Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

  Kolaczki (pronounced ko-lach-ki ) are a delicious Polish cookie made with dough and filling. If you’re a Chicagoan, chances are you’ve already heard of or even tasted kolaczki. That’s because Chicago has a large Polish population, which accounts for the large number of Polish bakeries, restaurants, grocery stores, and delis across the metropolitan area. Kolaczki can even be found in the bakery section at local mainstream grocery stores like Jewel and Mariano's. According to the Back Home: Polish Chicago exhibit at the Chicago History Museum, which runs until June 2024, Polish immigration in Chicago happened in three major waves. The first wave started in the 1800s and lasted until the 1910s. This group of Polish immigrants was largely economically motivated, seeing Chicago as a land of opportunity with its stockyards, tanneries, and steel mills. The next wave happened in the late 1940s and 1950s and consisted of Poles displaced by World War II. Eventually, so many Poles settle...