By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
Once again, people of Park Ridge flocked the stretch of Summit Avenue between the Park Ridge Public Library and the Uptown Metra station to taste what restaurants from the city and other nearby suburbs had to offer.
The Taste of Park Ridge has been around since 2000. This year, it took place July 14-16 and saw the return of many long-time favorites, as well as several new vendors. Throughout the three days, the festival was well attended. Even a rainstorm Friday afternoon couldn’t keep everyone away, as some festivalgoers still came to eat and listen to music.
In 1998, Park Ridge businessman Dean Patras joined together with other Uptown restaurant owners to launch the Taste of Uptown. The event was small enough to fit behind the Pickwick Theater, but its popularity grew.
In 2000, Patras began working with former Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Harry O’Brien and Dave Iglow, owner of Pine’s Menswear, to enhance the annual sidewalk sale with a Taste-type event and on a larger scale. While it took a few more years for the festival to take on its current form, it was popular with residents from the get-go.
This year’s Taste marked the first time the event was held without Patras, who passed away from cancer June 23 at the age of 68. The festival also happened as much of Park Ridge was still wrapped in purple banners that paid tribute to Kate Babich, a 7-year-old Park Ridge girl who died suddenly June 27 during a summer cheerleading camp at Maine South High School.
While the Taste of Park Ridge is primarily designed to showcase the city restaurants, a number of vendors were from other nearby municipalities, including Rex Italian Foods, of Norridge, and Niles’ Himalayan Restaurant.
This year saw a number of returning favorites. Park Ridge’s Affresco Pizzeria has been part of the Taste for the past 10 years. Nikki Eberwein, the restaurant’s general manager, said the fest has been pretty profitable. Even with the Friday rain, she didn’t expect this year to be any different.
“It’s always good [for business],” she said. “We never had a bad year.”
The Taste also had a number of new vendors in 2016. One of them was Cafe Orchid, which serves Turkish and Mediterranean food.
Owner Iho Batnasan told the Bugle that she decided to take part in the Taste for a simple reason – customer demand.
“We have two locations – one in Chicago and one in Park Ridge,” she explained. “Our [Park Ridge] customers were asked if we were participating. That’s why we decided to take part.”
Real Time Sports, an Elk Grove Village sports bar, is another new entry. Owner Ben Cirrincione said he simply took advantage of an opportunity.
“The sushi guy dropped out, so [the Taste organizers] asked us to come in,” he said.
The “Sushi guy” in question was Maki Sushi, an Uptown Park Ridge restaurant that has been a regular presence at the fest for a number of years. The change occurred relatively late in the game, as this year’s brochure still listed Maki Sushi as a vendor.
Des Plaines-based B’s Sweet Bites bakery and coffee shop was in an unusual position. It first took part in the Taste last year, when it had only one location.
“I wanted to get our business out there,” said owner Bianca Vallone. “We were trying to get more people to see what we can do.”
Since then, it opened a second location inside the Uptown Park Ridge Metra station. While this gave B’s Sweet Bites more exposure to the city residents, Vallone said it drew fewer customers this year.
Entertainment has long been part of the Taste. State 56, a band made up of four area teens, performed Friday afternoon. Even as the rain ramped up, the band attracted a decent crowd, and many people in the audience wore State 56 T-shirts.
Vocalist Dan Tinagla said the band has been around for two years. He and guitarist Gus Ebling said they weren’t sure if the Taste was the biggest venue they have performed, but it was certainly one of the best.
“It was a bit different, because of the rain and all, but I thought it was fun,” said Ebling.