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    Cooking Fools

    4.2 (117 reviews)
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    Halisa V.

    I came here once with my friend for the Pasta Making Techniques class and we had a blasttttt! It was such a random thing for us to do on a random Wednesday night but the randomness made it even more fun! The instructor was easy to follow, everything was well organized and the finished product tasted amazing! We made two kinds of pasta with two kinds of sauces. After taking this class I felt 100% confident in my pasta making skills. I recommend this class for all you homemade cooking foodies out there and even those of you who would like to learn a thing or two about homemade cooking. Pasta making is definitely a random skill to have but it just makes you a little bit more awesome!

    Pasta
    Jennifer L.

    Now, I will preface this review by saying that I'm a terrible cook. I can't even prepare food correctly and I've been known to use the microwave incorrectly. For example, I once forgot to add water to microwavable oatmeal and made Easy Mac wrong. I am the type of person that can burn water. My boyfriend, on the other hand, enjoys cooking. So, I saw a Groupon for the pasta making class and bought it as a Christmas gift. Deep down I was terrified since my cooking skills are beyond subpar. First of all, for the sake of your other class members, please try to get there on time! Our class started at 11:30, but we waited for some latecomers to show up. You can park on North or Milwaukee Avenue, but I'd recommend coming early and trying to snag some free parking on the side streets. They sell booze, non-alcoholic drinks and snacks in the deli. You can't BYOB. I highly recommend coming in with an empty stomach since a lot of pasta is made! You start by picking out your station. There's an upper level too so you can have an aerial view of what's going on. Then you wash your hands and weigh your ingredients. You can choose to pick up a prepared tray of ingredients if you aren't confident in your abilities to measure them out. (Spoiler alert: I took a prepared one.) Then the chef demonstrates how to make the pasta dough. After that, it's all hands on deck! Don't fret if your dough doesn't look like everyone else's! The chef and another chef will come around to assist you if you need it. (Spoiler alert: I didn't since the boyfriend was there to bail me out!) Eventually, your dough will be shaped into a ball that you put on a pan to rest. Three volunteers helped the chef make the vodka sauce for the pappardelle, basil sauce for the ravioli and red pepper ricotta filing for the ravioli. After that, you roll out your dough using the machines at your station. The pappardelle is more of a free form noodle, which is what the chef recommends that you make if your dough is less than perfect. The chefs then take the pasta into the back to cook it. You don't get to eat what you made, which may or may not be a good thing. The pasta is served with a salad. You also get to take home what you made. In terms of taste, the pasta was good, but you could tell the inconsistencies since multiple people made it. I really liked the basil sauce and the almonds were a nice touch. The vodka sauce was just OK and needed some more flavor. Overall, great class and I definitely recommend it for a date night or good time with friends. We got a deal for 40% off another class as well so we may do that.

    Firecracker shrimp
    Jonathan C.

    CORPORATE EVENT REVIEW Fun place for a cooking event. We made a TON of food! There was a great variety of food for our event empnadas, mini pizzas, bacon wrapped dates, thai beef salad skewers, desserts, etc. They setup 4 stations so there was plenty of options and they had people signup for what they were interested. It was pretty casual, they started off with a MASSIVE MALCAJETE of GUACAMOLE!!! XD http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=8i35EE32BFahVuMw5oSZVQ Great way to start off. Everything was timed very well so people could casually mingle but they do put you to work, cause you're basically assembling all the food. That's a pro but also a bit of the con. My gripe is that you're not really doing the cooking, just the assembling of the dishes. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=hLbRLqoD3iF6eBOnzcIFcQ A lot of the flavors and ingredients are already put together so you don't really get to learn how much to put. I assume if they provide the recipes that will work. The flavors were definatley robust, but several of the dishes were on the salty side (3 of the 9 dishes) Not as satisfying for those who like/want to learn to cook but overall it's a great experience for casual cooks and coorporate events. Food pics MINI PIZZAS http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=YFR2rTbVV0PkPEq-7zIi9g CHICKEN and MANCHENGO EMPANADAS http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=lkwIF0i7MFlAO0Svc1Ghig GOAT CHEESE and BUTTERSQUASH QUESADILLAS http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=zIObuz666J5mGRGm0Qjoxw FIRECRACKER SHRIMP http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=0mTR-vgLxekJUrQYrG9Biw MEETBALLS STUFFED with CHEESE http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cooking-fools-chicago-2?select=Tw0ZbOIal_8L5fTNjVfbvQ Fun even for first time and I would do it again with a request for less salt in the food and recipes for guest to take home.

    Doug p.

    Cooking Fools really has impressive, and varied menu items. Plus they carry some interesting fresh, newer products. They offer cooking classes, catering, and lunch!

    Pre-class kitchen selfie!

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Cooking Fools

    Review Highlights - Cooking Fools

    Nick and Nate were our instructors and they kept the class informative, enjoyable, and running at a good pace.

    Mentioned in 14 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    I recently attended the "Hands-On Essential Building Blocks" class at The Chopping Block! The 9…read morehours of cooking certainly paid off with some delicious meals! Although I did think the chef in charge was very knowledgeable, and the meals did turn out fabulous, I was a little disappointed with the class structure for a few reasons. 1. For the price of this class, I assumed that we would all be individually learning to cook each component - that was not the case as we were put together into teams of four where we divided responsibilities. So not all building block skills were able to be practiced by all team members. I had chosen this class because I wanted to learn these building block skill hands-on. However, if you're looking to meet new friends this may just be the spot for you! 2. Like I mentioned, the meal we made was super delicious. But in my opinion, it's creativeness / the fact that it wasn't more simple skipped over some of the true basic skills needed in everyday kitchen use. For example, I wish we had learned more about pan use / heating up / etc. And because we had so many components to the meals, some of the lessons felt kind of rushed where we weren't necessarily able to dive deeper into those questions since there were so many people per amount of chef / helpers I do think that this is a great org, but perhaps I would have felt more bang for buck in a more specified topic / shorter class

    I received a gift card for a cooking class for Christmas so decided to use it for a date night last…read moreweek. We chose a Cajun themed meal and it was a really good time. They were super organized. We were split into four groups and each group worked together to create a 4 course meal. Our meal consisted of bbq shrimp, Cajun crab dip, jambalaya, and bread pudding. The chef leading the class was really entertaining and had a lot of great pro tips. There were some other chefs assisting in clean up along the way and taking drink orders. My wife and I really enjoyed our experience and can't wait to come back.

    Get in the Kitchen - Friday Night fun

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    Lakeview

    An unforgettable cooking class--pure joy from start to finish!…read more I cannot rave enough about this cooking class. Four friends and I signed up on a whim, and it turned into one of the most memorable evenings we've had together in ages. The highlight was learning how to make fresh fettuccine from scratch--yes, from scratch--and somehow the instructor Jason made the whole process feel both totally doable and ridiculously fun. From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere was warm, welcoming, and buzzing with good energy. Jason was patient, hilarious, and incredibly knowledgeable, guiding us through every step without ever making it feel intimidating. Before long, we were kneading dough, rolling it out like pros, and cheering each other on as our pasta strands got longer and more impressive. And the best part? Sitting down together at the end to enjoy the meal we created. The pasta was unbelievably fresh--silky, tender, and honestly better than many restaurant dishes I've had. Unfortunately, we ate so fast. We forgot to take a picture! Sharing that meal with friends made it even more special. After we ate, we were entertained by the fabulous Yuiza Beach! A local entertainer from Rogers Park. She was funny and charismatic, and kept us in stitches the whole time! Her performance was as fabulous as she was If you're looking for a unique, hands-on experience that blends learning, laughter, and seriously delicious food, this class is a must. We left full, happy, and already planning our next visit. Highly, highly recommended!

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    Give Me Some Sugar

    Give Me Some Sugar

    (129 reviews)

    Roscoe Village

    My mother-in-law and I took the French Macaron 101 class on Sunday and loved it! Jerry (the owner…read moreand teacher) was both knowledgeable and patient - he was very thorough with explanations and answered all of our questions. The class was structured well, and I feel like I could try making macarons again after this class! You get sent home with the how-to packet, as well as emailed a troubleshooting packet, and instructions on how to make the buttercream filling. It was the right mix of explanation and hands on experience. Overall both of us really enjoyed this class! At the end you get to fill some macarons for you to take home and enjoy later. My husband also loved them! Fun fact: if you go to 4 classes you get your fifth one free. Also if you have 5 people you can do a private class which sounds so fun! Can't wait to come back again.

    For our annual holiday get together at The Kemper Golf Club, part of the festivities included…read morecookie decorating, provided by Give Me Some Sugar. Chef Jerry and Thomas were just too adorable and so very helpful in getting up set up as well as explaining the use of the various frostings in the tubes, showing us the proper way to not only get the frosting out of the tubes but how to apply it to the cookie, They were so helpful, making sure we had everything we needed. As we got to the end of the activity, we didn't even have to get up to get the provided boxes to put our cookies in....they brought them over. I did not eat my decorated cookies because I am not a fan of frosting on cookies, but the three plain ones I saved were delish the next day when I had them with my morning coffee. What I liked about the activity was that Chef Jerry and Thomas were there to make sure all of the tables had what they needed and to answer questions, but they were not micromanaging us. They allowed us to do our thing and have fun. Honestly when I heard what the activity was going to be, I wasn't feeling it. But Tom and Jerry (just had to say that one...HAHAHAHA) made it a very fun experience.

    Cooking Fools - venues - Updated May 2026

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