Went to support a friend who was competing in the K-Fest singing competition. Â The festival itself was not bad as far as fests go. Â Plenty of food and drink to go around, and entertainment in the form of singing & dancing. Â A lot of the restaurants that line the fest also serve from special "festival menus" so you even more options than just the food outside in the actual festival! Â A notice though, I found some of the service to be a little bit lacking. Â Although they may have been a little overwhelmed with the business from the festival. Â Definitely would suggest going into Outdoor Cafe which had Potbingsoo to go!
Review Source:I went to K-fest maybe a few years ago and didn't think it was great; however, an opportunity presented itself for me to go again this year because my friend entered the singing contest....I still did not think the Korean Festival was great at all and just went to support a friend....definitely wouldn't go for food for sure...
The fair consisted of advertising, fried food, alcoholic beverages, overpriced food (as any food fair you go to)...
Foods I've tried:
-ddukboKi (spicy rice cakes): it tasted burnt, I'm assuming the bottom of the pan was burnt so it gave the ddukboki a burnt taste..
-mixed fried combo: consisted of fried octopus, fried veggies, and friend shrimp (i think)..nothing soo great about it.. I think you can go to any Korean restaurant or make that at home..
bulggogi hotdog: my friend had this and was disappointed..because it did not have any bulgogi in it.. rather, it's just a regular hotdog with lettuce on top and bulggogi sauce (probably soy sauce and seasoning??).. are you serious?! why is it called bulggogi hotdog when there's no bulggogi in it? doesn't make any sense to me...
on day 2 of the fair...yes I went 2 days in a row, not because I enjoyed my first time but just to support my friend...my friends and I went to a Korean restaurant instead of buying the street food and yet again I was disappointed at the food & service..my friend and I ordered nangmyun (cold noodles) and it simply tasted like water and noodles.. I think anyone (excluding the restaurant cooks obviously) can make better nangmyun at home and not pay $10 for a bowl of flavorless nangmyun..
entertainment: ehh.. not that great... only exciting if you have a friend singing up there...
would I go again?..probably not unless my friend enters the singing competition again...i'll go to support.. but definitely not to eat food... might as well yelp Korean restaurants and eat before I go to K-Fest if I went again... yes it's that bad...or maybe just not worth the money for the food...
I grew up here and I been coming to K fest every year since I could walk. Bottom line , if you wanna get wasted and have a good time while enjoying Korean food, this place is where you want to be.
The environment is friendly and there are no shootings or anything like that.
I recommend every body to come out.
It has always (or I've tried to always) make it a tradition to come here every year since I do live near by and I am Korean. I came here to watch a few bands, the Hemmingbirds and Two Bored Dorks, and it was great.
It's nice to see the Korean community get together, so it exudes a great feeling. The food is definitely overpriced but I guess that's the same for all festivals. Â I would recommend just going into the restaurants on the street if you're hungry, but if you're in the festival mood of walking and munching, then go ahead and buy the tent food.
I enjoyed it. Lots of people and great weather this year. Â But they really need to step up with the food. Do we really need so many of the same thing? And what happened to the fresh made bungeoppang (fish shaped cakes with sweet bean filling)? Such a great thing. Authentic, fresh made, and delicious. Those were always a highlight for me but have not seen it in a few years. The pre-made walnut cakes were not very good. But I liked the kim chee tacos. So yeah, always fun. like the people, but the food (which is the main reason to go) is not very good. The local restaurants that show up need to stretch a bit. Maybe invite some of the newer high end fusion places. Where was Urban Belly? Come on, let's shake it up and make it better next year.
Review Source:Sigh. I don't know what happened to this festival, or really the strip of Bryn Mawr between Kedzie and Kimball. It's not what it used to be just a few years ago.
Granted, I haven't been to the festival since 2007. I went by myself and had a really good time. There were lots of stands and what seemed to be a good range of ages amongst the attendees. There was a nice variety of food being sold and decent prices.
Every year since then, I kept missing the festival, but was looking forward to being able to make it this year. Then, I saw they had a new (or new to me) $5 suggested donation for entry to the fest. Umm... I was like, Ok, it's a small fest. I'll support. I had such a good time last time. After walking around a bit, I felt like I paid to get into a high school's fair or a block party.
I'll say 90% of the people at this festival were teenagers. That includes the people selling the food, handling the entertainment, and even trying to get people to buy tickets to spas. If the teens have taken over, there REALLY shouldn't be any donation being suggested. And the way they had the entrance set up (very narrow), along with the way the kids working the fest were lined up on either side, you didn't feel like $5 was being suggested at all.
My Kalbi was fatty. My kimchi, flavorless, yet still spicy. My bubble tea was thin with already soggy bubbles (tapioca balls). I got bumped into so many times when there was more than enough to room to move about without touching. When I got there, the terribly organized dance battle was happening on one stage with a young male duo on the other stage doing popular song covers. Both areas, filled to the brim with teens. There weren't many food stands, and many seemed to be selling the same thing give or take a dollar in price difference. Lame.
I could have just gotten way better Korean food for less money by my home, and more of it. I don't know if 2007 was just a good year for this festival, or it's actually gone way down since. Given the decrease in businesses on that strip, I think the festival may be mirroring that. Whatever the cause, I know I could have done without going and don't see any reason for me to go back in the future.
One of the worst street festivals I've been to, they 'suggest' a $5 donation... no, thanks! Â The food stands, obviously, have overpriced food items, such as odeng, ddukboki, galbi, etc. Â There are other business stands that have you sign up for a 'free goody.' Â The high school volunteers swarm around, being loud and obnoxious. Â There are two stages set up for martial arts performances, Korean drums, and a 'Korean Idol' type of competitions. Â I was literally in and out within a minute. Â Parking can be found around the neighborhood, but it's totally not worth it!
Review Source:I came to watch my friend's band (The Hemmingbirds) perform at K-Fest this year. There was good food, good music, and a good time for all things Korean. I'm not Korean myself but have many Korean friends -- so it was really cool to immerse myself in their culture a bit more. I've got to check it out again next year for the wrestling competition and more awesome korean food.
Review Source:I was looking forward to Korean Fest all year. Â I was unable to go last year due to my sister's bachelorette party so I cleared my weekend for this. Â I think my anticipation was greater than the actual fest.
There were a few food stands compared to a ton two years ago. Â The prices were higher and you got a lot less food. Â I probably should inform you that I come here for the food. Â We got a plate of fried vegetables, dumplings and shrimp for $10. Â My husband didn't eat the veggies because they contained sweet potato and he is not a fan. Â We then got a plate of kalbi with a little rice and kimchi for $12. Â There were two pieces of kalbi. Â I guess the economy is just hurting everyone, including the vendors that would normally be present.
We did enjoy the entertainment. Â We watched a group of young kids perform tae kwon do, drummers and of course Ssireum. Â That is always our favorite to watch. Â We did spend 3 hours there but since I was so disappointed with the food we ended up going to Cho Sun Ok for Korean BBQ. Â
I hope that the festival is better next year. Â But to be honest, I will still go. Â No matter what.
The Chicago Korean Festival offers a great glimpse of Korean culture. I come here every year to eat well, meet friends I haven't seen in a while, and celebrate my Korean culture. Â It's a great festival that's not crowded, full of interesting entertainment (esp. Ssireum, or Korean traditional wresting), and good eats.
I partake year after year in the Korean wrestling tournament and it is always a fan-favorite. Â I've done well for the past few years in the lighter weight division (they even have my picture on the banner!), but watching the big Mongolians duke it out is awe-inspiring. Â Winners get bags of rice and other goodies. Â I will be back to take the crown!
This year's festival was interrupted by showers and it was not as filled as previous years (may have something to do with the economy?), but I expect the festival to only get bigger. Â I noticed a number of non-traditional vendors (cocunat pina coladas, that's more tropical and a generic Chinese food stand). Â I hope the festival stays as authentic as it can, because that's what the people come for.
Some tips from Mikey:
-Park at the nearby Northside Prep parking lot (lots of spaces and very close)
-Bring your own beverages (ex: gatorade, water)
-Volunteer for a bit at the fest (you get lots of free gear/water/food)
-If stay towards the end of the festival, you will get a DEAL on food. Â Seriously, I got 3 different enormous dishes for $7 total. Â Excellent.
This year marks the 14th annual event. Luckily it seems to be getting bigger and finally the Chicago Korean American chamber of commerce has taken to doing more advertising on-line and on social networking websites. Still, there is a lack of sufficient advertising in the neighborhood, so marketing opportunities and money potential is lost.
Back to the festival; this year they have far more tents with greatly more tables and free seats for public use. Many more garbage cans to keep garbage under control, although I wish there were recycling bins, another missed opportunity. Two stages on opposite sides of the festival with an array of exciting shows. Saturday night on one stage was some kind of modeling show and the opposite hosted a karaoke contest of popular Korean and American songs. Later this night they had a comedy show mainly in Korean but with English thrown in and a rock band with a Korean lead singer. Food was just... OK. People at the festival seemed to really love it. I'm a bit more critical of the Korean food I devour. At the festival there are probably about four to five food vendors offering mostly Korean and some random Asian food. Restaurants on Bryn Mawr open their bay windows and sell food right on the sidewalk. Korean BBQ aka Kalbi ranges from $7-$10 dollars. Most of what I saw on plates, mostly just a sampling approx 3 pieces for that $7-$10 cost. Which means 2 mostly bones and 1 of ample meat. It's a festival right? they want you to visit their restaurant instead of eating it at a fest. Couple beer tents offering Amber Boch and Bud light products served in Hite cups (?) Why not serve Hite(Korean beer) right? That's what I thought also. Beer runs about $3-$5, other beverages $1-$2. This year they have a Pina Colada stand (no alc seen) and the drink is served out of a cored pineapple. Another wow of the festival is the large sand pit found in the middle of the fest around Spaulding and Bryn Mawr. Here is where two men will duke it out, sumo style under the baking sun as crowds cheer on. Afterwards find kids playing in the sand.
Good times, another opportunity to be eating and drinking in Chicago without the use of a brown bag.
Parking isn't hard to find just look along the outskirts, major streets like Kimball, Kedzie, Bryn Mawr. Â If parking within the neighborhood read the signs, most may warn about possible towing if without numbered stickers, but they allow weekend parking. Â The festival does not use tickets ! Yay! Cash is accepted and restaurants take anything.
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