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Where to Get Paczki, King Cake, and Other Fat Tuesday Treats in 2026

WTTW / by Daniel Hautzinger / February 5, 2026 The stars have aligned this year to have Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday fall on the same day, February 17. That means Chicagoans will be forgetting the first cold, snowy winter in a few years by feasting on everything from New Orleans' iced king cake to the Chinese glutinous rice cake nin gou. In this heavily Polish city, of course, Mardi Gras is popularly known as Pączki Day, in honor of the filled doughnuts traditionally made to use up fat