Sustainable City Leadership Neighborhood Projects 10/14/12 Greektown For the neighborhood project Anthony and myself traveled over to Greektown in the west loop of Chicago. I feel that it is appropriate to address the history of Greektown, and get to the roots of its beginnings. Greektown, originally located on what is now the University of Illinois, was moved to its current location the late 1960s. Most Greek immigrants traveled to Chicago in the 1840s to open up Greek food shops and restaurants. There is a museum called the National Hellenic Museum in Greektown that breaks down the history of what it meant to be Greek in America back during the immigration days and how it has progressed as time goes on. They have over 6,000 photos, textile, and other objects that represent Greek like in America. It not only identifies Greek as a culture, but where it has a place in America, which is mostly in food. In the museum it describes how the city of Chicago encouraged and helped fund the development of these shops which increased business dramatically thus leading Greektown to be one of the most popular areas in the city today. Over the years it has expanded and developed many restaurants, which is commonly the main reason of attraction to Greektown. Therefore we thought that it was only necessary to grab some traditional Greek cuisine on our expedition. We decided to head to Greektown Gryos. Greektown Gryos is a small diner with a plethora of traditional Greek foods. Anthony and myself both tried to step out of our comfort zones and try some different Greek foods. However this is difficult for me because I have had nearly every Greek food there is to make. My neighbors growing up were 100 Greek and forced my family and I to try nearly every traditional dish, everything from Saganaki to Baklava. I enjoy Greek foods very much, and have had some delicious homemade customary foods, so I was especially critical in the taste of my meal. They have a section in menu called dinner experiences, so I thought this was suitable for our cultural exploration. I ordered the Souvlaki Plate, while Anthony got the Gyros with Greek fries. The Souvlaki Plate consisted of two kabobs of marinated pork tenderloin cooked on charcoal, served with a Greek salad, French fries, pita bread, lemon wedge, and tzatziki sauce. The tzatziki sauce had much more of a kick than I anticipated, but in a positive way. While we were there we decided to ask about the Taste of Greece, which was an event that took place on August 25th to the 26th of this year and in a nutshell it promoted Greek traditions. Taste of Greece was a free festival in Greektown where restaurants had tents out on the streets selling food. Their was Greek dance and music, along with a variety of Greek games being played and taught to people
