Taste. Chandler’s Culinary Festival

A cute little festival located in downtown Ocotillo, Taste showcased over 30 restaurants and catering companies. Restaurants included Roy’s, Grimaldi’s, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and San Tan Brewery. For $ 65 (Or less, if you used a discount code from the Facebook site), you could have unlimited samples, and 12 free drinks. While this is a good deal if you are planning on using all 12 drinks for alcohol, it’s expensive admission if you are a designated driver, or if you just don’t drink alcohol. Drinks used towards the 12 free drinks included wine, beer, and sodas by the can. Water was also available at the booths, and was unlimited.
The only odd part of the night was at the entrance, where volunteers checked for ID. I got my ID checked in the long line before the festival opened, then headed to the entrance when the gates opened. As I was about to cross another volunteer grabbed me by the arm and pulled me aside just as I was going to cross to frantically ask me if I had my ID checked yet. Wtf? Perhaps the volunteers should have more manners than to randomly grab patrons that are WELL over the age of 21 to see if their IDs have already been checked. Just a thought!
I was hoping the restaurants would showcase some of their signature dishes, or a representation of what their restaurant’s food focus is, and unless most of them focus on bbq sandwiches, a good number of the samples were some kind of slider, usually with pulled pork. After eating my 10^th pulled pork slider, I was looking for more variety. Some restaurants did showcase a more unique dish, such as Roy’s lobster potsticker, and Otaku’s sushi roll with Cheetohs.
One of the standouts of the festival was actually a beverage stand. I was impressed with the Espresso Italia booth, which had refreshing varieties of iced tea, coffee, and a mighty cappuccino that was crafted to near perfection.
Most vendors had some sort of discount coupon for any future visits to their restaurant. The best of the discounts came from Roy’s, who offered a $ 20 gift card– very nice!
Overall, a fun way to spend a Saturday night.