Lollapalooza: What to eat at Chow Town, Dessert Island

Fueling up during Lollapalooza is vital to keeping energy high during the four-day festival, which kicks off Thursday. Over the years, the fest’s Chow Town — the vast strip of food and drink vendors along Columbus Drive — has expanded to include options for a wide range of dietary needs, catering to vegans, omnivores, sweet tooth cravings and everyone in between.

This year’s offerings include the debut of Dessert Island, an expanded space carved out specifically for 19 vendors with sweet treats. There, you’ll find doughnuts, snow cones, churros and one of Chicago’s most iconic ice cream shops, the Original Rainbow Cone, located along Van Buren Street near the Bacardi Stage.

In fact, lots of Chicago food staples will be present, including some venerated South Side spots such as Mabe’s Sandwich Shop, Josephine’s Southern Cooking and BJ’s Market. Other Windy City staples such as Harold’s Chicken (with lashings of mild sauce, naturally), Cafe Tola and Fatso’s Last Stand are also making appearances.

Harold’s Chicken will serve its signature chicken as tenders with fries ($14) or a five-piece meal of wings with fries ($12). You can also get a classic taste of Chicago at Billy Goat Tavern, where the original Cheezborger ($8) is on the menu alongside a rib-eye steak sandwich ($12) and a classic Polish sausage ($7).

Café Tola’s wildly popular empanadas ($9) will be stuffed with poblano pepper, potato and cheese for a meatfree option, or get the spicy pork with black beans and cactus; lechon; or vegan coconut curry with Impossible Meat.

Tacotlan — where all menu items are gluten-free — will serve up the ever-trendy quesabirria tacos (3 for $21), along with carne asada-topped fries heaped with melted cheese, avocado, jalapeños and queso fresco ($25).

Humboldt Park’s Ponce Restaurant will serve up another classic Chicago favorite — jibaritos sandwiches with steak, pork or veggies ($18) — along with a dish called Puerto Rico in a Cup ($25) featuring mofongo, pork, rice and a chicken kabob with a guava barbecue sauce.

Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free friendly food should be easy to find, with each marked by a colored dot with V, VGT and GF, respectively.

Among the most intriguing meatfree options are Kamehachi’s vegan tofu rice bowl or vegetarian potsticker rice bowl (both $14); Cheesie’s OG and Mac grilled cheese sandwiches; Tandoor Char House’s veggie naan burrito ($14); a vegan Philly cheesesteak from Mabe’s ($10) and a full line of vegan items, from meatfree al pastor tacos ($5) to a cucumber ceviche tostada ($9), at Healthy Substance.

For halal food, Shawarma Point offers a classic chicken shawarma as a wrap or platter ($15), juicy beef and lamb gyro ($15) or fresh falafel ($15). Tandoor Char House, which specializes in Indian-Pakistani fusion, also serves halal options. Among its fest fare are tikka masala tacos ($6), vegetarian samosa ($4) and chaat fries ($7) .

Looking to cool off? Sip on a mangonada from Esperanza ($12), an assortment of agua fresca from Aguas Laguneras ($9) ranging in mango piña, jamaica fresca and green apple lemonade, and Southern-style frozen pudding from Lorenzo’s.

Lollapalooza is also making it easier for fans to find their favorite bites after the festival concludes, with signs detailing in which neighborhood or suburb each vendor is located.

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sahmad@chicagotribune.com

Originally Published: Aug 03, 2023 at 1:50 pm