Taste of Downtown Burbank

Great suprise when i came to Burbank great food and i really liked it can not wait to return.

A purchased wristband to be able to try an unlimited variety of samples from local restaurants? Whoo!
Although I only tried a small amount from each booth, I couldn’t even finish all the samples I received! The portions were enough to fill me up– and was just as tasty! Definitely worth checking out if you live in or near Burbank.

Preface: Thank you Katie B for the tickets! Unilocal hooked it up! This review reflects everything except the Beer Garden.
I had the honor of winning some tickets via a Unilocal contest and decided to take a trip in rush hour traffic from Long Beach to Burbank (almost 2 hours). Upon arriving, downtown Burbank was buzzing with traffic. I’m pretty unfamiliar with the area and the maps weren’t helping since some streets were closed, but eventually we found our way. There are several parking structures in the downtown area that provided free parking. They were all jam packed but we scored a win and found street parking 1 block away. Good times.
Upon arriving, we were able to absorb the gravity of our situation, and what we were about to get ourselves into. Several blocks of street closed off to traffic with people buzzing about. The smells in the air were making my mouth water and I came well prepared with an appetite. We arrived at the Will Call tent to pick up our tickets and started our journey.
The event provides «Green «services. This included a heavy duty cardboard type food tray that was reused over and over during the night, a cup, fork/​knife/​spoon, and a napkin. Also, at several spots along the event were trash /​compost /​recycle bins manned by eager «green» staffers here to educate and sort the mess.
I have to say that one of my favorite moments of the night was the band «Phat Cat Swinger». I haven’t heard music like this since Brian Setzer back in the late 90’s. I LOVED IT! Too bad I can’t dance swing, or it would have been a sight to behold.
TO THE FOOD!
I’d say 90% of the booths were food related. There were some amazing choices, such as Octopus Japanese Restaurant, PF Changs, Gordon Biersch, Chipotle, Kabuki, and a multitude of others! Water was provided along with a Beer Garden (at an extra fee). Everything was so delicious. Literally everything. I was surprised, thinking it would be small samples and not full flavored like you’d experience inside the restaurant. I was wrong. The burgers were juicy. The Thai food was robust. The Mexican food was, well, Mexcellent. Topped the night off with several types of ice cream. Overall, it was a win.
The service was also great. Not a single person had an attitude. Everyone from the guests, to the Burbank Police, the security /​event staffers, and more-​so — the restaurateurs. Very gracious and happy to be out in the cold weather.
I’m definitely coming next year!

I’ve had this on my bookmark (to review) for a while and thought I’d put in my two cents.
«It’s worth it!»
Thanks, bye :)

I was looking for local volunteer opportunities and I came across, «Taste of Downtown Burbank». I thought this was interesting and I didn’t know one existed in Burbank.
As part of the volunteer crew, we were able to sample any food booths during our breaks. Let me tell you, I recommend this to everyone next year! All of the restaurants gave generous portions and a lot had to make multiple stops back bc they kept running out of food (some ran out of their popular dishes and couldn’t go back bc their restaurant was further from the location of the event). Even yogurtland gave a regular sized yogurt w/​toppings! I thought it was just going to be those sample cups (it was bigger than ben and jerrys and pinkberry!).
A Lot of people didn’t know this event was occurring and turned their night out for dinner into Taste of DT Burbank!
Ticket pricing:
$ 30 for adults
$ 15 for kids
$ 10 for the wine and beer garden
All proceeds donated to the local YMCA!
About an hr left of the evening, we lowered ticket prices bc vendors ran out of food, but it was still a great deal!
Live entertainment, nice weather outside, good vibes! There were live demos from guest chefs and live music across from the wine & beer garden.
Definitely a fan. I would come check it out next year if I’m not volunteering!

This event is amazing and so much fun! It was so easy to spend that $ 35(food and drinks) knowing I would be able to stuff myself silly with samples of different foods.
There are tons of booths offering samples of reallllly delicious food. It was a little crowded at first but lines went by quickly. Fun music and people dancing… what a wonderful night to be outside with friends and a full belly! :)
We parked in the public parking structures by the AMC plaza… which is basically where this event is held. There were plenty of parking (free!) when we got there around 7pm. Oh and not only do they provide plates. but there are also water stations along the way to fill your cups with water! cools!
I can’t wait for next year… my friends and I have already decided to make this an annual event!

A million thanks to Sarah A. for the pair of free Unilocal tickets to this wonderful event!
It was a night of gluttony I won’t soon forget.
For actual food food, we gorged on Brazilian BBQ, thai, indian, sushi, burgers, and much, much more! For dessert, we had ice cream, tiramisu, cupcakes, pastries, and caramel apple slices (they were giving out WHOLE ones but started to run out… darn!)
My favorite food vendors were Porto’s and Haagen Dazs. I kept going back for more ice cream, and ended up getting three scoops of three different flavors. Mmm. I had a scoop of Half Baked from Ben and Jerry’s too. And along with the Porto’s desserts I ate, I took home a crème brûlée, red velvet cupcake, and a hard candy apple. YES I AM A GREEDY, GREEDY LITTLE GIRL, muahaha!
I was disappointed with Kabuki’s offerings. And honestly, you know what a CPK pizza tastes like… I tended to stray away from the generic chains and tried some of the more «exotic» goodies that I wouldn’t normally try. Portions are just the right size too, I think. You don’t get TOO full before you’ve tried all you want to try. Then you can go back for seconds of the things you want.
Unilocal was awesome enough to also include tickets to the beer and wine garden, so the boyfriend enjoyed that. You get 5 samples of 4oz. cups of beers or wine.
What I wish I had known beforehand:
–You can get blue plastic plates at a table up front… it reduces waste and gives you more room to get more samples! But they ran out by the time I got there.
–Parking is a *$#(%)*$ (but free!)
–Gotta get the whole apples while you can
–Take your time. I was running around and stressing out for the first 30 minutes thinking that the lines would take forever and then the vendors were going to run out of food… they won’t, don’t worry! So enjoy and TAKE YOUR TIME!
Major props to the city of Burbank for putting this event on… I can’t wait for next year’s! And I will be certain that the $ 20 – 30 ticket price (that goes to the Burbank YMCA) will be TOTALLY WORTH IT!