Pitchfork: The Food

Pitchfork's organizers are pretty strict when it comes to what one can bring into the fest. Among the regulations are no outside food and a maximum of two sealed bottles of water. During our visits to the fest over the weekend we were searched thoroughly to ensure we were keeping in line with those rules. Walking from stage to stage in the humid weather smothering the area all weekend all but guaranteed that we were going to wind up both hungry and thirsty.

Festivals — whether large events like Pitchfork or the average street fair — are where vendors hedge their bets on whether they can push enough product to justify the setup fees. The Goose Island beer and Sparks tents were doing great business all weekend, as were the bottled water and Fuze stations. However, we were slightly underwhelmed by the food vendors at Pitchfork, an amalgam of restaurants whose food just doesn't do it for us like Star of Siam, Chicago Diner, Abbey Pub and Wishbone. There were some food kiosks that piqued our interest and, overall, we were satisfied with the quality of what we chose.