LAKEVIEW — Four straight blocks of taco vendors is the stuff dreams are made of, but for the fifth year running, the Sam Adams Lakeview Taco Fest is bringing that dream to life.
Taco Fest takes place from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on Southport Avenue between Addison and Roscoe streets.
The annual festival will feature food from 13 vendors, at least a dozen of Sam Adams' seasonal beers on tap at event tents, a kids' activity area with art, inflatables and more, arts and crafts, lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) at 5 p.m. both days and live music on two stages — including mariachi bands.
All this can be yours for a suggested $10 donation benefiting Friends of Lakeview and the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce.
New restaurants represented at Taco Fest this year include Dona Tola, 3751 N. Southport Ave., Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave. and Tuco and Blondie, 3358 N. Southport Ave. Old favorites like Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., Cafe Tola, 3612 N. Southport Ave., and more will be returning.
Attendees will be able to vote via text for what they believe is the best taco of Taco Fest, so if you want to be an informed voter, you should probably sample them all.
The tacos are just the beginning at Taco Fest. One of the most popular aspects of the event will take place again this year: lucha libre or Mexican wrestling. The spectacle will begin at 5 p.m. both days at the corner of Southport and Cornelia avenues.
There will also be live music on two stages beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday, including performances by mariachi bands, jazz funk/soul group Rico and the Funk Crusaders, boy band tribute band Boy Band Review and other popular Chicago tribute bands 16 Candles (pop/rock), 97 Nine (rock), Wedding Banned (pop/rock) and Too White Crew (hip-hop).
If you really want to enjoy Taco Fest this weekend, you'll want to avoid getting ticketed or towed. The following streets will be closed, and there will be no parking allowed from 12:30 a.m. Saturday through 4 a.m. Monday:
• North Southport Avenue from 3400 to 3600
• West Eddy Street from 1343 to 1395
• West Cornelia Avenue from 1343 to 1417
• West Newport Avenue from 1343 to 1397
A full lineup of food vendors, events and activities can be found on the event's website.
