Fat Tuesday and Paczki Day are here. Get ready to indulge!

Some call it Fat Tuesday, some say it’s Paczki Day, some refer to it as Shrove Tuesday.  Whichever is your favorite, here are great ways to indulge.  

While they may go by different names, they all have the same purpose and started in a similar manner.  Christian cultures (primarily Roman Catholic) use the day before Ash Wednesday as a time to indulge prior to the sacrifices, fasting and reflection that happens during Lent.  The celebrations go back thousands of years, most feature food as a key part of the celebration and are recognized across numerous countries, such as Italy, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Ireland and England.  And it all started with the idea of eating up the last of the rich and fatty foods in your home (things like meat, sugar, eggs, dairy) prior to the 40-day Lenten period that focused on fasting and primarily fish.  Some take it a step further with weeks’ long festivals, such as Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and Venice.   

Follow the Fat road

Here are some ideas for how you can celebrate in Chicago.

Enjoy some free pancakes at iHop for Pancake Day, when you make a donation to the Children’s Miracle Network. 

Head to Fitzgerald’s for some gumbo, a Hurricane and some New Orleans horn infused Jazz.

Stop by The Rambler for a Shrimp Boil and New Orleans themed trivia.

Celebrating a little before the holiday, Morgan’s on Fulton has a full on Mardi Gras celebration featuring live music from Four Star Brass Band and a burlesque show from Hot Tawdry.

Don’t forget to load up on paczki

Given that Chicago has one of the largest Polish populations outside of Warsaw,  you’ll find  Paczki  in grocery stores, deli’s and bakeries throughout the city.  Here are a few incredible places we recommend.:

To eat one of the most traditional paczki in town, you should go to Dinkel’s. Founded by Joseph Dinkel in 1922, when he opened a small market with the foods and flavors from his native southern Bavaria. Since then, the popularity of their delicious baked goods have only grown..  With a nod to Mardi Gras, they also bake King Cakes, with a plastic baby Jesus inside.  If you get this slice of the cake, you get to buy the King Cake next year!   It’s recommended that you order 48 hours in advance.

For something new and innovative, try Polombia, a Polish-Colombian fusion restaurant located within The Outpost Mexican Eatery at 520 W Harrison St.  For Paczki day, they offer a  variety of different flavors like krówka caramel, coffee chocolate, pineapple mango, rosehip and more. Call to order ahead.  

For vegan options, visit Liberation Donuts, the bakery arm within  Upton’s Breakroom in West Town. They are offering a special of half a dozen paczkis that include 3 filled with pastry cream and covered in rose glaze, and 3 filled with cherry pie filling, and dusted in powdered sugar.  They don’t have a website, but you can order directly through Facebook.  

And, as they say at Mardi Gras: Laissez les bon temps rouler!