but it saves lives.

The Taste of Melrose Park will be back and better than ever in 2021!!! We love and look forward to seeing each and every one of you next year!!!

It is frightening that events in September are being cancelled (especially ones as beloved as ToMP). Let us hope that the LTH Picnic won't be the next victim, although I suppose that we could have a virtual picnic, but somehow it wouldn't be the same!

I imagine that ToMP is an important fundraiser for the village, for churches that have booths, and for a lot of local food providers. A lot of people will take an economic hit. It seems early to decide, but, I assume, planning needs to start early.

I'm sure that events in September that are cancelled today are events that require a lot of early planning. People do not want to go through all the planning and then have to cancel.

lougord99 wrote:I'm sure that events in September that are cancelled today are events that require a lot of early planning. People do not want to go through all the planning and then have to cancel.

Or find they have to give up money to non-refundable deposits.

Illinois State Fair sent a press release advising they will be open for business. At this point: seeing is believing.

Regards,
Cathy2