POPPING OFF: Popcorn was designated by the Illinois General Assembly as the official snack food of Illinois in 2003—a well-deserved honor. Popularized more than a century ago by pushcart vendors ...

That said, Garrett Popcorn’s first location opened in 1949 at 10 W. Madison St. in Chicago’s Loop. Garrett Popcorn Shops was family-owned until 2005, when Megan and Lance Chody purchased the ...

Portillo's. One of Chicago's most beloved brands and a heavy hitter in the city's street food scene, Portillo's first launched nearly 60 years ago as a hot dog stand in Villa Park.

The first commercial popcorn machine was invented here in Chicago and introduced at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. So it’s little surprise that popcorn shops have been popping up in our city ever ...

Since at least the 1870s, Chicago has been a hotbed of popcorn innovation. Part of that has to do with Chicago’s role as a transportation hub for grain in the Midwest.