Taste Of Cincinnati

Great way to sample the areas cuisine. Love going to this event every year!

I really wanted to like Taste of Cincinnati. I really did. It has history: it’s the longest running culinary festival in the country (go Cincinnati!). There’s always such a to-​do about it and the restaurants that are featured at Taste ramble on and on about this and that item that was featured there. And maybe it’s because I have been to more than half of the restaurant vendors that I wasn’t too excited about the line-​up. I know, #firstworldproblems.
The prices: Everything ranges from $ 3 – 5 (on average) which on the face of it seems pretty affordable. But the portion sizes are a lot smaller than you would get in their restaurants and you’re paying for food that is prepped and in a warmer all day. So you’re actually paying more for mediocre food. So trying a few different places will set you back at least $ 20, not including alcohol.
The food: Every vendor brings in the specialties of the house, or at least the things that will be able to withstand the warmer and humidity and large volumes needed to feed a crowd. In the weeks leading up to the event, judges taste the items that will be served at Taste and there seem to be a LOT of categories (giving off that «everybody wins» mentality). The banners above the individual booths often mark off which items won. Every year, the same vendors attend the event. I wish Taste featured more mom and pop establishments that could really use the publicity and the opportunity to wow the citizens of Cincinnati. Instead, it’s a popularity contest between the big names in town and then the rest of the booths tend to be filled with fairly mediocre to disappointing food from chains around town.
The ambience: Expect crowds. Expect lines. There is nothing to be done about that but the lines do move quickly! It’s a nice, outdoor festival that you get to enjoy with the rest of Cincinnati, and can really be a good time with your family and friends.
I wish this festival reflected the changing food landscape of Cincinnati. Instead, it’s just the same old stuff dished out every year.

Even though I have lived in the NKY/​Cincinnati area for 7 years, just this year I attended my first Taste of Cincinnati. I was excited to go, and it turned out to be an enjoyable and worthwhile experience, once that I would likely repeat next year. Our family of three went on the Sunday before Memorial Day, around noon, so it wasn’t too crowded and we scored a walkable parking space (free since it was the weekend). Also, even though the weather was overcast and drizzly, we much preferred it to blistering hot and humid since the entire event is outdoors.
Pros:
* It’s free — no prepaid admissions. You just show up.
* I THINK you are welcome to bring your own bottles of water or sodas — I did any way, and there were no beverage police barking at me. Sorry, but if we are paying about $ 5-​$ 7 per tasting, and trying to satiate three hearty appetites, I’d rather put that money towards food vendors rather than paying $ 4 for water or soda.
* Organization is good, we enjoyed the food truck alley, and the vendors were neatly compressed.
* FREE SAMPLES! My daughter and I loved these. From P&G hawking free samples of everything from antacids, to Sabra Greek yogurt dip with baby carrots, to oh-​so-​tasty Sara Lee cheesecake brownies, this little area was awesome.
Cons:
* Don’t come on a completely empty stomach, especially if you’re paying for more than yourself, because the food isn’t cheap and the portions aren’t hearty. You will need several samples to feel satisfied, and throw in some beers or non-​alcoholic beverages, you are running about $ 30 a head. I made sure that we filled up on a full breakfast at home, that way by lunchtime, we weren’t starving and could be a little more selective about what we would spend our money on instead of just eating to try to fill up quickly.
* The selection of vendors was more sparse than I thought it would be, which was a little bit of a letdown. However
* It’s small, so after you’ve walked back and forth several times and visited your desired vendors, if you don’t feel like sitting in Fountain Square and taking advantage of the free bands, you get restless and bored (my 12 y.o. and I did). 2 hours is a good amount of time and you’ve seen and tasted everything that you would want to.
Things we sampled, win + worth the money; dud=not: Tom+Chee’s grilled cheese donut (win); Red Sesame’s Korean beef taco (win); Alfio’s Buon Cibo steak ravioli (dud); Eddie’s ribs and a pork sandwich (win for both); Ena’s Jerkman bbq jerk chicken slider (dud). I am kicking myself for not getting Via Vite’s two-​meatball deal or McK&Schmick’s crab slider, but there’s always next year!
I think TOC is a worthwhile trip, and if weather permits, I would definitely return next year.

When my friend invited me down to go to Taste of Cincinnati, I was excited. I’m all about these types of events. Taste of Cincinnati was even better than expected!
First, there were lots of free samples. I didn’t expect to get much of anything free, let alone quality samples! There was a sabra Greek dip with carrots, pad Thai, fruit flavored yogurts, chewy rolaids. Pretty great!
There were a lot of restaurants represented to choose from with relatively inexpensive options at each, even the higher end restaurants. There were also lots of craft beer options, which my company very much enjoyed!
I ate honey roasted corn on the cob and a crab cake and tried several types of beers. I also got to try some of my friends’ selections — a lemon basil Popsicle that was amazing, an enchilada that was declared the best ever.
My only complaint is that when we left Columbus it was 50 and cloudy and when we got to Cincinnati it was 80 and sunny. I got a little burnt and had to resort to putting on a heavy cardigan to avoid getting burned even worse. My poor boyfriend is still peeling. Believe it or not, Taste of Cincinnati even had a response for that. We found a tube of sunblock just sitting, abandoned, on a table. So great!
Overall, Taste of Cincinnati was a really fun time and I’m glad we went! It was a good way to spend a few hours without spending a ton of money and to try some new things. I would definitely go back!

Thoroughly enjoyed my first Taste of Cincinnati experience this year and can’t wait for the next! The music was great, the venues were plenty and the weather was perfect. We tried some new to us food from Food Truck Alley … ah-​maz-​ing!
Red Sesame — Korean BBQ Chicken Taco
C’est Cheese — Bee Sting
Empanadas Aqui — Bad Girl Empanada
Remezo — Baklava
Silver Ladle — Chocolate Covered Cheesecake
And I missed Buona Terra’s booth, but they were there and their Gelato is amazing! Try it!

Such a fun event! I went (for the first time) with my husband and some friends. I was surprised at how organized everything was. We didn’t have to wait any more than a few minutes at any of the vendors. The food tasted great as well (special shout out to Pizza Tower and Yagoot!). I would suggest bringing cash if you thinking about coming out to the Taste of Cincinnati in the future.

I have been coming to the Taste of Cincinnati ever since I was a child and my parents would bring me so I probably have over twenty years of attending. As a result of this I have memories of it being in a different location, having a better food selection, then a worse food selection, now a better beer selection, and now it also looks like the food selection is getting better again. For the last decade, the Taste has been filled with lots of unexciting food options and okay drink choices. The problem is that a lot of the really good restaurants have no interest in attending the festival and so many of the booths aren’t really even Cincinnati restaurants or restaurants at all (something to the sort of vendors that only sell at festivals).
But as Cincinnati as a city is improving it seems that it is carrying over (although at a slower pace) to the Taste of Cincinnati. In the last couple years there was Food Truck Alley which has some of the better options available. Food Truck Alley is about half a block lined on both sides with food trucks and a music stage at the end. Great food choices were there such as shredded goat tacos, steak empanadas, duck confit crostini, awesome popsicles, and much more. The rest of the festival is filled with traditional tents/​booths offering a variety of foods such as Hungarian cucumber salad, papaya salad, fish tacos, dac biet (Vietnamese sandwich), ebiyaki (shrimp ball), okonomiyaki (Japanese seafood pancake), plov (lamb and beef rice pilaf), eggplant and goat cheese sandwich, sausages, meatballs, pizza, mac n cheese, potato pancakes, Rueben sandwiches, jerk chicken, bbq, corn on the cob, gyros, baklava, falafel, grilled cheese, cookies, donuts, gelato, macarons, cheese cake, cream puffs, bread pudding, etc. (do you want me to go on?!)
There was also beer from Christian Moerlein, Rivertown, West Sixth Brewing, Bell’s Brewing, Great Lakes Brewing, Goose Island, Sam Adams, Hudepohl, Kentucky Ale, Yuengling, Heineken, Leinenkugel, Blue Moon, Budweiser, and more. Plus some wine and frozen margaritas. I think that’s a pretty good beer selection for a large street festival and certainly the best selection that has ever been at the Taste.
There are also several stages spread throughout the festival playing a variety of music genres spanning jazz, r&b, rock, zydeco, country, blues, and pop.
I enjoy the Taste of Cincinnati almost every year for a variety of reasons: I love any excuse to be allowed to wander in the street downtown while drinking beer, there are lots of food choices that seem to be getting better as the city improves, street festivals are cool and this one is in the center of downtown, there is a huge diverse crowd that comes out every year, you can go to the top of Carew Tower and look down at the street filled with people, and did I mention drinking beer in the street. So while some people complain about the lack of good food choices and lack of beer choices, I do understand those complaints being a foodie and beerie (yes beerie, not beer snob, beerie) myself but I still think that the Taste is a fun event worth coming to.
Check it out! Fill your belly! Drink some beer! Have fun!

Do NOT pass up Food Truck Alley… some of the tastiest finds in the whole festival.
Went twice this weekend (because 1 trip certainly did not leave enough room to try all of the wonderful things that I wanted to try). Both times I went fairly soon after the Taste opened (like 11:30ish) and I could not be happier with that timing. Everything was available at every booth and the crowds weren’t too big yet and it wasn’t too warm outside. Perfect timing.
Alfio’s – LOVED the prosciutto and red pepper empanada. LOVED. The steak ravioli was better than average, but not really a standout for me either.
Bella Luna – LOVED the banana nutella bread pudding, probably my favorite dessert. The butternut squash lasagna was a good vegetarian option, wasn’t my favorite dish, but would have been an excellent, filling veggie plate.
Empanadas Equi – Everything on their menu is delicious, their tostones were my favorite appetizer-​like dish.
Jenny’s Homemade Cookies – look them up online… their blueberry lemon and their strawberry and white chocolate cookies were unique and DELICIOUS.
McCormick and Schmick’s – crabcake slider… pretty tasty… but their star was the firecracker shrimp taco. I hope desperately that those are on their regular menu… they were probably my favorite entrée-​like dish.
SugarSnap! Sweet Treats – we had strawberry champagne, chocolate caramel toffee, and 1 other (I forget the exact flavor)…all of them had perfect cake/​icing ratio and the flavors of both were paired really well. Super delicious.
To sum it up… if you missed 2015’s Taste… I’d recommend at least heading out to one of the City Flea’s this year and getting to try out some of the really excellent food offerings of the city’s food trucks… they consistently serve food in this kind of format and they’re really on top of their game. And come out in 2016!!!

Taste was HUGE this year, or is it just me?
I went on Saturday for about 5 – 6 hours. I actually was not planning to stay that long, there was just so much to explore!
I went with a friend who had never been, so I planned to show him around. We opted for first walking the strip to see what all was there, and then decide what to eat. With all of the foot traffic and long strip, we ended up stopping for food in the Food Truck Alley. We got some very tasty empanadas from Empanadas Aqui.
Most of the lines everywhere Saturday were very reasonable, and it was mostly walkable everywhere – though not really if you had a stroller or were on wheels. Number of people around and huge lines were an issue for me in the past, so I recommend going early next year like I did this year.
We also liked the range of stages with different types of music. We ended up staying at the P&G Bandstand right on Fountain Square because the band played a good mix of music and from different decades.
My one complaint is about Taste being a cash-​only event. I don’t know very much about the rationale behind this, but I feel like individual stands should be able to make this decision. We only saw one food stand that accepted cards. I personally would have spent more if they accepted cards in more places.

Yay Taste of Cincinnati! This is a Unilocalers dream!!! So much yummy food and the best from Cincinnati all in small affordable portion sizes perfect for grazing. There is alcohol. There is awesome food. There are free samples. There are fun and games to be had. This is one event I look forward to consistently every single year.
This event is the perfect opportunity to try good from restaurants you haven’t made it to yet. I encourage all my Unilocal friends to attend. It’s a blast!

So… I can go to a large festival whose sole purpose is to sell samples of food from vendors all over Cincinnati? And it’s right in the heart of beautiful downtown Cincy? What about this is a Unilocaler not supposed to love?
After arriving here, time was all a blur. Food vendors wall-​to-​wall. I particularly enjoyed my opportunity to try a Reuben from Izzy’s… Something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. Realistically, you can only eat so many things at any one time, so you really need to either walk through and strategize about what you’re going to eat or just jump in whenever and get after it.
I appreciated the small stopping points along the path to stop and catch your breath. Seating around a water fountain, lots of shady areas. I also enjoyed the two food branch-​off areas, one for food trucks (empanadas!) and the other for gourmet restaurants (like Ruth Chris Steakhouse).
I definitely want to come back. This was a lot of fun!

It was a good time and well secured. Also the event did not create a nightmare for downtown traffic. It was a very well run event. There was plenty of food and fun and quite a few side shows and «magic» acts.

Amazing food variety
Unique options
Great entertainment
Excellent backdrop
If you want to people watch this is your place. Some offerings can be a bit stingy as far as portions but some amazingly solid food here! If you get a bit claustrophobic in crowds this is not your place to be.
Does Cincinnati have a teen curfew? They need to implement some sort of anti-​teen noise to disperse the group of unsupervised teenie boppers from the premises

This is great and cool event.
Many restaurants in Cincinnati and much beer!
Also good music live and street performances.
We are family but enjoy a lot. We decide to come next year!
毎年この時期に開催されているこのイベント。ダウンタウン一帯が歩行者天国になり、近隣のレストランが少量づつワンコイン程度で料理を振舞い、どれを食べようか迷ってしまうこと間違いなし。ビールも地ビールを始め各国のを楽しむことができ満足すること間違いなしです。片手にライブ聞きながら過ごすこのイベントしふくのひととき。飲み過ぎ注意！

This was the first time that I had been in years and it was surprisingly hot for the cool weather that we have been having. Unfortunately, we picked Sat. evening to go and there were mass people! So many kids just wandering around in packs. So packed that we moved very slowly through the crowd to the booths like cattle. Fortunately, there were lots of booths to choose from and you are on fountain square with music. I tried a little of everything and the bonus was that the store on the side of the mercantile bldg was open so you could buy cheap drinks. That was a great bonus. Also there were new samples like the towne cracker that was cornbread? I’ll let you marinate on that one. Overall, It was nice to see and be seen at an event that sparks the start of summer.

60 vendors, 70 entertainers, and 550,000 tasters throughout Memorial Day weekend. It was a lot of fun and a great way to get an introduction to restaurants that might not normally come up on Unilocal.
The event was well organized. Although in a crowd, the lines weren’t bad. I’m glad they serve alcohol.

I went four times. Loved it — I enjoyed trying some of those family owned Thai and Italian restaurants. Most restaurants put out 3 appetizers and a dessert which was great for a foodie wanting to try everything. Love that Moerline was everywhere so it was easy to keep the beer flow going. I wish Nada/​Sotto and some of the OTR places had come out but the selection was still varied.
Environment wise, people were pretty calm and enjoying everything. I didn’t think the lines were bad at all, Monday evening was definitely the best if you didn’t want to wait. It was fun for kids — there was outdoor seating near the concert and P&G Gardens but it was hot, so be warned that it was a little stuffy.
Definitely can’t wait for next year! It’s in a perfect location and Cincy locals do an awesome job of hyping it up!

Taste of Cincinnati is held every Memorial Day Weekend downtown Cincinnati which started in 1979 and considered the nation’s longest running culinary art festival. Over 40 food restaurants including dessert, beer and wine vendors. They also have music festivals, with continuous live entertainment featuring local and national recording stars performing on multiple stages throughout the event.
I do not go every year for two reasons-​hot weather and depending on the list of vendors (depending on the selection) This year was better than most. My favorite was the Food Truck Alley and all the free promotions that they were giving away from Oikos Yogurt, Haribo Gummy Bears, Hidden Valley Ranch, and more.
The list this year was decent.
There is only so much your stomach can take. I wanted to try more food, but got full really fast and money went really quickly too.
Here is what I tried and what I thought:
–Alfio’s Buon Cibo: Spinach Apple Salad $ 4.00 (loved)
–Bangkok Bistro: Spicy Ginger Tofu $ 5.00 (Yuck! Way too spicy)
–LaRosa’s: Pepperoni Rondo $ 1.00 a piece (Yum! Got two)
–Mecklenburg Gardens: Fried Pickles $ 4.00 (Too greasy)
–Sammy’s El Pueblo: Garlic Fries $ 2.00 (Great for the price and Salsa taste good with it)
–Via Vite: Veal Ricotta Meatballs $ 3.00 (You get two! Delish! My favorite)
–C’est Cheese: Bee Sting $ 5.00 (My husband got this and though it needed more honey and tasted blah, but I loved it on the other hand).
–Kentucky Bourbon Ale: Kentucky Ale (Smooth and refreshing)
Didn’t eat as much as I wanted to, but I know that there will be next year. Some prices were reasonable and some were expensive.
If you don’t mind heavy crowds, dirty/​stinky portalets and hot weather this is the place for you. Me not a huge fan, but Cincy tradition to go.

Ahh I’m still full from this awesome event. There were many food trucks there to sample their items. The event was highly protected by the Cincinnati Police department who looked like they were on Bat mobile’s from the Batman movie protecting the city.
I enjoyed the various vendors there today. Great drinks and food for the soul. Then I burned off all those calories walking back to the Newport bridge.
If ya’all don’t believe me go to the waffle booth and try the awesomeness of their waffles with whip cream and fresh fruit on top. It was awesomeness in my mouth.
Altogether props to the city of Cincinnati for having a great event for everyone to come together and enjoy great food and drinks.

I was pleasantly surprised with Taste of Cincinnati. I’ve only been to a couple events like these in different cities, but given the overall size of our community, I was surprised at the overall production — it was a job well done by all the event coordinators in my opinion. I had a wonderful time with my family, which happened to include my two 5 month old twins (see tip for parents below review). It didn’t hurt that we had perfect weather today.
There were many «festival food type» exhibitors, but there were some very unique ones as well. We foodies who often criticize the festival food often forget that it takes all types to cater to the masses this event attracts.
Random thoughts about various vendors at the event:
I was very impressed with Alfio’s. Being somewhat new to the area, I had never heard of them, but was eager to stop by and see what all the fuss was about with the Spinach Empanadas and Veal Short Rib Raviolis — after all, they were award winning at Taste last year. The bar was set high, and they exceeded expectations. These two items were quite possibly the best I tasted all day. My group also tried the Chocolate Carmel Tiramisu, and it too was amazing.
Bella Luna’s Cheese Sacchetti with Truffles, also one if Taste’s best from last year, was also delightful.
Having such good luck with trying award winners from last year, I decided to hit up Indigo for some Indigo Mac & Cheese and Strawberry Shortcake — big letdown for me. The berries weren’t fresh, the shortcake too hard, and the savory components in the Mac and cheese weren’t prepared properly (in my opinion) which rendered the creative use if the balsamic glaze useless.
Keystone Bar and Grill had some good things happening with their Buffalo Springfield Mac and Cheese so my hankering for creative M&C was eventually satisfied after the letdown at Indigo.
All in my group were impressed by the «show» going on in Food Truck Alley. I felt like we could have posted up there all day long and been satisfied. Special shout out to Red Sesame for the amazing Korean beef taco and C’est Cheese’s Bee Sting sandwich. These two stole the show back in the food truck «honey hole»?area of the event.
Trattoria was a bit disappointing to me. We stopped by at around 11:30 (event started at 11:00) and they had no food to offer at the time. Since I was on a mission to try all the vendors I had pre selected prior to going, I circled back at around noon and they were finally functioning. That being said, I was somewhat disappointed in their bruschetta — it was missing some pretty crucial elements. The tomato topping lacked seasoning and olive oil and the bread wasn’t toasted. I also tried their Panzerotti Meat Calzone, and it was quite tasty.
I’m a fan of Via Vite and they were one if the few vendors I stopped by to try that I have and will continue to dine with (goal if this event was to try new new things for me). They were on their game with their strawberry Panna cotta and penne bolognese. I took slight issue with their under seasoned (in my opinion) veal ricotta meat balls — I’d be interested to try them in the restaurant to see if there is any difference given I rarely take issue with much that they serve and this particular item was awarded one of Taste’s best last year.
Overall, I think there was plenty for all types of folks to enjoy at this event. I was satisfied after a few hours having visited most all the vendors I wanted to. I will say that I felt some of the food was a bit too expensive IF you were only looking at the value of the food (small portion sizes). Some of the vendors were clearly making a healthy margin on some of their product and I feel like the spirit of the event should be to spread the message about what you have to offer (to drive traffic to your store later) rather than make a buck.
I’m glad I decided to go and will definitely go back next year. I’m also thankful our area can manage to host a food event of this magnitude relative to the size if the overall population — it takes a lot to support it and we are certainly lucky to have it.
Tip: if you have kids that can’t walk, try one of the backpack carriers if you can manage it. If you have multiple kids that can’t walk that need a stroller, leave the double wide at home as it is difficult to navigate the crowd. Also, getting their early, as I did today, worked out great as we were able to avoid the insane crowds for at least the first hour (not to mention, people aren’t inebriated yet).