Taste of Greektown festival is back in Chicago for its 35th year with the city’s largest celebration of Hellenic cuisine and culture from Friday, August 22 through Sunday, August 24, 2025, along Halsted Street from Adams to Van Buren.
The neighborhood’s acclaimed Greek restaurants are the stars of the show, including 9 Muses Bar & Grill, Athena Restaurant, Mr. Greek Gyros, Spectrum Bar & Grill and Zeus Restaurant —Greek American family legacies that have been open in Greektown for 25-40 years.
Also participating in the festival are Meli Cafe and Ithaki Estiatorio, a new contemporary Greek restaurant opening in Greektown later this year.
Taste of Greektown also offers live music and entertainment, Greek dancing, unique shopping and retail, and family activities. From gyros and saganaki to traditional performances and the crowd-favorite gyros eating contest, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
The 35th annual Taste of Greektown festival is presented by the Greektown Chamber of Commerce with additional support from Greektown SSA#16. Admission is free with a suggested gift to support the Greektown Chamber of Commerce.
Chicago Greektown a beating heart of Hellenism
Chicago’s Greektown, the dining and nightlife district on the city’s Near West Side, is the undisputed cultural hub for the third-largest population of Greeks living in the USA.
The first Greeks in Chicago arrived as ship captains in the 1840s. After deciding to settle down on land, they started out working as food peddlers and, by a natural progression, soon became restaurant owners.
Greektown was where the entire Greek community lived, where its doctors, lawyers, and traders were based, until the 1960s. The National Hellenic Museum, the renowned center for Greek-American history, is also located in the area.
It is estimated that approximately 150,000 people of Greek ancestry still live in the greater Chicago area.
