Health · Festival food safetyGrant Park Taste violations: 58 of 81 vendors cited at Chicago food festivalWritten November 4, 2026 at 9:33 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Taste of Chicago vendors discarded at least800 pounds of food held at unsafe0:11temperatures.0:12Inspectors logged more than160 health code violations at a festival serving0:17thousands.0:18Fewer than half the vendors met the city's application inspection requirement.0:23What failed before vendors arrived, and what did inspectors have to do once food0:28service began?0:29Fifty-eight of the festival's eighty-one vendors received at least one violation.0:34That's more than seventy percent of participants.0:37Ten vendors had five or more violations, and two had nine each.0:42Taste ran from July eight th through twelfth, twenty twenty-six, in Grant Park.0:47Its vendors served regional and international dishes to thousands of people over0:53five days.0:54The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, known as DCAA, produces0:59Taste.1:00The Illinois Restaurant Association manages its food operations during the festival.1:06Inspectors failed vendors whenever they found a violation.1:10They returned for repeat inspections, checked corrections, and ordered food1:15discarded.1:15Inspectors recorded eighty-two violations for holding food at incorrect1:20temperatures, plus seven involving faulty coolers and facilities.1:24Together, those problems accounted for more than half of all the festival's1:29violations.1:30A Herald's chicken food truck discarded about two hundred and ten pounds on the1:35first day after inspectors found precooked chicken at improper temperatures.1:39At least forty other vendors were cited for improper hot or cold holding.1:44Inspectors' disposal orders removed food from service as they found problems.1:50Inspectors also found overflowing garbage, backed up or slow draining sinks,1:56missing food safety licenses, and employees in tank tops.2:00Those findings ranged from drainage and clothing issues to unsafe food handling and2:05storage.2:06Only thirty-five vendors met the application inspection standard.2:10Businesses were supposed to submit certifications and a clean inspection of their2:15permanent restaurant or food truck.2:18That inspection had to fall within the six months before they applied.2:21Those thirty-five of eighty-one vendors supplied an inspection that met the city's2:26timing and pass requirements.2:29Every food vendor ultimately had a pass on file before taste, but some passes were2:34outdated and some were conditional.2:36A conditional pass means inspectors found violations they didn't consider an2:41immediate food safety hazard.2:43An older pass, or one obtained later, could still leave a business outside the2:49application rule.2:50Nine restaurants also failed inspections at their permanent locations between2:55applying and the festival's opening.2:57Ponce Restaurant applied on April twenty-first, then failed its restaurant3:02inspection on June twenty-fourth, but it passed a reinspection on July second.3:07Before Taste opened, that later inspection listed no pest or pest control issues.3:13The June inspection found about thirty-five mouse droppings in rear storage and3:18behind freezers and racks.3:20Inspectors also found open food packages without proper labels.3:25At Taste, Ponce failed three of four inspections on opening day, with improper3:30holding temperatures among the findings.3:32A few days later, temperature problems forced Ponce to discard at least ninety-five3:38pounds of pork, plantains, lettuce, and tomatoes.3:42The restaurant didn't respond to several requests for comment.3:45Yummy Halal's food truck failed an inspection on June16,22 days before3:51Taste.3:52Inspectors found about forty or more rat droppings on its floor.3:56Wastewater was also flowing from an exterior water tank onto a city street.4:01At Taste, Yummy Halal failed five inspections, including for improper food4:06temperatures.4:07And missing hair restraints.4:09Inspectors later shut it down for the day because it lacked a certified manager on4:13site.4:14The business didn't respond to requests for comment.4:16Josephine's Southern cooking applied with an outdated inspection, then passed4:21another before the festival.4:23At taste, inspectors cited it for washing dishes and preparing food on site, both4:28prohibited under the festival's rules.4:30On the last day, inspectors failed Josephine's booth after finding shrimp dumplings4:36being filled on a folding table behind its tent.4:39Beside the park's hedges, Uwe Smothered had a qualifying clean inspection about a4:44month and a half before applying.4:46The business, a spin-off of Chatham's Uwe, it is, still accumulated nine4:51violations across two festival days.4:54Its first failure included improper temperatures, and cooked chicken stored in a4:59container previously used for raw chicken.5:02Its certificate holder was also absent, then returned, and the food was discarded.5:07Later findings included on-site preparation, an overly warm mayonnaise-based sauce,5:13and a cooler that was too warm.5:15Inspectors cited green tomato chopping on day four.5:19Richard Little, manager of the Chatham Uwi, it is, says shared refrigeration failed5:25on the first day.5:26He described DCH provided cold storage trailers shared by seven to ten businesses.5:31He says the malfunction happened through no fault of the restaurant.5:35Little says he contacted DCASA about reimbursement, and never received compensation.5:41DCAS as an outside company supplied the trailers, and there were no reports of5:46malfunctioning trailers.5:47The disagreement hasn't been resolved.5:49Little also says one inspector allowed tomato chopping at the tent, while another5:54prohibited it hours later.5:57He described the time, money and resources businesses invest in taste.6:02He said he appreciated participating, wanted smoother inspections and refrigeration.6:07And supported discarding food when inspectors required it.6:10The mayor's office says the city continues to strengthen food safety inspections,6:14enforcement, and compliance.6:16It pointed to cooperation across agencies and preventive public messaging.6:21It hasn't explained how so many application inspections fell outside the stated6:26requirement.6:27Chicago has experienced a taste-related outbreak before.6:30In2007, Salmonella associated with hummus from Pars Cove Persian Cuisine sickened6:36more than300 people for the2026 festival.6:40The health department hasn't indicated signs of foodborne illness.6:44This year's inspections led to repeated corrections, at least eight hundred pounds6:49of discarded food, and Yummy Halal's day-long shutdown.6:52The city hasn't said how it will enforce the application standard at a future taste,6:58or what changes it will make to shared refrigeration and festival inspections.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
