Today, we are delighted to release the list of dishes that Baconfest chefs will be presenting on April 14. We’ve spent the last few days poring over these dishes and every time we look, we get more and more excited for the fest. We think you’ll be excited too.
Ticketholders – enjoy this preview of the fest; plan your route around the festival floor; fuel your bacon dreams.
If you’re not a ticket holder, we’ve got something for you too. For the first time, we’re releasing a Roll-Your-Own Baconfest Guide. This handy PDF tells you which participating restaurants are offering their Baconfest dishes as specials or on their regular menus. You can use it to design your own independent Baconfest Chicago eating itinerary.
Here is the list of all restaurants and dishes ordered by shift:
| Restaurant | Dish Description | I don’t have a ticket! HOW CAN I EAT IT TOO? |
| Lunch Shift | ||
| Autre Monde Cafe | Bacon Confit with Tropea Onion Agrodolce – confit of apple-wood smoked and peppered Nueske’s bacon with tropea onion agrodolce. | Available as a special 4/13 – 4/15. |
| Bacaro | Bacon and Egg Sandwich – Triple-S Farm bacon, fried egg puree, pickled ramp relish, misato radish, and bacon challah | |
| Barn & Company | Smoked brisket slider with bacon jam and bacon BBQ sauce | |
| Benny’s Chop House | Nueske’s bacon and pork head cutlet with Michigan spring ramp kimchi on buttermilk biscuits, togarashi spiced pork rind ‘fries’, a Benny’s bacon-inspired cocktail | |
| Big Jones | Bacon fat biscuit with crispy bacon, pea gravy, and piccalilli | |
| Bistro Campagne | Roasted pork belly with bacon apricot marmalade and bacon almond brittle | |
| Bleeding Heart Bakery | Bacon-wrapped house-made sausage deep-fried in croissant dough with horseradish mustard | Available all summer! Michelle Garcia reports, “we will be offering it at the 1351 West Belmont location for the summer months and it will change out once the fall menu hits.” |
| BLT American Brasserie | Braised bacon slider with smoky BBQ glaze, apple & herb slaw, aged sherry | |
| Bridge House Tavern | Bacon Cassoulet Egg Rolls, served with Hollandaise – white beans, grilled leeks, Nueske’s bacon, Nueske’s smoked chicken, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, BBQ, blue cheese | |
| The Bristol | House-extruded bacon pasta salad | |
| Burger Bar Chicago | Pork Palooza Burger – Berkshire pork burger topped w/ candied cherrywood smoked pork belly, Jarlsberg swiss, red onion pickles, smoked mustard glaze | |
| Café des Architectes | Bacon-Mac-n-Cheese Bites | |
| Chalkboard | Bacon & Eggs | Available as a special cheese/dessert course through 4/29. |
| Chicago q | Smoked Bacon Baklava – brined and hickory/apple-smoked pork belly layered between phyllo sheets topped with honey sugar glaze | Available as a special 4/14 – 4/21 at $7.25. |
| Chizakaya | Baconomiyaki – Japanese-style stuffed “pizza” with Nueske’s bacon, napa cabbage, pickled ginger, scallion, shrimp, nori, and bonito flakes | A variation is available on the regular menu. Nanda from Chizakaya explains, “we will not be serving the “baconomiyaki” (bacon okonomiyaki) at the restaurant. However, we do have a similar okonomiyaki on our menu… It has bacon, squid and shrimp topped with our house barbeque sauce, Japanese mayo, pickled ginger, scallions, and bonito flakes.” |
| The Cooking Chicks | Chef Vanessa’s lemon, white truffle, bacon potato salad Bacon-inspired sweets – provided by Cooking Chicks, Cake Bite Girl and Zayna Bakes |
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| Custom House Tavern | Smoked pork sausage, smoked blue cheese & bacon slaw with pickled mustard seeds | |
| David Burke’s Primehouse | Cheddar Bacon Sliders | Executive Chef Rick Gresh says, “I won’t be offering the bacon cheddar burgers since I have so many other burgers on the menus. I do however offer maple and black pepper Benton bacon sticks all the time.” Want a closer look? Check out those Benton Bacon sticks in the Chicago Reader’s Baconfest video Bacon: the Cure-All |
| deca Restaurant + Bar | Gunthorp Farm glazed pork belly, creamy Anson Mills polenta, fava beans Bacon financier, bacon and egg ice cream |
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| Flo and Santos | Peppered bacon-wrapped pork wing with a bourbon coffee barbecue sauce | Available every day on the regular menu. Wait! What’s a pork wing? Eddie Velazquez, marketer for the Zapatista Group, reports “a pork wing is a pork shank that has been brined, battered, and frenched to allow you to hold it like a wing. We’ll serve them wrapped in bacon at Baconfest :-)” |
| Frontier | Bacon-wrapped peppadew pepper, stuffed with Carr Valley Cocoa Cardona cheese and dates | Available on the regular menu. |
| Hearty | Bacon Rice Crispies with assorted “cereal milk”. | |
| Hopleaf | Bacon rillette-stuffed arancini (cooked with bacon stock and Ommegang Three Philosophers), fava bean / ramp puree, preserved lemon, radish, and frisee | |
| Inovasi | Quick cured & braised belly, Anson Mills farro verde, Argyle St. spice, wild ramp salsa | |
| La Madia | Bruschette of Bacon Lardon, spinach, balsamic, and ricotta salata | |
| Lillie’s Q | Bacon on Bourbon Street – Bacon custard-filled bacon beignet with Cafe Du Monde coffee and chicory bacon syrup | |
| Lockwood | “Bacon Butty” – buttered potato roll, wild cherrywood- smoked bacon, Worcestershire sauce | |
| LOKaL | Potato-bacon pancake with apple compote | Available as a special for two weeks after Baconfest. Owner Art Wnorowski adds, “if it turns to be a great addition to the menu we will keep it forever.” |
| Magnolia Cafe | Jalapeno bacon wrapped bratwurst | |
| Markethouse | Maple Leaf Farms duck bacon-jam croque monsieur, Big Ed’s Gouda fondue | Available as a special 4/10 – 4/14. |
| May St. Café | Double-chocolate flan with cherry-smoked bacon, rum-cured cherries with berries | Available as a special for $7 during the month of April. |
| Mexique | Pork Belly Taco – grilled apple, tomatillo pico de gayo, bacon, chile on a chocolate tortilla | Available as a special from 4/14 to 4/30. |
| Moderno | Homemade bacon cannoli, shaved reggiano, crushed pea powder | |
| Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro | Bacon Shepherds Pie | |
| N9NE Steak House | Topless Bacon & Steak Slider - on brioche with pickled pepper horseradish crème sauce and microgreens | |
| Old Town Social | Smoked guanciale & ramp “Casatiello” with Taleggio | |
| Paddy Long’s | Bacon Grenades – mini bacon bombs beer-battered and deep fried | Available on the regular menu. |
| Peninsula Hotel | Crispy pork belly, schupf nudel, sauerkraut – the belly is cured with salt, pepper, juniper, caraway, thyme | Available as a special at Pierrot Gourmet in the Peninsula from 4/5 – 4/8. “Or longer,” adds Anthony Coriell, executive sous chef. |
| Piece | New Haven-Style Pizza – hand-formed, topped with our tomato sauce, mozzarella, and Nueske’s bacon Big Black Mariah – American-style porter brewed with a small percentage of smoked malt for a rich, full mouthfeel and flavor. 7% a.b.v.. |
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| Pleasant House Bakery | Bacon and pork pie with bacon fat crust | Available as a special from the week preceding Baconfest. “And probably for at least a couple of weeks after the event,” add Art and Chelsea. |
| Public House and Bull & the Bear | Chicken-fried bacon, kimchi slaw, sweet & sour sauce | |
| Pure Kitchen | Arabica coffee-cured bacon, black olive puree, scotch & coffee crunch, peppermint | Available year-round for catering clients. Chef Steven Hubbell also offers “bacon mousse, malted wild rice cake, sake gel, crispy shiso, thai chili as a passed item and curry masala roasted pork belly, with pickled mustard greens, brown butter carrot puree, bacon consomme, peanut thai basil relish as an entrée.” |
| Red Butter | Bacon-chile gulab jamun topped with bacon-pistachio brittle | |
| Red Canary | Roasted jalapeno grits with Nueske’s applewood-smoked pepper-coated bacon, and a bacon mole sauce. | Available as a special from 4/14-4/21. The regular menu also featured deviled eggs with candied bacon. |
| Roots Handmade Pizza | BLT Pizza – Canadian bacon and chopped bacon under the Quad Cities mozzarella blend cheese, topped with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes | |
| Signature Room | Bacon-wrapped loin of rabbit with a ragu of local asparagus and morels | |
| Small Bar | Sunny Side Farm Egg, Braised Bacon & Potato Tart – with Jalapeno Bacon Marmalade and Dunbarton Blue Cheddar | |
| South Water Kitchen | Bacon and Egg Skewer – braised applewood-smoked bacon with pickled quail egg, confit fingerling potato. | |
| Spacca Napoli | Pea, Bacon, and Pecorino Salad – bacon, fresh peas, sugar snap peas, pea shoots, pea sprouts, extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, pecorino romano | Available as a special the week of Baconfest and the week after. Padrone Jonathan Goldsmith also recommends his occasionally available special, “wonderful antipasti with oven roasted porchetta, sautéed curly endive and a drizzle of a very elegant, artisanal red wine vinegar.” |
| The Florentine | Short rib crostini, bacon jam, horseradish and parsley | |
| Uncle Bub’s BBQ | Candied Bacon – Thick cut bacon coated with brown sugar and honey. | |
| Union Sushi + Barbecue Bar | Panko Bacon with baby arugula salad – served with a bacon reduction and house-tonkatsu sauce | Available as a special now and will remain for “approximately two months”. Mike Schatzman, proprietor, reports, “We might make it a regular menu item if it keeps selling well.” |
| West Town Tavern | Bourbon-Bacon Caramel Corn | Chef / Owner Susan Goss tells us, “We created our Bourbon Bacon caramel Corn for Baconfest. We do, however, feature bacon in several items. Out Pan Seared Whitefish with Bacon, Olives, Rosemary and Roasted Tomatoes is one of our most popular fish dishes and a menu constant.” |
| Wildfire | Nueske’s bacon-wrapped braised pork belly with horseradish crust | |
| ZED451 | Bacon pancake pops in a bourbon glaze | Available on the regular menu. Plus, Gina LeBike of ZED451 reports, “We do have an amazing bacon item we offer during Saturday and Sunday brunch – it’s our signature Maple Cajun Bacon! Every table receives an order of this caramelized bacon when they arrive and are seated for brunch.” |
| Dinner Shift | ||
| 2 Sparrows | Bacon Krispie Treats with maple & bacon doughnut holes | Available as a special for one month following Baconfest. Chef Greg Ellis adds, “We have plenty of other bacon dishes on our menu (seeing that we are a breakfast and lunch restaurant).” |
| 676 Restaurant & Bar | Widmer six-year cheddar cheese with Nueske’s bacon jam House-made Catalpa Grove lamb bacon with 676 honey hive mustard |
Both are available as a regular menu item. Plus don’t miss: Gunthorp Farm Pig & Chips, also on the regular menu. Plus don’t miss: Gunthorp Farm Pig & Chips, also on the regular menu. |
| 694 Wine & Spirits | The Kick-Ass BLT | Available as a special every Tuesday. |
| Atwood Cafe | Willy Wonka meets Bacon – an array of Wonka -inspired candies done with bacon | |
| Bakin’ & Eggs | Bacon chocolate chip cookies Cheddar and bacon scones Jalapeno bacon and smoked gouda mac -n- cheese |
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| The Bedford | Bacon beignets, bacon sugar, bacon/walnut/bourbon infused maple caramel | |
| Black Dog Gelato | Mini whiskey bacon pops | |
| Branch 27 | Cool spring pea soup, applewood bacon straw | Available as a special the week of Baconfest starting 4/11. |
| Browntrout | Escargot & Bacon Bouchee – creamed leeks, red wine pork jus, fines herbes | |
| Butcher & the Burger | Benton’s Tennessee Mountain smoked bacon frozen custard Organic dates stuffed with LaPryor Farms Duroc/Hamshire house made bacon sausage, wrapped in Benton’s bacon |
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| Cafe Spiaggia | Nueske’s wild cherry smoked bacon, Hooks 7-year cheddar gnudi with spring ramps | Available as a special for a limited time starting 4/7. |
| Cantina Laredo | Tequila bacon tacos with jicama mango slaw | |
| Cantina 46 | Cherrywood-smoked bacon and suckling pig posole with cabbage, radish and pickled red onion | |
| Chef Chris Curren | Bacon-stuffed headcheese – poached quail egg, bacon powder, salsa verde | |
| The Cooking Chicks | Chef Vanessa’s lemon, white truffle, bacon potato salad Bacon-inspired sweets – provided by Cooking Chicks, Cake Bite Girl and Zayna Bakes |
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| Davanti Enoteca | Pork belly porchetta with artichoke mostarda | Available as a special on 4/14 only. |
| Elly’s Pancake House | Bacon Waffle | |
| Epic Restaurant | Root beer-glazed pork belly, golden beets, horseradish cream Milk chocolate, bacon caramel, pecans |
Available on the regular Spring menu starting around the same time as Baconfest. |
| Farmhouse | Cherry wood smoked bacon and cheese pasties with sweet onion marmalade – stuffed with the bacon and cheese filling, garnished with the sweet onion marmalade. | The dish is a Baconfest exclusive. However, owner Ferdia Doherty offers, “We do offer bacon in one of our cocktails called Hair of the Bean [Iced Coffee, Bulleit Bourbon, Bacon, Maple, Brown Ale] which is kinda fun.” |
| Francesca’s Forno Restaurant | Applewood smoked bacon & rapini stromboli with cipollini onion jam | Available as a special 4/14 only. |
| Gemini Bistro & Rustic House | Bacon x’s 3- Hand rolled porchetta ravioli, crispy pancetta chip, warm bacon vinaigrette | |
| Girl and the Goat | Bacon Soup | |
| Glenview House | Pan-seared sea scallops on house-made bacon polenta with black truffle aioli and micro fennel shoots | Available as a special for 1-2 weeks after Baconfest. |
| IPO | Sous Vide Pork Belly – popcorn pudding, pickled ramps, spicy chicharrone & bacon; Smoked Nueske`s bacon & popcorn broth | Available as a regular menu item starting 4/17. |
| J Lafayette Catering | New Orleans-style sweet cayenne bacon bread pudding w ith coconut praline sauce, topped with sweet cayenne bacon crumbles | |
| Jordan’s Food of Distinction | Applewood smoked bacon-scented South African lobster cappuccino with crispy lardons and spring chive cream | |
| Leopold | Braised cherry-smoked belly with beluga lentils and white asparagus | Available as a special during the week of Baconfest. |
| Market Bar Chicago | Bacon & Guajillo Sopes | |
| Mercadito | Taco de Pollo – adobo-marinated grilled chicken, bacon mojo, queso fresco, corn-avocado salsa, crispy bacon | Available indefinitely as a special following Baconfest. |
| Mercat a la Planxa | Cider-braised pork belly pinxos with truffled parsnip and napa cabbage slaw | Available on the regular dinner menu. Mercat’s Whitney Ritsmann elaborates, “The dish we will be providing is a slightly tweaked version of our Tocino con Cidra (Slow Cooked Holland Pork Belly, Cider Glaze, Granny Smith Apple, Black Truffle Slaw), which is always offered on our regular dinner menu at $14.” |
| Nacional 27 | Plantain & applewood-smoked bacon croquetas with a spicy tomato-bacon aioli | Available as an “off-the-menu” special 4/13 and 4/14 only. |
| Nana Organic | Tacos de Chicharon – crispy house-smoked and braised bacon skin chicharon in tomatillo salsa; fresh hand-made tortillas, Urban Canopy sunflower sprouts slaw; pickled ramps, carrots, and jalapeno | Available as a special through Memorial Day Weekend. Chef Guy Meikle reports that they have many other bacon dishes. “We are also going to feature Alan’s Candy Bar from last year for a month: Bacon Caramel Candy Bar Bacon Short Bread, Milk Chocolate Ganache, Sea Salt, Whipped Creme Fraiche.” |
| Nonna Santi’s Biscotti | Bacon Biscotti with Burton’s Rum-Infused Maple Syrup | Available at some retailers. Jo-Marie Frigo, chef/owner, says, “I will be offering my Bacon Biscotti at a few stores until the end of April. Most likely vendors will be Panozzo’s Italian Market, Dirk’s Fish and Publican Quality Meats.” |
| Park Grill | Chicken Thigh and Applewood Bacon Crostini – english peas, sorrel | Available as a special from 4/15-4/19, reports Dana Schatz, “along with nine other bacon-centric dishes and one bacon cocktail as part of our own in-house Baconfest.” More details on the Park Grill’s website. |
| Paulina Market | Cream of Smoked Bacon Soup – served in a mini bacon baguette bowl | Available for sale frozen at the Market indefinitely. |
| Perennial Virant | Smoked jerked belly with grilled spring vegetable relish, and candied blood orange | |
| Quince | Crispy Bacon Spring Roll – onion, chilis, swiss cheese, potato, egg, bacon aioli | |
| Rockit Bar & Grill/Rockit Burger Bar | Applewood-smoked bacon No-Bean-Texas-Style Chili with corn tortilla strips & bacon sour cream | |
| Rosebud | Gorgonzola dolce ravioli in bacon brodo Mini bacon cannoli |
The ravioli is available as a special at Carmine’s (1043 Rush St.) for one week starting 4/9. |
| Sable Kitchen & Bar | Nueske’s Applewood-smoked bacon pretzels with cheddar-bacon jam dip | |
| Saigon Sisters Restaurant | Bacon pho with black garlic noodles, pickled quail egg and micro Viet herbs | Mary Aregoni reports, “it might be featured for a limited time in our Spring menu as small plate.” |
| Sixteen | Tanariva milk chocolate and smoked brown sugar tarts, bacon “crunch”, toasted meringue Smoked salt bacon caramels |
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| State & Lake | Foraged Truffle – Nueske’s cherrywood bacon, Valrhona Carmelia, Vermont maple, Buffalo Trace | |
| Sunda | Braised applewood smoked pork belly ssam with crispy bacon, apple kimchi, rice with a spicy miso paste | |
| Sweet Baby Ray’s Restaurants & Catering | Porchetta Cubano – citrus-infused pork loin wrapped with a slow-smoked Latin-cured pork belly; shaved thin and served on a petite pressed roll with citrus ginger mustard; topped with a house-made pickle, onion, and salt pork slaw Pit Smoked Barbecue BLT – Nueske’s cherry-smoked slab bacon with spicy greens, heirloom tomatoes, and a larded duck egg aioli Mississippi Bacon Teasers |
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| Table Fifty-two | Nueske’s bacon chili, buttermilk biscuit, bread and butter pickle | |
| Terzo Piano at the Art Institute of Chicago | Dreymiller and Kray applewood-smoked bacon financier cake with milk chocolate-bourbon cremeux | |
| Three Aces | “Shake ‘n Bake”: Bacon “Steak” n’ Bacon Shake -A bacon “shake ‘n bake” with our own special blend, with bacon bolognese and a vanilla-bacon-bourbon milkshake. | Available as a special the week after Baconfest. |
| Tiny Lounge | Cherrywood bacon cream puffs with bourbon custard | |
| Townhouse Restaurant & Wine Bar | Bacon Doughnuts – applewood-smoked bacon doughnut hole with bourbon-pecan glaze and vanilla bean gelato | Available on the regular menu. |
| Trenchermen | Bacon kimchi mortadella, pickle aioli and bacon tater tots | |
| Vie | Braised pork belly with whitefish brandade, spring peas, pickled green garlic, cracklings | |
| Witts | Bacon with white cheddar mac and cheese, spinach and artichokes | |
| Wow Bao | Freshly steamed BBQ Pork bao Bacon, Egg and Cheddar bao |
Available on the regular menu. |
| Zapatista | Pork carnitas, jalapeno en escabeche relish, with a bacon banana chip on a corn tortilla | Available as a special 4/13-4/15. |