Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― It may be dreary outside, but this promises to be one red hot weekend in Chicago. Friday kicked off part two of the Crosstown Classic, with the White Sox looking for some home-cooked revenge after being swept by the Cubs at Wrigley Field last week.

On Sunday, the North Side will be hopping with the annual Pride Parade stepping off at Halsted and Belmont.

And all weekend, thousands of Chicagoans and tourists will be flocking to Grant Park for the Taste of Chicago.

The grills were fired up and sizzling, the exotic aromas were wafting through the air, and a global survey of music is playing as the Taste of Chicago kicks off.

Even veterans of the Taste of Chicago will have some new options this year. Nine new restaurants are setting up, including Mexican café Adobo Grill (2025 W. Division St.), boutique candy store Canady Le Chocolatier (824 S. Wabash Ave.), breakfast favorite Hashbrowns (731 W. Maxwell St.), Las Tablas (2942 N. Lincoln Ave.), popcorn shop Now We're Poppin' (151 N. Michigan Ave.), healthy soul food restaurant Soul Vegetarian East (205 E. 75th St.), Pan Asian restaurant Tamarind (614 S. Wabash Ave.), morning-time diner The Breakfast Club (1381 W. Hubbard St.), and Asian bun shop Wow Bao (175 W. Jackson Blvd.)

The Taste is known for its ribs, ice cream and all things fried, but this year more and more healthy choices are on the menu. All of the restaurants were encouraged this year to have at least one healthy item on their menus.

At Arya Bhavan, it's all vegetarian all the time and they expected to sell 30,000 helpings of their vegetable-based stew.

But it wasn't just exotic food purveyors emphasizing health. Connie's Pizza offered a new take on an old Chicago favorite: whole grain crust pizza.

Karen Johnson of North Carolina said she bought it "it's organic and I've eaten like a pig today so I'm trying to eat something that's not so bad for me."

At Polo Café and Catering, shark from Ecuador was on the menu and there will be no deep frying there. Chef Dave Samber said, "It's thresher shark and we're doing it, instead of grilling it or frying it, we're baking it."

But youngsters tasting their first shark didn't seem to miss the deep fryer. "It's really interesting and it's not fishy either … it's good."

But the newfound emphasis on healthy wasn't without its challenges. Jack and Jimmy Mangan had just devoured Chicago-style hot dogs when we caught up with them, but Jack said he was ready to broaden his culinary horizons. "I'll try something different too … maybe pizza." He didn't say anything about that pizza having whole grain crust.

But the annual favorites are still easy to find, including the standard beef sandwich and ice cream.

"It's a Chicago dish, the beef sandwich," said Claudio Ulidieri of Tuscany Restaurant. "You walk and eat a sandwich – grab and eat and go."

"You can't leave Chicago without it. It's all about Rainbow Cone," said Dan Springer of original Rainbow Cone.

Also this year is a new way to meet people. Instead of saying, "I'm near the pizza tent," when you could mean one of any number of pizza tents, you can look up at the numbers above the banners on the light poles and know exactly where you are.

The Taste of Chicago has also been getting more and more kid friendly every year and this year is no exception.

From the Ferris wheel to the merry-go-round to the jumping jack there's something for everyone in the Family Village at the Taste.

Family Funtime stage manager Stephenie Moser said, "What isn't there to do at the Family Village this year? We've added several rides that are new. We've added a train."

Kids seemed to be enjoying the miniature train Friday afternoon, although one young rider wanted to put a bit more loco in the locomotive.

Ely DuPont of North Carolina said, "I wanted it to go way fast."

But if speed isn't your little one's thing, there are plenty of other activities; children can make masks or in some cases hats, although not all young creators were ready to show off their inaugural products on Friday.

The fun-time stage also has plenty of free entertainment, including a performance Friday by the St. Ailbe Children's Choir, sounding incredibly cool on a very hot first day of the Taste.

Of course, there are plenty of tasty treats too. Jalen Hill tried a cool Colombian-style fruit cup, a taste of South America that was winning new fans in Chicago.

"I guess that's why they call it the Taste," Jalen said.

Rain started falling early Friday evening, but it didn't put a damper on the festivities.

While the Taste of Chicago was usually held in conjunction with the Country Music Festival, this year it has its own musical offerings, including Chaka Khan and Angie Stone on Friday evening, Stevie Wonder on Saturday evening, and the Plain White T's and Josh Kelley on Sunday evening.

And of course, the Macy's Independence Eve Fireworks Extravaganza comes on July 3, and there are also fireworks July 4.

CBS 2's Joanie Lum and Mike Puccinelli contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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