Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I knew from the moment I read this article that it was only a matter of time before I visited Great Lake. Then along came the GQ article which was icing on the cake.
So this past week my family and I drove to Chicago from NYS to sample what all the fave is about.
What can I say other then it was worth the journey and them some.
Chris Bianco sets the pizza bar in my opinion and Great Lake not only matched that bar but likely surpassed it. Outstanding!

Also anyone wishing to see some photos I took see the above Face Book group. Also will be writing a more detailed report very soon but this old man needs to recover from travel fatigue.

Thank you so much Daniel for the heads up on Great Lake and the amazingly talented couple who run it.

We appreciate all your feedback on the fest. We're taking to heart the lessons we've learned and we will certainly apply them to any events we get involved with in the future. If you'd like to request a refund, please contact jimlewi@theagencygroup.com. These requests will be addressed on a case by case basis. We are closing comments on this post. If you have additional feedback that you'd like to share with us, e-mail foodfest@seriouseats.com.

@hymie - you are an asshole. You can get your money refunded. That's not enough for you?

PS. to my earlier comment. A live Bobby and Paula demo-pairing would erase many hard-feelings!

I've already posted our disappointment with the entire event (blah, blah, blah).... not going to rehash that. Instead I will put new comments out in a positive light.

1) We called LiveNation Sunday evening, actually got a live person! The person with whom my husband spoke was very good at Customer Service, with just a few questions and answers, voila our credit card will be credited for the purchase of our tickets. We received confirmation today that the credit is confirmed.

2) YES, our experience was not as expected. We missed seeing the demos from the Food Network people that we watch on our television for more hours than we care to admit to :)

3) Both my husband and I agree, that if the new-and-improved GAF&MF comes to the Bay Area again, we will purchase tickets.

4)Ed, you must know by now that you've been challenged to an unofficial "Throw Down" by all of the people who have posted their unhappy experience. We are hopeful that this was a learning experience for the many factions involved in putting it all together. We certainly would like the opportunity to see Bobby, Guy, Anne & Aida (and/or others) under better circumstances

My husband called the event "Line Nation". Enough said.

If you don't get a refund, they win. Here's the refund info. : Live Nation (888-598-4299) or 650 - 967 - 3000 Online use :
http://www.livenation.com/help
Press tab ask a question
Product- Event feedback- write a short full refund letter. If you paid credit card, the process will be faster. If you paid cash, make copies and keep originals. It will take longer to process. For the parking fee, you have to contact the Shoreline to get it. Mail a copy of your parking stub and/or your tickets. No guarantee on parking fee, but many others got their refund for it that day. Here's my factual story:
Why is dishonesty, incompetence, and immorality an integral way your company does business? Many people today had to spend hours in line to get their first meal the whole day. The fact of the matter is that I personally spent 5 hours in a totally disorganized line for a patrami or buffalo wings. Why did your company and vendors condone this? Why weren't customers offered refunds for their ticket admission?Why weren't the customers in line given timely valid updates, refunds and water? Customers were given nothing but a pin from the restaurant. Others heard we could get a refund for admission if they do it before 4pm. I was in my first line until 5pm. and no announcement was made by any staff or security. No security or staff organized lines to food vendors until 6pm. The events for the day close at 10pm. I never witnessed any security-in yellow shirts organize lines until 6pm. How do you explain that fact? How can you defend the great incompetence displayed by the planning and execution of all the staff involved? The event didn't open its doors until 1230pm and it was advertised that people could enter 1.5 hrs. before 12pm. Then, the computers to charge money on wrist bands was down. The I.T. guys didn't bother to test the software, which was quoted by a staff member in a food line. She had a badge on-staff printed on it. People who paid $300 for their wrist band were supposed to be able to walk through the front entrance. They didn't because the staff didn't tell anyone in line about the policy and there were no signs to explain the policy and format. How can you explain this fact? The company oversold the event(even selling tickets that day), they projected 5K people and got 10K+, they made the excuse everybody showed up at the same time-total lie and total nonsense, gave no water or a scrap of food to anyone- especially a 2 year old boy, the elderly, or those who baked in the unshaded sun for 5 hours straight.
My friends and I demand a full refund for the completely unacceptable level of incompetence and poor business practices that we endured this day.

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Thanks for posting the LiveNation customer service number (1.888.598.4299).

Phoned now (9:45am PST), held for about 5 minutes and spoke with Mike.

I can confirm that they are giving refunds, no questions asked. Mike didn't even ask why, he just took my order number (for 8 tickets, around $200) and said they'd have a full refund within a few days.

Mike apologized on their behalf, though he wasn't aware of what happened as these guys are located in Virginia, having heard only that it wasn't fun so please don't go in guns blazing - these customer service guys had nothing to do with it.

After 4 p.m. people using cash seemed to have a great time buying food at lines that were most often 15 minutes or less, and never more than half an hour.

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This is a LIE. We left at 5 with no end in sight. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

@PIGMON: A few responses. 1) Your metaphor confuses appreciation and understanding. 2) Not eating much bread in my house, where it would exclusively be used for sandwiches, has nothing to do with enjoying and even loving a good pizza crust. 3) I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that pizza is all about bread. Cheese, toppings and sauce are generally all critical components of a great pie. There are white pizzas that are great, and I can appreciate those who view Margherita as the epitome of pizza, but even in those cases, there is a whole lot more than simply bread needed to make the pie great.

@Daniel Looks like I better start paying more attention to your Chi-town articles. Not only would I have known what a great place it is, but I would have known it was too small for AR's party. Unfortunately I have not plans to be in the area. However, I had no plans to be in Phoenix and I'm now heading there next Thursday so you never know. I wanna meet this guy and try his pies. BTW, I did a search on "Pulled Port" I got nuthin'.

Ciao,

Paulie Gee