Foodies Rejoice! Taste of DC 2015

Foodies Rejoice! Taste of DC 2015

Every October, foodies, food trucks and those simply drawn in by the smell of grilling steak and whispered rumors of free mini cupcakes take over Pennsylvania Ave from 3^rd St – 7^th St in celebration of all things culinary. The Taste of DC 2015 food festival invites you to come eat, drink and be merry with masses of presumably jolly friends and strangers in a pop-up festival environment sure to please every palette. Sixty plus local food vendors; an alleyway of food trucks; beer, wine and spirit samplings up to your eyeballs and a limitless variety of specialty foods, usually served in adorable miniature portions on adorable miniature hot dog trays – what’s not to be jolly about? Kick off the almost-Halloween season and warm up your Thanksgiving gut busting game with a weekend of good eats and finger-lickin good fun.

The festivities run from noon-7pm the weekend of October 11-12. General admission is $20, children 6-12 are admitted for $10 and kiddos under 5 are free. All tickets include a free drink upon entry and a coupon for a free entree from ShopHouse after the event. Visit the Eventbrite page to purchase tickets online ahead of time, or bring cash – ticket purchases the day of the event will be cash only and many vendors will only be accepting cash payment. All food vendors will be featuring a tasting menu item for $3 or less and a spread of their most popular menu samplings, all for under $8 per dish. Check out the full line up of restaurants, food trucks, “epicurean exhibitors” and more that will line Restaurant Row and Food Truck Alley here.

Multiple beverage stations along Restaurant Row will be pouring out beer, wine, soda and water; and the Beer Garden, Wine Walk and Cocktail Corner provide more exclusively alcohol themed environments for those looking to keep their palette free from distractions. The Beer Garden will have 50 plus beers on tap and on hand with 5 oz samples and 14 oz pours available to the tune of live music all weekend long. The Wine Walk also features over 50 selections to sample or guzzle, and you are cordially invited to dawn your whiskey jacket when the sun goes down at the Cocktail Corner, where serious mixologists will be mixing up serious drinks.

When you can eat no more, there’s no reason you can’t still enjoy watching food, or watching others eat it. Stumble over to the culinary stage for brief breaks between munching and boozing, and catch some festive cooking demos from top DC chefs while you’re there. If you think you can take it, set your iPhone alarms to Chili Time and don’t miss the World Chili Eating Championship. Follow the link to see inspiring photos of last year’s champions.

Feel good about indulging for a cause – this year’s event will benefit Brainfood: A Recipe for Youth Development. Brainfood is a DC non-profit organization that empowers young people with the tools to succeed through culinary education and other life skills training programs. Through Brainfood’s special programming, DC area youth learn to be self-reliant active learners who can put healthy living skills to use for their own continued success. Visit the organization’s website to learn more, become involved or donate today.

At the end of a long day of celebratory gluttony, you should be happily comatose and well on your way to Thanksgiving ready. Bring on the Holiday season!