'Tis the Season for Christkindlmarket and a Tom & Jerry at Miller’s Pub
Don't miss out on the best of Chicago's holiday traditions
I’m ambivalent about most Christmas rituals—some years I go all in on baking cookies while other years I can’t even be bothered to pull my decorations out of the closet—but there are two Chicago holiday traditions I adore: a trip to the Christkindlmarket and a visit to Miller’s Pub for a Tom & Jerry.
Chicago’s Christkindlmarket
Modeled after Nuremberg’s historic Christkindlesmarkt (literally “Christ Child Market”), Chicago’s version launched in 1996 with 13 American and German vendors selling holiday crafts and classic German foods.
It has since grown into the most popular Christmas market in the US, featuring nearly 60 adorable timber booths capped with red and white striped awnings—a gemütlich outdoor village in the heart of downtown Chicago.
While I enjoy the festive decorations and handcrafts, for me the Christkindlmarket is all about the food and drink.
Each visit must begin with a ceremonial trip to the glühwein hut for a serving of spiced red wine in a commemorative mug.
When I started attending in the early 2000s, you couldn’t last twenty minutes in the bone-chilling cold without downing a boot of the steaming elixir. While less essential to survival today—it neared 50 degrees on our recent visit—gulps of glühwein produce that namesake glow that makes the entire Christkindlmarket experience more fun (and gives you permission to overindulge).
Post-fortification I am always eager to kick-off the eating frenzy with a German classic: a sauerkraut-topped bratwurst sandwich.
We queued up at the Bratwurst Haus and received a pair of plump, piping hot sausages from a woman with a pronounced Teutonic tongue.
“Where are you from?” I inquired.
“Hamburg,” she replied.
After chatting briefly about her city’s famed fish market she recommended we swing by the ode to her hometown in the form of Paul the Sailor, a strapping, tattooed lad commemorating the 30-year anniversary of Chicago and Hamburg’s Sister City relationship.
Part of the thrill (or awkwardness, depending on your worldview) of the Christkindlmarket experience is cozying up to strangers at standing tables. Unfortunately for the Japanese women we joined, I got so excited as I took my first bite of the delectably-juicy bratwurst that I managed to drop a not-so-insubstantial blob of sauerkraut and mustard onto the impeccable, cream-colored sneaker of one of our tablemates.
The women seemed mildly charmed when I uttered sumimasen (sorry) several times, but I felt utterly foolish. (For a story of how sumimasen figured prominently in another of my food-focused escapades, click here). I wolfed my würstel down so we could move onto the next round of food.
I needed my meatloaf sandwich fix. I was also eager to revisit the goulash soup I last sampled in the mid-aughts with my former boss, a consummate lover of stick-to-your-ribs fare.
The meatloaf is not a looker: it’s a thick wedge, slathered in ketchup and chopped white onions, on an unremarkable bun. However, it’s a deconstructed version of the red magic meatloaf my mom served when I was growing up. Pure comfort and delight.
The goulash, with chunks of meat, carrot and potato bobbing on the surface pooled with globules of tomato-laced fat, on the other hand, is a real beauty. A vibrant orange hue in a sea of beige-on-beige comestibles. One sip of the beefy broth, heavily spiced with paprika and black pepper, and I was instantly transported to a mountain lodge in the Austrian Alps.
This year, my friend and fellow Christkindlmarket lover Liz had her sights set on the schnitzel sandwich. When we asked the vendor from a small town in Thüringen if the schnitzel was worth it, her eyes grew wide and she said that it was very, very good, and best enjoyed with a swipe of mustard and chopped onions.
Boy, was she right. The meat was delicately-breaded and fried to perfection, at once crispy and juicy. The brown mustard and onions cut the cutlet’s richness and the crusty bun had just the right amount of chew.
It was the perfect sandwich; I felt sheepish that I’d never thought to order it in all these years.
We grabbed a refill of glühwein (because, why not?) and capped off our feast with an order of potato pancakes with applesauce AND sour cream, of course.
While the schnitzel sandwich stall makes homemade potato pancakes of the latke variety (shredded potatoes, fried to order), we’ve always preferred the perfectly uniform (read: out of the box) version that most Christkindlmarket stands serve.
They are satisfying in the way a McDonald’s hash brown patty is, with its potato bits engineered for maximum pleasure.
Twenty years on, I’m still delighted by the experience of standing in the shadow of Daley Plaza’s Picasso sculpture, experiencing the saltiness of a fried potato pancake mixed with tangy sourcream and sweet applesauce intermixed with glugs of mulled wine. Long live the Christkindlmarket!
Tom & Jerry at Miller’s Pub
Several blocks east of Daley Plaza stands Miller’s Pub (134 South Wabash Avenue). While it’s one of my favorite Chicago dining establishments any time of year, Miller’s is a de rigueur holiday stop for one reason: the classic cocktail known as the Tom & Jerry.
This Christmastime staple, which is essentially a warm eggnog variant, is wildly popular in the Midwest and has been on offer at Miller’s Pub each December since 1935.
The pro move is to sidle up to the bar so you can watch one of the longtime barkeeps such as Juan or Kevin assemble your made-to-order beverage.
They pour dark rum and brandy into a brown coffee mug and then ladle in the homemade batter (a combo of powdered sugar, egg whites, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg) that lives in a punch bowl behind the bar. They dispense hot water straight from the Bunn-o-Matic and drop in two plastic black stirrers before passing the Tom & Jerry across the bar.
The first hit of spiced froth is pure magic; it gently warms your insides before the rush of brandy and rum hits your lips. After one you feel nice and toasty; if you’re in a rowdier mood, two is the ticket.
I love basking in the glow of the amber lighting while admiring all of the decor—red and green baubles, wreaths, red ribbons, white twinkle lights—that make the environs of this iconic Loop tavern even cozier this time of year.
On a day when I haven’t already stopped by the Christkindlmarket I’ll indulge in a platter of fish and chips or a basket of fried cheese curds along with my Tom & Jerry. But on this most recent visit, I was pleased to sip my warm cocktail and the bar and take in this classic Chicago scene.
All photos by Jared Wheeler.
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Do you have any favorite foods at the Christkindlmarket I didn’t mention? I’m wondering what else I’ve missed all these years besides the Schnitzel sandwich.
thanks for the reminder I need to get to the Christkindlmarket. I love they have a second one now at Wrigley Field -- closer to home and easier to get to, though the magic of being in the Loop is lost. Also, had no idea it's the biggest Christmas market in the country. Very cool.
Sumimasen! Hahaha
Nihongo jozu!