Taste of Addison

Four stars people. Are you serious? … and I think it’s Taste! Addison because they are too cool for the «of» and need an exclamation point!!!
Besides the fact that you can see semi-​relevant acts here doesn’t excuse the facet that it is a major pain in the ass to go.
First, the parking, as it always is at Addison events, is atrocious. Second, they screw you on the cost. Sure you can get in before 5 for a discounted cost, but you are going to spend way more in that in beer before the decent band you came to see goes on. Not to mention the fact that you are going to pay out the ass for decent parking & it’s still going to be a clusterf*ck when you leave. Do your self a favor & go to Wildflower instead. Your welcome.

This was probably my fourth or fifth year at Taste Addison (note: there’s not an «of» in the name), and it feels like the event is becoming less about the food and more about the entertainment and non-​food vendors. Not that that’s a terrible thing, maybe, but it does still have «Taste» in the name. I also think that the explosion of food trucks in the Metroplex has made the concept of «small bites from a variety of sellers in one place» a bit less unique.
Having said all of that, we had a good time at this year’s event. We tried food from several places (Henry’s Ice Cream, drool!) and most of it was quite good, if a bit spendy. The seating was a little sparse, even for a Sunday, but we managed. There were bands playing most of the day, and while we didn’t go to the stage area, there was a big screen showing the stage near the main food seating area that allowed us to see the sights.
Bottom line, maybe the new has worn off, but it’s still a decently fun destination.

This is a great festival.
Not sure if this is always the deal, but this year getting there before 5 saved us a few bucks.
I went down to see the Blue October show and found an awesome festival of food, music, crafts, and arts.
They had food demos from some of the top chiefs in the area. As well as all the tasty eats your stomach could hold.
Loved the way this festival is put together and look forward to coming back in the future.
P. S. Blue October rocked.

I haven’t been to this event in many years, but I’m really glad I went this time. The concert lineup was great, and there was quite the crowd. Mrs. B and I got to sample some really good ice cream, too.

Taste of Addison was great and setup perfectly. The city does an awesome job coordinating this event. Great food, booze and music. Hats off to the city of Addison.

We go to Taste Addison most years and always have a fun time.
It gets bigger every year and has tons local restaurants represented with small booths (70 at last count) plus kids activities if you come in the day, Bands at night (this year was Blue October) and plenty of drinking spots, beer sales, wine tasting etc etc.
This year there were so many teenagers… never experienced it like that before but it made it super easy to get drinks as the queues were almost non existent
Most foods are around 2 – 9 dollars and give a decent sampling but most restaurants don’t have their best options. just their most popular or generic options so the Thai places won’t have their hottest curries and the Indian restaurants tend to just bring out a generic tikka masala.
Favourites of mine who come every year are Thai orchid, chamberlains and fogo de chao.
We always go at night as its cooler (event is always in May and always hot!)
Also we always book their hotel package rate, mwhich is a great deal
It includes a local (walking distance) hotel, 2 tickets to the event and $ 10 in food bucks. We try and get the spring hill suites as that’s the closest and also has a hot breakfast and parking included.
It’s so worth the money and then everyone can drink and have some fun!!!

Our newest adventure this weekend was experiencing «Taste of Addison.» I have always wanted to try one of these «Taste of’s», and when I heard about the upcoming Addison event, we marked it on our calendar. We did some research and found out it was much cheaper to go during the day– so Saturday afternoon it was. We arrived at Addison Circle to find fair rides, booths of all kinds, and finally what we had been waiting for… all of the food booths! We had printed out the restaurant list and all of the menu offerings the night before to very carefully devise a plan. There were around 70 restaurants there to pick from so you can imagine how overwhelming that could be. The menu prices ranged from a $ 2– $ 8.
We ended up at Texas de Brazil first and ordered the sampling of steak, sausage, and bacon wrapped chicken. O.M.G… one day I HAVE to go to this place. The meat was so tender and so flavorful. Amaaaaazing. Next stop, BJ’s for some pizza. Jared, my husband, is the pizza lover, but my few bites were very satisfying. On our way to «The Londoner», Jared spotted «Wild Bills Olde Fashioned Soda Pop Co.» We quickly found out that it was $ 12 bucks for a drink, despite the cool keepsake mug and unlimited refills, Jared opted to just sample all the flavors– for free. ha. His favorites were rocky mountain root beer, vintage vanilla cream, and gatling gun grape. A great booth, but we can’t seem to figure out if and where this place is actually located. Strange. We finally made it over to The Londoner for some fish and chips. I have been craving some fried catfish (yes I’m a country girl at heart) lately and decided it was time to get my fix. They were okay, but would have been nice to have a hush puppy with that basket. Ziziki’s Taverna offered us a lamb gyro and… ummm…WOW. I have a high standard for gyro’s after having one at Niko Niko’s in Houston (I dare anyone to find a better gyro than the one there). However, Ziziki’s gyro just entered the race. The pita was perfectly seasoned, the lamb tender, the tzatziki sauce consistency impressive. Yes, I will be visiting the actual restaurant very soon! Our last stop was Henry’s homemade ice cream. We sampled the black raspberry and, of course, cinnamon. Though very melty (it was 93 degrees out), the flavors were good.
We definitely enjoyed the experience and have some new restaurants bookmarked to hit up! If you’ve never done a «Taste of.» event, I definitely recommend it. Dallas has theirs coming up in July!

Awesome place to try all the great foods of Addison. Too bad it only happens once a year

I love festivals/​fairs, outdoor live music, booths selling knickknacks and novelty items, and of course… food. Addison Circle is a great place to host these kind of activities. I also realized it’s actually «Taste Addison», not «Taste of Addison».
With all that said, bring lots of cash and shoes you can actually walk in. If you go during the day, bring a hat or umbrella because shade is scarce! There are not that many trees, and most of them line the walkways anyway. There are some tables and chairs so you may find a place to sit if you don’t mind sharing it with someone else.
Entry is $ 15 after 5pm. You can get $ 5 entry before then and leave with a stamp so you can reenter later. Expect lots of children during the day, especially around the fountains and water. If you see a grown woman playing in the fountains, that’s probably me.
I like how you can sample a variety of foods all in one place. I do not like how there were a lot of franchises: Genghis Grill, Freebirds, Dickey’s, BJs??! I did NOT come out to try the average chain restaurant. My favorites are Fogo, Thai Orchid (they offer a whole peeled mango with salt, sugar, and chili on the side… yum), and also this Cuban place with fried plantains. The boba place was okay too. I do not recommend the mango tea that comes with these mango pearls in addition to tapioca. I felt a ball come up in my straw and was expecting a chewy tapioca, but instead I got a burst of gross tasting liquid. The fruit pearls from Pinkberry are way better. They do serve shaved ice with fruit which is perfect for a summer day!

How can you not love this!!! Get to sample all the food from around Addison, you get to hear cool bands! This last time Mat Kearny played… That was awesome! It’s just an all around great thing to do with your family and friends!
I will say this, I wish they enforced some type of dress code though… Keep it classy Addison!

I had a great time my first year here! I was stupid and went after 5PM on Saturday so it was $ 15 to get in. That was really dumb because I live super close and could have gone earlier to get a stamp for free re-​entry. Either way by the time we got in the place was packed. It’s amazing how many booths and people they cram into this place.
My favorite plate of the night was the Fogo sampler plate for $ 9. It’s a little mini meal complete with some greens and mashed potato. I also liked the chicken tikka masala from Saffron House. It was super fresh and tasty with the naan. The fish tacos from Chamberlain’s were tasty as well and a good sized portion. Even with all this yummy food, I think my favorite thing I ate that night was the turkey leg from the carnival part of the festival. The carnival was obviously separate because they made you buy tickets for fair food & rides while the rest of the vendors accepted cash only. The ticket line was loooong too. Still that damn juicy ass turkey leg was worth it. Yummmm.
I don’t remember any music but I remember thinking how thankful I was to be able to plop my ass down anywhere and not feel disgusted. Which is funny because my dog poops in this park sometimes :) Don’t worry I always pick up his poop but I’m just sayin’, think twice before you roll around drunk at Taste of Addison,

This was really fun. But like most fairs, it’s expensive to eat and drink.
The atmosphere and music was great. Definitely will be back.

I had a really nice time attending my first Taste of Addison event. I picked up tickets from Albertson’s for $ 10 all day admission. It is $ 15 entry after 5pm at the gate, so I highly recommend getting tickets from Albertson’s if you are planning on going once the sun goes down. I wish I had come with a bigger appetite than what I had. There were so many of my favorite restaurants there and so many that I’ve been wanting to try. I was only able to eat from two booths:
Taste of Cuba — Chicken empanada. I give it a 2 out of 5. I’ve had empanadas with much more meat and less dough, with a ton more of flavor. ($ 3)
Social House — Shrimp and Grits. I loved every bit of this! From the super flavorful grits, to the collard greens than was layered on top of the grits. I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the Social House workers managed to make a bowl of food from a booth look so appetizing. I also had a Peach Bellini from here that was so sweet I had to trash it. ($ 10 for both the dish and bellini)
I love fair food and when I saw the funnel cake booth, I must admit that I got a little crazy. I did not mind paying $ 5 for a funnel cake… after all, it’s considered a delicacy in my book since they are only available during fairs/​carnivals.
The band playing on Saturday night had everyone in the crowd looking sad and tired. I suggest to the planners of this event to use the sad, country singers during the day time and bands that offer more pop/​fun at night.
I definitely plan to attend Taste of Addison next year if I can.

I am looking forward to some good food this weekend. I hope to do some salsa dancing also.

Being a Chicago native let me start off by saying i have a huge bias. Ive been to several taste in several different cities. Although not as big as the taste of chicago, it packed a punch. Not much land to cover. More orientated toward kids, which i guess is a good thing. My daughter had a blast.

Funnnnn! This was my first time attending this festival and I enjoyed it immensely. There was food, funky art, and great music (Third Eye Blind — YEY!). Bring cash and comfy shoes and I promise you will have a blast.
I really love that you’re able to try so many restaurants all in one night.
FYI– There’s really crappy cell phone reception for AT&T users. I tried looking for Tim L. and failed but I got lucky and ran into Tina P. instead. :D

This is an annual festival held in May of each year where many local restaurants in the Addison area bring you portions of their foods for anywhere between $ 5 – 10. Depending on which booth you go to, the portion sizes are actually quite large! For $ 7 at Fogo de Chao, I had the combo plate which consisted of 3 meats (bacon wrapped chicken, 2 sausage links, and juicy pieces of steak), salad, and a small mashed potato! It easily could have been a good sized lunch for a fraction of the regular restaurant. Many of the restaurants are chain restaurants (TGIF, Chilis, Springcreek BBQ) but there was also a good number of smaller restaurants that I tried that I can’t wait to go visit!
TIP: Cash only. ATM fees this year were $ 2.25 so bring cash beforehand!
There’s also a carnival area with a ferris wheel and other attractions but I didn’t try any of them out.
There’s also a row of booths that sell jewelry, art, and other random stuff that you may find interesting.
My favorite part though is the entertainment. They usually try to bring at least one fairly well known act to play. One year it was Gavin Degraw. This year it was Third Eye Blind which was super crowded and had a great vibe.
Free parking in the parking garage across the street!
Also, ticket prices vary. This year it was $ 5 if you got in early, $ 15 after 5 pm. But go to Albertson’s instead. They sell them for $ 10 for use any time!!!

5÷21÷2011−−
This was our 1^st visit to this festival. It was very hot & humid today, but it didn’t rain. Free parking in a nearby indoor parking garage. We got there approx 12:15. We enjoyed the $ 5 early admission fee. There is no way this festival is worth $ 15! The festival grounds are part grass and part walkway. I would’ve enjoyed the grassy area had they hired an «oldies but goodies» singing band like Grapevine did. We enjoyed the Grapevine Main Street Days Festival a lot b/​c of the quaint local shops that we enjoyed as we walked along the way.
I brought lots of $ 5 bills and (20) $ 1 bills to the Addison festival. The charge for using the ATM is posted: $ 2.25. I 1^st ate at The Londoner. I got fish & chips. The piece of fish was OK. They loaded the cardboard trough w/​fries so that killed my appetite for the rest of the festival. We got pizza from Bacci. It was meh just like the fish & chips. The braised BBQ pork shank from the Blackfin was meh. The BBQ sauce was pretty & dark, but sour tasting, not sweet like i had hoped. The Italian Club’ s sausage & pepper sandwich was the most worthwhile item I ate. Luis liked Los Lupes tamales most of all foods. I tasted the cheese sauce and it was full of chili pepper. Twin Peaks mac & cheese w/​bacon was worthless. Sorry we stopped there!
We probably will not go to this festival again. There are very mediocre restaurants there. We like Texas de Brazil, subsequently I got really sick at their downtown FW location July 4, 2011, and Springcreek BBQ and will continue to go to Springcreek BBQ so we did not stop by their booths. Around 2pm the festival began to get really crowded so go early so that you can enjoy the festival w/​o having to wait in lines. The Zumba outdoor exercising activity was exasperating to watch, not my idea of fun.

Brisket Tacos from Hector’s were so juicy and delicious! I wasn’t expecting these tacos to have have cheese in them but it was a plus!
Jasmine’s had sesame chicken which I really liked because there was more chicken and not an abundance of breading.
Churros from some mexican stand next to the Snuffers stand were da bomb and the girl charged me 50 cents less than menu price.
At snuffers I could not say no to the loaded fries but I was disappointed… I can’t believe I am saying this but there was too much cheese!
At 9:30 on a Friday night I mostly saw 20 somethings drinking, jailbait girls in short little skirts and lingerie for tops. It was a bad idea to be there with a stroller and the way people stared, made me blush. If you want to bring children to this event, bring them during the day!

We headed to Taste of Addision ’09 on the first night (Friday) and were just blown away by the number of people that were there eating food, watching the bands, and at the carnival. People were everywhere, eating, drinking, and being merry.
We started the night by watching Ted Allen’s cooking demonstration. He was funny, knowledgeable, and cooked a nice lemon shrimp dish. After the demo, we were ready to get our eat on!
We picked the food that we thought were «must eats» and circled the booths on the map, in order to make the most efficient use of our time. I mean, you can’t waste your time dilly-​dallying when there’s food on the line. :p Our most-​wanted list included Manny’s for brisket tacos (de-​lish!), Chamberlain’s Catering for chili pie (yum!), Thai Orchid for Yellow Curry (great!), and Henry’s Homeade Ice Cream for a scoop of vanilla (meh).
After filling our bellies, we just wandered around, people-​watched, checked out the carnival, and perused the arts & crafts booths. We had a grand ol’ time. The only bad thing was the sweet potato chips from Blue Mesa Grills… yuck.