By Maya Liquigan and Sofía Oyarzún

August 2, 2024

Chicago’s Lollapalooza music festival continued into its second day on Friday, Aug. 2, with attendees packing the streets to get a taste of the diverse dining options this year. 

With over 50 featured restaurants at the festival’s eatery, Chow Town, many contribute a variety of cultures to the selection such as Latin, Indian, Mediterranean, Asian, soul and Italian cuisines.

Oscar Reyes from Maryland noticed more variety in food options compared to last year’s Lollapalooza, which takes place in Grant Park near Columbia’s campus.

“It’s very diverse, I would say,” he said. “There’s a lot of different options and now that they have vegan choices, it’s all so good.” 

Carnitas Don Alfredo, located in Melrose Park, opened their first of three restaurants in 2005. The family-run business brought traditional Mexican recipes to Lollapalooza for the third year, with their most famous dishes being their carnitas, quesadillas and steak

Hector Quintero, son to the owners, said their family recipes developed over time from his mother’s hometown, Michoacán, Mexico, to eventually become part of the family tradition for him and his younger siblings to learn.

“We all grew up in the kitchen,” he said. “Monday morning was waking up to grandma’s or my mom’s cooking. It’s a connecting thing to have.”

Being one of the 17 featured Latin restaurants at the festival, Quintero found it important to him and his family to share their recipes, passed down for two generations, with the festival attendees.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to display our pride in our carnitas, what we’re known for, at one of the biggest music festivals.”

History is also an influencing factor for Koko’s Bavarian German Texan cuisine, based on German history in central Texas. Operations Manager Michael Kramm said Co-founder and Prince of Bavaria, Germany Konstantin Prinz Von Bayern, also known as “Koko,” found Austin, Texas, to be the “perfect spot” to open their first location. 

Since then, the restaurant has opened locations around the country, and a spot at Chow Town for 10 years. With their classic dishes such as soft pretzels, schnitzels and sausages, Kramm described their food to have a German foundation with a “little Texas twist,” which they travel to Chicago every summer to sell at the festival.

“Chicago’s a perfect fit for our brand, our style of food, our work and our culture,” Kramm said. “It’s a perfect spot for us to showcase who we are in Texas; it’s a good match.”

Culture and history are key qualities of other restaurants at Chow Town, such as Chicago’s very first sushi bar, Kamehachi. Their first location opened in Old Town in 1967, which Jin Kim, head assistant, described to be a difficult start.

“In the first few years, the only people who knew what sushi was were visiting Japanese businessmen,” he said. “No one in the country, at the time, really understood it or ate raw fish.”

Kim said the restaurant started with a sushi-exclusive menu, and since has developed other festival-friendly items such as the poke bowls they sell at Lollapalooza. The made-to-order bowls allow a customizable meal for attendees, this year adding their plant-based poke bowls to the menu. 

Inspired by Lollapalooza’s partnership with “Re:wild,” Kamehachi replaced the common tuna and salmon with plant-based fish to add sustainable and vegan cuisine to Chow Town, also providing more options to the attendees.

Graham Roth from California was impressed with the vegan options at Lollapalooza. He said it was shocking that there was more variety in vegan options compared to the California music festival, Coachella. 

“I was shocked in a very positive way that there was a whole plant-based area that has only vegan options,” Roth said. “Also, as we were walking down the line, I was like ‘a bunch of these regular, non-plant-based vendors also have vegan options.’ As someone who is very used to having very few options, particularly in a festival setting, it’s been awesome.”

The diverse offerings allow Lollapalooza’s 400,000 anticipated attendees a culturally and diet-inclusive menu between enjoying their favorite artists.

Ashley Limdsey from Maryland said that the connection between food and culture is often overlooked, so seeing the festival cater to different cultures was exciting.

“We’re in the States, right? There are a lot of different cultures; we are a melting pot,” Limdsey said. “A lot of nationalities do come here. So, it’s only right that the festival itself has to reflect that… I think it’s good to have these types of foods.” 

El festival de música Lollapalooza continuó por segundo día con Chow Town, la sección del festival de comida. Los asistentes disfrutaron de la comida cultural de los restaurantes participantes mientras admiraban a sus artistas favoritos, como los principales del día SZA y Stray Kids. Los vendedores expresaron su agradecimiento por la oportunidad de compartir su comida e historia en el festival más grande de Chicago.