I love the continued tradition of having a suburban location for the Christkindlmarket. River's…read moreEdge is a great location to host as the area is easy to navigate. The close Aurora Transportation Lot is $10 to park at but there are City of Aurora Lots that are free! We parked in Lot X and with a short walk over the bridge, we were at the market. They had security around these lots as well knowing this time of year on the weekends is prime market time. The market itself is more spaced out than the city so one can actually look at the vendor houses with ease. They have the same larger tents for food and drink, ornaments, candy, etc. They play holiday music over the speakers and have a couple of photo moments when visiting. The market is free to get into and wasn't very crowded at all when I visited. The city location definitely has a more festive atmosphere but if you're looking to get the experience with ease of parking and crowds, definitely come out to Aurora!

Comparing this to the market downtown, it was much better! The space is larger and overall felt…read moreless crowded. I did go the Friday after Thanksgiving so maybe it wasn't as busy as a weekend day. But if you live in the suburbs, this is the location to go to! It has everything the downtown location has and more. Parking is $10 across the street but can get busy so I recommend coming early. I mainly go to the market for the food. This year I got the ever famous raclette sandwich and it was worth the hype. It was a steep $20 but well worth it. You can watch how they make the sandwich in front of you. The cheese is gooey and warm, going perfectly with the soft bread and cured meat. I got everything on the sandwich including dijon mustard and pickles, which helped balance out the richness with acidity. Other notable items we got were the stroopwaffel, German bratwurst, jalapeño cheese stuffed pretzel, and hot chocolate. Everything we got tasted amazing. I love the variety of German foods that you can't find easily otherwise. There is also a lot of other vendors selling clothing, ornaments, food items, etc. There was even a glass blowing ornament tent which was super unique and only $50. Highly recommending checking out this market earlier in the season before it gets too cold!

Lots of vendors and the show pieces are really beautiful. I also had to skid a few times as there…read morewere just so many stuff I want to get. Wish there was no entrance fee as I would like to keep coming back and browse more.

Great market! Tons of vendors and unique finds! Food and drinks available for purchase. Awesome…read morebuilding. Parking is not an issue! So glad I made the trip even being solo.

My daughter told me about this place that's down the street from her apartment. In my mind, I…read moreenvisioned it as a typical mall type food court. I couldn't have been more wrong! So many unique food options - Korean, Italian, Cuban, Hawaiian, a bakery, a produce market, and a mini mart. I chose Firenze based on my daughter's recommendation, and it was delicious. I will definitely be visiting again. Great lunch option, and I'm sure it gets plenty of foot traffic around the train schedules.

The market itself is on the smaller side, but it's a cool concept with a mix of local vendors and…read moredifferent cuisines all together. It has that casual food hall feel and is easy to walk through quickly. I stopped by a Turkish dessert spot (Vertige) and the service stood out right away. The server was super friendly and offered samples of everything, which I loved. The caramel tres leches was really good, definitely the highlight. I also tried the beef börek, which was just okay. I wish it had more filling and was a bit crispier. Overall, a nice spot to explore if you want to try a variety of foods in one place.

Coming from Boston, I had heard the news that Time Out Market is closing its doors (in both…read morelocations!) in the next week, and I was looking forward to seeing what the Chicago food hall looked like. I was surprised to see that the website does allow reservations for large groups, so we booked through Resy a few days before coming. When we arrived at Fulton Market, it took a few tries but we happily found street parking. It was a little bit overwhelming when we first walked in. It feels "bigger" than the original food hall in Lisboa or the one in Boston - not necessarily in square footage, but primarily in energy. It was very busy and especially loud, and there was a DJ booth in the corner that felt closer to a club than a restaurant. I'm guessing part of this might be because it was a Friday night, but curious if it's been busier than normal since the announcement of the market's impending closure. The "reservation" system felt nominal at best, as there weren't any tables set up when we got there - by the time I was able to flag down staff for the food hall, it would have taken quite a while for them to find seats and move them together. In the end we were able to find a corner that worked out pretty well. Similar to the Boston location, you can order online. It didn't feel prominently advertised, as the food stalls themselves all had long lines and were pretty understaffed. In addition, after ordering online, there was no notification that the order was ready for pick-up (for several of the stalls). And while TOM is in a pretty central part of Chicago, the food felt spectacularly expensive for what you were getting. Pretty much everything was over $20 (before tax + tip) for an okay amount of food. On top of that, in our large 15+ person group, the vast majority of us felt that the food was definitively below average quality. Mine in particular was Bill Kim Ramen Bowl's tofu rice bowl. It was a depressing mix of unseasoned tofu cubes, dry arugula, kimchi, plain white rice with no sauce, a handful of pickled veggies, and a half-avocado that wasn't even sliced. It tasted about how it looks. None of that surprises me, but it felt like a far cry from the Lisboa concept, where I was a repeat customer for the high-quality food by distinguished chefs at extremely affordable prices. I'm glad I went, but won't be especially sad to see it go.

It was great! Been to their location in Barcelona, New York, and Boston. Love the local food…read moreoptions they have. Tried the dumplings and cupcakes. Both were delicious! The ambiance is nice per usual. Highly recommend!

The coffee here is excellent. We also had the empanadas served with chimchurri sauce. Very good tooread more

Came here over the holidays and it had some simple, cute decor. I was surprised by how empty the…read moreplace was since there's a nice variety of options here. Tried 2 places here: 1 was really good and 1 was not good at all. Multiple stands were closed early for the day, but it could be cuz of the holidays. Not the best food hall I've been to, but also not the worst

Really good farmers market! Unique vendors, large market, tons of lunch and breakfast options while…read moreyou are there! Lunch offerings: Grilled cheese, avocado toast, smoothies, salads, burgers, empanadas, fluffy loaded pancakes. Tons of fruit and veggie vendors. You should be able to get all your fruits and veggies here! Microgreens. Meat and seafood vendors. Cheese. Bread. Tons of sweet vendors. Hummus. Salsa. Popcorn/pretzels. Only critique is some of the prices are ridiculous.

Came back today to see what farmers markets in the time of Covid-19 would be like. Answer: no…read morelingering, wear your mask (though some of the vendors didn't have them on! I just passed them by...), get your goods and go. The "rules" say people weren't going to make change but some did. Some were only taking credit cards. Just be prepared. A wide array of goods was available: baked goods, produce, nuts, cheese, pickles, eggs, flowers, and so forth. A nice wander on a sunny morning!

This market is on the smaller size but there is lots of variety and not many repeating offerings. I…read morewas there for the first day of the season. They had lots of flowers, herbs, tomatoes, bread, desserts, and cheese to name a few. I hope to come back in the summer to see if they have more fruit options. All the stands accept credit They don't allow dogs btw which makes sense.

Removing 2 stars because today JUDY who is head of organizing this particular farmers market in…read moreStreeterville approached me and my service dog not just once but TWICE when my poor pyrenees puppy was doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! She had all her assistants harass not just me but other women who had their service animals with them. She Finally crossed a line when she grabbed me by my shoulder with an air of Authority to insist I keep my poor submissive dog on a tighter lead. I've been shopping here regularly and Judy intentionally harasses anyone with a dog ruining their shopping experience. I've asked the farmers here on numerous occasions if dogs are not allowed and why Judy holds so much aggression and contention for dog owners and they all told me they love dogs and they have NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER if a dog attends this market. My dog doesn't bark, never has "accidents " here, doesn't do anything destructive and if anything he tends to hide from strangers here who try to pet him. I'm allowed to have a dog here and Judy who runs Soar's makes everyone with a dog absolutely miserable. If you want to see a change perhaps write a truthful review of how you were treated while bringing your service dog here to this particular location! Soars is a 5 star experience but I'm deducting the two extra stars because I don't like complete strangers grabbing me by the shoulder especially now with monkeypox going rampant here! The flowers, fruits, vegetables, iced coffee and breads are wonderful here. If Judy is allowed to harass and grab us at will I'm not sure i feel safe here. I feel so sorry for my new puppy . Judy absolutely spoiled our shopping experience and she needs to keep her hands to herself

Fun outing for a warm Friday night! The venue offers music, drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic),…read morefood trucks and food stalls selling BBQ, roasted corn, candied nuts, tacos, wood fired pizza, crepes, Thai food, churros, ice cream, coffee, burgers, bao and more! Something for everyone. On top of all that there are stalls from local farmers and sellers of flowers, honey, jewelry, baked goods, clothing, and plenty of other goodies, as well as local businesses and groups with games and information about their services. It's not a huge venue so on packed days parking may take you a few blocks away but it is a nice walk. Also sometimes seating can be tricky to find if you need to sit to eat, so if you do and you see a spot, don't let it pass you by! There is even a water feature the kiddos play in which was pretty cute to watch. Overall a fun way to spend a few hours on Fridays, getting a wide variety of food and drinks and listening to local musicians. Definitely worth a stop if you happen to be in the area on a Friday night in the warmer months.

Rockford City Market is a fun twist on a Farmer's Market that is in Downtown Rockford on Water…read moreStreet between State and Market. There are people selling homemade crafts, produce, meats and cheeses, beer (yes, beer! Carlyle's brewing company has a table there and some local distributor as well), food and entertainment! From what I gathered, the booths change through out the season; some are only there for certain days while others for the entire show. That can be good or bad. If you find a place you like they may not be there the next week, but there may be something you like more! Plus the entertainment changes every week. This week while there we bought beer, a necklace and earrings for my wife, candied nuts, beer, peaches, pet odor eliminate candles, beer, sweet corn, Bleu cheese, a 5 gallon bucket, beer (not a 5 gallon bucket of beer!) some food and just had a good time. We even were able to take our son over to the permanent cooling off fountain the city has where he and the other kids can play in it while the parents watched. It was a good time. We killed 2 hours here just hanging out. Parking is a little difficult. There is a lot of public parking, but it was full by the time we arrived and ended up having to park in the public lot over by the Metro Center. This isn't a bad walk, nice scenic view crossing the State Street bridge over the mighty Rock River. If you go, bring cash. Some places might take cards or checks, but it seemed mostly to be a cash only arrangement.

A French market in Wrigley? Really? Well yes. Now this was their premier night, 5 to 8 on…read more Thursday, and continuing on every Thursday until September. Because it's in Gallagher Way, it's clean and safe since every bag is checked and of course they have security. They could use more vendor stands. Check the website for their line up. That's beside the point for me, it's simply hanging out in Wrigley on this perfect summer evening in the city. I can't convey quite how cool this whole experience was. It's like living the life of a glossy magazine ad only this is real! The band tonight Bowmanville(Gypsy Jazz style) was absolutely awesome!! A shout-out to the harmonica player. They perform every Friday 5 to 8:30 at Andy's Jazz club - highly recommended!!! I'm told entertainment will be present every Thursday.