Taste of Chicago celebrated its 30^th anniversary by opening on June 25^th and running through the 4^th of July. Located in Grant Park with free admittance and booth after booth of food to try, Nunn on the Run was on the scene to try a sampling of the food. Here are some of the highlights with more than 50 local restaurants at the park and where they can be found in the city. This article originally appeared in Basil Magazine here.

For starters, The Grill on the Alley (90 N Michigan Ave) prepared a grilled Anjour pear salad with walnuts and Maytag blue cheese.

There were several pizza offerings with Connie’s Pizza (2372 S Archer) and Bacino’s (2204 N Lincoln).

Ribs (Robison’s No.1 Ribs 225 S Canal) and turkey legs (Manny’s Cafeteria 1141 S Jefferson) have been a staple in the festival for years.

“Cheezborger!” and “No fries-cheeps” could be heard from the Billy Goat Taven stand (430 N Michigan).

For jerked chicken there is none other than Lyanze (4623 N Broadway) or for a catfish po’boy Lagniappe (1525 W 79^th St) was the booth to visit.

Carbon’s Live Fire Mexican (300 W 26^th St) offered 4 different types of tacos, steak, chicken, tilapia, and roasted veggie.

If you are still hungry, Eli’s Cheesecake (6701 W Forest Preserve Dr) or the Original Rainbow Cone (9233 S Western) had desserts.

New to the Taste were over a dozen restaurants including Timothy O’Toole’s Pub (622 N Fairbanks) and the Cubby Bear (1059 W Addison).

Crowds learned to do it themselves by watching cooking demonstrations from Chef Mario Batali and Basil Magazine’s very own Chef Rome.

While the food was the main focus, there was music to jam to while people snacked with Salt-N-Pepa and Trey Songz on the Petrillo Music Shell Stage. The event would not be complete without fireworks, ending the three decade long celebration.

The festival attracts more than 6 million visitors annually making it the second biggest tourist attraction of the city. For more information, visit tasteofchicago.us.