The Best Way to Preview All the Good Eats in Buffalo!
Every summer the Taste of Buffalo offers everyone, not just foodies, the chance to try just about any cuisine they could possibly conceive.
Taste of Buffalo is an event held in Downtown Buffalo along Delaware Ave from 11 on Saturday morning until 7 Sunday night (well, there is a break between then, of course) with over 60 restaurants to sample some of their best and most popular dishes.
Taste of Buffalo works like this:
- Walk up to the ticket tables located throughout Taste of Buffalo along Delaware Avenue and buy a book of tickets, which if I’m not mistaken costs $20.
- Pick up a guide that shows a map of all the booths and the featured menu at each booth. Take a few minutes to look it over, either dog-earring or penning in which places you’ve wanted to try for a while, which ones grab your attention, or which menu items look delicious.
- Take tickets to each restaurant booth you’ve marked throughout the Taste of Buffalo and based on the menu, pay 2, 3, 4 or 8 tickets for samplings of their food. Based on past experience, 8 tickets will get you decent portion, but that makes your tickets go really fast, so sticking to the lower end of the ticket cost makes the experience last longer and you get to try more food. It’s all about the sampling anyways, right?
- Enjoy the event with cooking show demonstrations, live music, food competitions, beer tents and wine slushies to break up the tasting. Yeah, wine slushies. Don’t bash ’em til you’ve tried ’em.
Speaking of events, some of the events are mixing it up, literally. Alongside food competitions and demonstrations you would expect to see, there will also be an interview of a local celebrity over wine, a presentation of the health benefits of juicing, Home Brewing 101, and a Lockhouse Vodka Summer Cocktail Competition. I’ve attended culinary stage events in years prior and if I’ve even been remotely interested in the subject, I’ve walked away happy (and sometimes with extra tidbits of food samples).
So How Was 2014’s? Read about it here in the Taste of Buffalo 2014 Follow Up!
As for the actual tasting of Buffalo, NY, this year looks to provide a pleasing line up. Every year you can expect to see a few of the same (Jack Astors, Saigon Cafe, and Red Osier, to name a few), but with all the comings of new restaurants in the Nickel City, there are plenty of fresh establishments to sample from. Among the restaurants you can expect to see Merge, The Lodge, Caribbean Experience, and even Louies Hot Dogs who will be featuring a Veggie Dog, which I think I’d like to try.
This is a great opportunity for vegetarians to get out there for an all-in-one go to test the waters of restaurants. While not everyone will have vegan or vegetarian fare, plenty of places will be able to meet your needs and it’s a great way to get out and enjoy the summer in the city!
All images courtesy TasteofBuffalo.com