Popcorn, cotton candy and concession rentals in Little Italy

Taylor Street is the spine of Little Italy, a stretch of Italian restaurants, bakeries and old-school storefronts that grew out of the Italian American families who settled near the old Hull-House. Today it blends with the University of Illinois Chicago campus and the Illinois Medical District, so a single weekend can bring wedding rehearsal dinners, med school graduations and family reunions to the same few blocks.

Arrigo Park and the small Piazza DiMaggio plaza give the neighborhood public space where community events happen, and the area's courtyards and brick two-flats hold plenty of private parties. Space is the limiting factor: lots are narrow, and many gatherings are small and elegant, so the right chair and the right table count matter more than sheer volume. A restaurant private room or a townhome roof deck may hold only twenty or thirty guests, so the right number of chairs and a tidy layout count more than volume.