Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

The Chicago-style hot dog and the Maxwell Street Polish are two delicious staples of Chicago cuisine that trace their roots to the Maxwell Street Market. I’ll take you through the history of both dishes . But first, here’s a little background on Chicago’s most famous street market. The Maxwell Street Market, located near Halsted Street and Roosevelt Road, was originally established as an open-air street market by Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s. The market was officially recognized by the City of Chicago in 1912. Eventually, other European immigrants and African Americans started to come to the market. It was known as a place where you could buy everything from shoelaces to expensive clothes to ethnic food. It was also known as much for its outdoor musical performances as its goods for sale. When blues musicians plugged in their amplifiers on Maxwell Street so that they could be heard above the din of the market, Chicago-style blues, a forerunner of rock n’ roll,