.......why Oak Park?

When I first developed the concept for YFT, one of the main questions I had received was why would I choose to put all my focus into Oak Park? We all know Oak Park has a great dining scene, but why Oak Park? In full transparency, I was born in Chicago, raised in Berwyn, but always felt at home in Oak Park. My ties to Oak Park started the day I landed a hostess job on the spot at the Marion Street Cheese Market. I can still smell the Cauliflower Sandwhich, and hear the sounds of my fellow cheese mongers upselling fancy cheese to clientele. I developed some of my longest lasting friendships at that restaurant.

From there, I went to work at other restaurants including Cucina Paradiso, and that's when I truly developed my love for all things hospitality. That entire journey of working in OP, is what made me have appreciation for the community itself.

Yummy Food Tours Featured in the Wednesday Journal

Eventually, that led to starting my business Wee Mixed Private Bartending. I always felt though like I NEEDED to start something in Oak Park. I had an itch for it, and that's when the concept of YFT came to me. I knew from the very start that although I had success with Wee Mixed, the food tour concept wouldn't be as easy to execute. Regardless... that wouldn't stop me at all. We have launched limited food tours this year to experiment and see if we could test the concept. We've made mistakes, have spotted areas for improvement, but so far.. every single tourist has loved the tours.

With 2025 ahead of us, we're excited to grow some more...and take more bites around Oak Park.

With love,

Karina