Taste of Fulton Market 2023

by Anthony Losanno

Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

Taste of Fulton Market 5

I feel lucky to live surrounded by some of the best restaurants in Chicago. My neighborhood, the West Loop, has longtime favorites like Girl & the Goat as well as newcomers like Nisos Prime (full review here). Two blocks over, you’ll find Fulton Market, which is home to a slew of additional dining hotspots as well as the Time Out Market.

Taste of Fulton Market just celebrated its third year. This tasty and fun event raises money for the Illinois Restaurant Association’s Educational Fund and Chicago-based Recipe for Change while celebrating the many restaurants the Fulton Market Dining District. We have been to this event before and came ready to eat.

Twenty restaurants filled the three floors of Morgan’s on Fulton with a DJ and bars found on the upper-level rooftop. While we couldn’t sample every dish, we did our best to try as many as possible.

Taste of Fulton Market 1

As we entered, we grabbed a Marketini (made with tequila, Cappellatti Aperativo, pineapple, rhubarb, honey, and lemon) from the bar.

Taste of Fulton Market 2

There were three restaurants offering dishes on the ground floor. My first bite was the Stuffed Piquillo Pepper with chicken tinga, Chihuahua cheese, pineapple, and cilantro from Marvin’s Food & Fuel. This was a lot of flavors, but they worked well together.

Taste of Fulton Market 3

Next, I tried the Picanha Pinxo (which is a grilled beef skewer with a peanut chimichurri) and the Passionfruit Bunuelo (crispy sweet tortillas, mixed berries, and mango sorbet) from Tabu. I loved the peanut sauce and the sweet bite was tasty.

Taste of Fulton Market 4

Kuma’s Corner, which is known for its delicious burgers, was serving several types of tortilla bites. I sampled both of the meat options (there was also two veggie choices). The Buffalo Chicken Bites has blue cheese and cream cheese. The Jalapeño Popper Bites were filled with chorizo, cream cheese, and cumin-raspberry jam.

Taste of Fulton Market 6

We climbed the stairs to the second floor and found lots of choices.

Taste of Fulton Market 7

 

Taste of Fulton Market 8

Tacombi was offering Carne Asada Tacos (made with chopped sirloin, caramelized onion, chiles, toreados, cilantro, and an avocado tomatillo salsa) and Corn Esquites (with Cotija cheese, Morita mayo, chile powder, and lime). I loved the heat of the corn and the lime added a nice freshness.

Taste of Fulton Market 9

Pastorelli Pizza Sauce was serving Mozzarella Sticks.

Taste of Fulton Market 10

 

Taste of Fulton Market 11

I then skipped to dessert and it was amazing. JoJo’s ShakeBAR was serving two types of milkshakes. I went with the Chocolate Nirvana. It was Oreo flavored and topped with a double chocolate donut hole, a double chocolate marshmallow, and a chocolate chip cookie. My husband had The Girl Scout. It was Andes Mint Chocolate ice cream with toasted marshmallow, a chocolate-covered pretzel, a chocolate s’more, and a double chocolate cookie. These milk shakes were huge and filling.

Taste of Fulton Market 12

Taste of Fulton Market 13

Back to savory, we next tasted Pollo Asado Taco (chicken, red onion, cilantro, and avocado salsa) from Bodega Taqueria y Tequila. We frequently order food from this restaurant and highly recommend its quesadillas.

Taste of Fulton Market 14

 

Taste of Fulton Market 15

Next, we had the Tortilla Española (eggs, confit potatoes, and Spanish onions) and Escalivada (roasted eggplant, red peppers, onion, labne yogurt, fresh herbs, and olive oil) from Boqueria. Both were quite good.

Taste of Fulton Market 15

We then climbed up to the third floor rooftop.

Taste of Fulton Market 16

Once on the top floor, we first tried the Wild Greens Pie from Avli. The phyllo was crispy and the eggplant puree was delicious.

Taste of Fulton Market 17

Fora was the next stop for a Fried Chicken Sandwich (with roasted chili BBQ sauce, pickled Jalapeño, cabbage, and peanut) and Steak Tartare (with a lime vinaigrette, salsa seca, and magic pasta). The chicken was light and crispy and I’m always a fan of steak tartare.

Taste of Fulton Market 18

Nearby, Bandit was serving Nashville Chicken Tenders (on a scallion pancake with pickle slaw and avocado ranch). This was a playful take on chicken and waffles with a pancake subbed for the waffles. This was served with a vodka-based cocktail named the Samantha. My husband probably drank nine of these. We go to Bandit regularly as it’s near our place and always consistently good.

Taste of Fulton Market 19

Bar Siena served Burrata Bites (with apricot mostarda and basil oil on a crostini) as well as Beef Tartare (mixed with egg yolk, capers, shallots, chives, and dijonaise on a crostini). Both bites were great and what I expect from the restaurant (another favorite in the neighborhood).

Taste of Fulton Market 20

We were filling up, but made room for the Serrano Wrapped Dates (made with Serrano ham, spiced nuts, goat cheese, and preserved lemon aioli) from Carnivale. This restaurant is a great place for a fun dinner. The decor is playful and the space is huge.

Taste of Fulton Market 21

 

Taste of Fulton Market 22

HIDE + SEEK opened recently a few blocks away. They were serving three dishes and I ended the evening enjoying them all. Burratta (was served with grilled apricot and cermoula on sourdough), Braised Short Rib (came on a potato cloud with pickeled watermelon and cipollini onions), and Ravioli (filled with lemon ricotta and served with baby squash and pine nut butter). The food impressed me, overall (the short rib was a bit salty) and we’ll need to dine here soon.

Taste of Fulton Market 22

Other than cocktails served by individual restaurants, all three levels had bars serving a variety of spirits, wine, beer., and hard seltzer.

Taste of Fulton Market 25

There is limited seating and I advise snagging a table early if you want to sit.

Taste of Fulton Market 23

 

Taste of Fulton Market 24

I always love the views down Fulton Market from this venue.

Taste of Fulton Market 26

The sunset and we were stuffed, so we walked the few blocks home.

Anthony’s Take: This a great event and one that I will definitely be returning to in the future. Great eats and drinks for a good cause will always get me to buy a ticket and come and stuff my face. I look forward to next year’s Taste of Fulton Market.

Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

Leave a Comment

Related Articles