Taste the Town Brings Together 10 Local Restaurants 

During the pandemic, we were afraid of many things and one of them was that we would lose our vibrant local restaurant scene.

The group Takeout25 was a key factor in activating the community to shore up those restaurants. Now Takeout25’s signature event, Taste the Town, is back for its third edition.

On June 23, 10 local restaurants will provide an array of dishes, showing off the area’s culinary can-do. Tickets are a flat $50 per person or $100 for a family – two adults and children in their household under 16. The festival of food will continue rain or shine on the patio and under the tents at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn from 4 to 7 p.m.

A single ticket is worth three food coupons. A family ticket gets seven food coupons. Bar drinks are not included.

Restaurants taking part are Piacere Mio, Billy Bricks, Khyber Pass, Media Noche Café, Berwyn Cafe, Babygold BBQ, Poke Burrito, Taco Mucho, Happy Apple and Twisted Cookie.

Entertainment and music are a part of the event, as well. Local R&B artist Gerald McClendon, known musically as “Soulkeeper” returns for another year as the musical accompaniment.

The event is sponsored by The Cadence Group, Carnival Grocery, Pillar Financials and West Suburban Garage doors.

The goal is more than savoring flavors.

Through Taste the Town, Takeout25 extends the care for our local restaurants to local causes and non-profits that make our community special,” said Ravi Parakkat, founder of Takeout25.

This year, proceeds will support the nonprofit One Voice for Arts. Its mission is to make live arts accessible for residents of Oak Park and surrounding communities. This is the parent organization for the Oak Park Festival Theatre, Oriana Singers, Pro Musica Youth Chorus, and the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest.

The idea behind Takeout25 launched during the stay-at-home times of the pandemic, when it looked like many restaurants might close. The concept was simple math. If households in Oak Park spent $25 per week at local restaurants that would push more than a $1 million per month into the local food economy. The group soon spread its $25 challenge into neighboring communities, as well.

The success of the Facebook community inspired an expansion into a nonprofit organization with a mission to help local small food businesses address larger issues of food insecurity and environmental challenges.

Through Takeout25 efforts, Oak Park has become the first Green Dining Hub in Illinois with a goal to reduce food waste, plastics, and energy use. Being designated as a hub by the Illinois Green Business Program means that businesses receive encouragement and support to improve energy efficiency, use of renewables, reduction of solid waste, improve water efficiency, prevent pollution and de-carbonize transportation.

One facet of this program is offering grants to local businesses who opt to compost their organic kitchen and dining room waste. This helps cover the cost of commercial composting through WasteNot Compost.

As the goals have grown bigger, Takeout 25 remains an active social media community for local foodies.

“We want to both celebrate and actively assist restaurants in Oak Park and the surrounding region,” Parakkat said. “Eating together builds community. And that is what we are all about.”