Taste Of Syracuse

Make sure you go during a non-​peak time or you will feel like a fish swimming up stream.
Also, the places do have good food but it seems that it’s mainly like the $ 1 that gets you in and then they try to up sell you by having full sized things. Some places have nice samples, but other places… Not really worth it. Or they don’t advertise the $ 1 samples so you’ll get a bigger portion or something. Most people got full sized meals not samples it seemed which kind of defeated the purpose of trying out new places. They shouldn’t have places like Arby’s and Pizza Hut… That’s not a «taste of Syracuse.» I was disappointed with the venue. It seemed like more of a drinking festival but…
I can see why people drink here, I’m not a drinker, but this place would probably be more tolerable if you were drunk.

My biggest problem with the Taste of Syracuse is that it used to be a cheap way to sample the local cuisine, but it’s turned into «Alright, which single place do I want to spend $ 10 to eat at today?» I think they’ve recently started enforcing a mandatory $ 1 item for each shop, but that only turns into offerings of a single chicken wing, or tiny little side dishes.
I wish the local restaurants would treat the Taste as a marketing opportunity to showcase their best foods and not just a way to make a quick buck! Give me a fair portion for a dollar or two so that I come to your restaurant with a group of friends where you can make up for it!
Also, don’t even get me started on non-​food booths being allowed to be there!

Consider it a gluttony precursor to the State Fair. It could use less corporate influence (Tops, Arby’s, Moe’s, Spaghetti Warehouse, etc…) but otherwise it’s a great showcase of local food at great prices.

2 days of food and music. I went on both Friday and Saturday and I have to say it’s much better to go on Friday. Perhaps it was the bands that were playing but trying to walk across the vendors on Saturday afternoon/​night was like trying to drive through NYC in rush hour. By 7pm it was literally PACKED! Friday around noon/​lunch time was much nicer with waits of 0 – 10 minute long (average more around 2 – 3 mins).
Food was okay. This was my first taste and I didn’t expect to spend so much. I wish some of the places gave out more of a variety of samples.
As an example, appethaizing (Thai restaurant) gave out shrimp or coconut/​banana fritters for $ 1 each and the next thing they had was pad Thai for $ 7… I wouldn’t mind a smaller portion and less money so I could spend it on more stores. Another thai restaurant had curry puff/​spring roll/​summer roll as their appetizers for $ 1 and pad thai or curry dish for $ 7. This wasn’t just the thai restaurants, but a lot of them. I would recommend bringing $ 20 – 40 to try out a large variety. Some vendors only have their appetizers as samplers so if you want to try out other dishes, you would have to pay $ 5 – 10 for it which increases the total quite quickly. I wish they had samplers for all their dishes. Also beer/​wine will cost you $ 5−10(minimum) per cup/​serving.
Overall, It is a very nice event with some nice music and quiet a variety of vendors to try out.

Great food, great prices. Too much ratchetness but I guess that can’t be controlled. I’ve never been to a festival where the prices are so good. Sample cups really are a fantastic idea if u don’t want a full size portion like most festivals make u purchase.

This is our second year and it’s always a great activity. Lots of restaurants and their samples, music, beer, wine slushies, plenty of portable potties. It gets busy and busier the later it gets. Asti, bonefish grill, Dyno, Café Kubal truck, Columbus bakery, peppinos and much more. We always have a great time. Go visit and taste samples, enjoy the music and the nice weather.

AMAZING! I’m not from NY and I’m a HUGE foodie so this event was perfect! I got to try a TON of different places and it was all a $ 1 a piece. I think my favorite was this Thai place. They had the most amazing wonton to try that I’ve ever tasted. The place that was selling homemade and locally bought tomato sauce was really tasty too. I definitely liked that the place was big enough to accommodate the amount of people that showed up. There were three stages and a bunch of bands. I definitely had a great time and would absolutely do this again and again!