Chicago

Chicago began as a frontier town on the edge of white settlement and diverse indigenous populations. In this environment, cultures mixed, and many of the storefront ethnic restaurants catered specifically to passengers transferring from train to train between one of the five major downtown railroad stations. Becoming the second largest city in the US in 1890, Chicago itself and its immediate surrounding area was also the site of agriculture, both producing food for the city and for shipment elsewhere. Block and Rosing tell a story of not just culture, economics, and innovation, but also a history of regulation and regulators, and reveal Chicago to be one of the foremost eating destinations in the country.