So lucky to have Mary V leading our NorthBay group... just back from another amazing event!…read more Special shout out to her intern Ruby... better hire or quickly or one of us will! Many thanks, Alan

Ordering: smooth process-after checking in for the event, we went ahead and scanned the QR code for…read morethe menu. For this you can directly order and no worries on the charge- so long as it's the one hotpot & one drink. Service: very attentive and kind throughout- when seated brought our water. All staff are wearing masks appropriately! (Not something I consistently see when out now) Hotpot: - I've always loved Tasty pot and happy to support their 7 year anniversary, this is a locale I haven't been to but have been to the one in Berkeley - flavor- for Taiwan stinky tofu and spicy pot the flavor is spot on. Feel to add extra add ons as needed to support the business - bathroom- the womens bathroom has a broken faucet but it was working just loose. - portions- the $20 pots tend to be larger but al come with water and it's great :) Now I'll be frequenting this spot when the craving hits for hotpot :) glad to have come around for this event

To start, thank you to our CM Katie for organizing another amazing Yelp Experience!…read more This is my second time coming here and it gave me confirmation entrees (we got the Lanzhou noodles this time) are HUGE. It was good enough to feed two people + some to-go. Broth is really clean and not too heavy. I wish the noodles were cut a little though because they're pretty long. We went during lunch so it wasn't very busy. Staff were very attentive bringing out refills of water and individual bowls to share. Dinner tends to be really packed. We also got an beef pancake roll which was really yummy. It was packed was packed with cilantro and other veggies which made it super refreshing Overall super great experience! And the Yelp Chopsticks are very cute!

First off, thank you Yelp, our CM Katie, and Highland Noodles for sponsoring this event!!…read more tl;dr Slightly salty broth/meat, but still delicious! The wood fungus was also super springy and had a wonderful texture. Service was not amazing, very rushed staff. I came in on Friday night, and it was surprisingly busy. The wait staff seemed to be very rushed and did not have time to welcome me at the desk. I didn't want to bother them if they were in a rush, so after signing myself up at the Yelp waitlist machine they have near the door, I just waited for our table to be ready prior to letting the staff know that I was there for the Yelp Elite Week event. I saw others receive the Yelp chopsticks and lip balm, but I was only handed the sign-in list. I have been to Highland Noodles before, and it is one of my favorite noodle soup places. Unfortunately, this visit's noodle experience fell slightly short of expectations. The medium thin noodles were rather firm for me, and the broth/meat seemed quite salty, though I added some chili oil as well (not sure if that would contribute). The bowl was overall favorable, but not as amazing as my previous experience had been. We also ordered an appetizer of wood fungus, which I love. The dish at Highland Noodles did not disappoint! It was springy and had a very light flavor as expected. 5/5.

Bacon and beer?!?! Oh heck yeah! I signed up for Yelp's VIP ticket giveaway and I was the chosen…read moreone!!! Woo hoo! Four hours of food, beer, music, and games. Thank you, Yelp!!! I'm really not a big fan of beer; I prefer wine or mixed drinks, but it was fun trying hundreds of craft brew samples! OK, maybe not hundreds... In fact, I found a few things I enjoyed, like the Vanilla Cream Ale from the Mother Earth Brew Co., the Pear Cider from Sierra Nevada, and Crisp Apple Cider from T.W. Pitchers. My favorite one was the Grapefruit Shandy with a hint of blood orange from T.W. Pitchers, I needed a few refills. It was also cool that Uber had a breathalyzer, good to know it was OK for me to drive after the event! Their breathalyzer test only went up to 0.16% BAC, so my plus one guessed correctly and won some nice sunglasses. Don't worry, he did not drive. Just like the other reviewers said, there was a ton of food! My favorites were: Lechon Asado from Habana Cuba; Pork Belly on Crostini from East Coast Alice; Bacon-wrapped Scallops from The Village; and Hushpuppies from 7 Bar and Grill. The bacon cheesecake from Sweet Tooth Confections was really good, I should've taken more. My hubby and I were fans of the bacon croquette (it was a very good sweet potato tater tot, with a nice piece of bacon splashed on top) but it was hard to remember who it was from, I wish each vendor had a big sign with their name on it, advertise a little! This was a fun event, however it didn't live up to its name. It was like 75% beer vendors, 15% bacon foods, and 10% other tastes and stuff and things. There were only a few vendors who actually had interesting dishes with bacon, the rest lacked creativity. Many were giving out strips of bacon dipped in whiskey or sugar or candy. It was good, but after 5 strips....it wasn't fun! I wish I brought rice and scrambled eggs to eat with the bacon. Some vendors were passing out potato chips, yogurt, churros... I thought, where's the bacon?!?! How were they inspired by bacon??? This is a BACON and beer festival, right? They did put the bacon first in the name of the festival so I thought it would be something like 60% bacon foods, 40% beer. I can't really complain about a festival with so much good food and beer. This was a one-of-a-kind event! What a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon!!!

So how does one make a great event even better?…read more The way I see it the team at Cannonball Productions, based in New York City, did just that this past weekend by moving the venue of their biannual Bacon and Beer Classic from the minor league venue at San Jose's Municipal Stadium to a big time venue at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. I've volunteered at and attended all three South Bay Bacon and Beer Classics held to date, and this one was by far the most spectacular. Although I had a good time at the March 2015 event, and I had a blast at the November 2015 event both at Municipal this past Saturday's event at Levi's was simply amazing. Gone was the elbow-to-elbow madness that comes from cramming too many individuals into one small space. In addition the larger venue meant there were more vendors offering more beer and more bacon to the masses. The Bacon and Beer Classic offered an afternoon session and an evening session two hours after the first session ended. General admission ran paying customers around $80 for unlimited beer and bacon samples for 3 hours. VIP admission for $125 per person gave paying guests 4 hours to do the same in addition to enjoying a lineup of special brews available to VIP's only on the Levi's Stadium grass. In my opinion the way to go about it is to volunteer. Volunteers are essential to the success of this event staffing stations at registration, merchandising and vendor assistance. In fact the official charity for the past three South Bay Bacon and Beer Classics has been One Brick, a San Francisco-based volunteer-run non-profit that provides volunteers for other non-profits. Friends who know me well know I volunteer through One Brick a lot. For a mere 4 to 5 hour volunteer shift you are rewarded with a very cool Bacon and Beer Classic t-shirt, a ceramic tasting cup and VIP admission to the shift you are not volunteering for. I tend to choose to do shifts prior to event day or for the first session since volunteers that choose to work the evening session and attend the first session aren't allowed to sample the beer. Instead they are given a case of beer to take home after their shift. Some people are fine with that but for me it's not the same. I like to sample as many brews as possible up to my personal limit. For this weekend's event they utilized the exclusive United Club and sections along the main concourse. On most event days at Levi's Stadium access to the United Club is usually restricted to Club ticket holders only so this definitely stirred the wow factor. On the bacon side of things I loved the melt-in-my-mouth Apple Glazed Bacon Belly from Bourbon Steak & Pub as well as several dishes from Levi's concessionaire Centerplate offering a Seared Diver Scallop with Bourbon Bacon Lardons and a tart Cherry and Cocoa Pork Belly skewer. They even offered a mocha cake featuring bacon. Food truck Kokio Republic knocked one out of the stadium with there Bacon Wrapped Oreos, and in their baconless Soy Garlic Fried Chicken. On the beer side of things I was surprised there were not too many stouts or porters to choose from so I went the cider route and the offerings were immense. I particularly liked the Hard Black Cherry Cider from Sunnyvale's Red Branch Cider Co. Bacon and Beer Classic, you've got a volunteer for life and I'm already looking forward to the next one. I've included photos because what would be a 5 star event without photos? Enjoy!

Family fun, friendly, great giant carnival, huge variety of food vendors, good selection of arts &…read morecraft vendors. The Asparagus Ice Cream is a not my favorite, but that's just preference. I could eat the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus all day long!

Not very good food, vendors are your usual junk, usually hot and not that great. It needs better…read morefood, better vendors and activities - think bracelet/necklace making for kids, making dream catchers, better face painters, like tarot, fortune reading, do chair massage, get local resteraunts to come and offer samples or special small orders for sale of their food on select items they can bring/make at a fair/dog activities/trampolines, hats for sale, water bottles for sale, hand held fans for sale - things people will actually buy. Better activities

Another successful "2026" fair that didn't disappoint. The fireworks display was magnificent, and…read morehopefully they will bring it back next year. The fair was festive for the 4th and America's 250th. The fair runs till next Sunday, July 12, purchase tickets online or at the kiosk and the various entrances. The main entrance, next to fair office and across from the Ace train is the least crowded. The fair is cashless, so make sure you have your debit/credit card, and there are machines that turn cash into debit cards. The 4H cake booth accepts cash only, and this Thursday, July 9th is the last day for $3 food bites from 1-5 at participating vendors. Concerts happening this week check in at the clock tower for free bleacher tickets for certain concerts. I enjoyed the beautiful table settings, local art and photography, and the hobby and collectibles. These exhibits are my favorite as well as, the various shopping buildings. The last day of the fair is a plant sale, too.

This is the wonderful county fair . It usually starts in mid June and last one week after July…read more4,2926 We came at 5:30 pm on July 3 th , Friday because today is a holiday . Weather is around 70 F with breeze and blue sky .Normal admission is $19.50 . Senior $16.50 . It was $11 on Thursday before 5 pm and $6 on selected Wednesday. If you like to purchase unlimited rides bracelets, the best deal is buy 4 for $84.70 This year it has a lot more food vendors than last year . There is a grilled meats kabab food truck , an Asian food shop and many more drinks . We love the Texas size grilled Turkey leg , jumbo sausage hot dogs . Garlic fries ( with minced garlic ) was $14 . We got a slushie ( I've with flavors ) for $6 and a funnel cakes with powdered sugar at the end . Love to see the small animals display ( rabbits , birds , reptiles, genies pigs , etc I enjoyed visit the made with hands arts building . We walled around to look at the award winning photos , pencils painting , crochet, miniature houses . There is. Alive show of a senior lady doing a cheese show ( craving a huge block of cheese into arts pieces) We came late and was sad to see all the farms animals were gone and the farm house was under maintenance. However , we still got to see the sheep shearing. The man was skillful . He shaved it in one minute minutes and the whole piece of wool came out like a blanket. I watched the little kids to ride the camel and pony . Also enjoy the bee hives performance with a man inside and explaining to us about bees . We love this Alameda county fair and have been coming every year for past 24 years .

I was super excited to try out the Smashburger! We live in Japan Town which is super close to this…read moreplace. As usual Yelp (Abby) come through with yet another "Smashing" Yelp event! The event was well organized and staffed! The staff of Smashburger were outstanding and were super friendly. They even made a special tasting menu for this Yelp event! Smashing Baby! There were five burgers and two chicken sandwiches to taste, and most were amazing! My favorite was the Bay Area Burger, which I can't wait to enjoy again. There event starred with smashing fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings and vegetables; all equally delicious! The onion rings stood out as they were lightly battered, which is so different than most places. The event ended with peanut butter, vanilla and Oreo shakes! Did I mention Gordon Biersch beer! I am so full from this devine menu, I'm not sure how I will get through the night. Based on the nutritional sheet, I've consumed at least 2,500 calories tonight! Gluttony?!? In the end, it was a smashing event and food. I met some new Yelpers, silver and gold! Special thanks to Abby and Smashburger staff and marketing guy!

Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun Roll out the…read morebarrel, we've got the blues on the run Zing boom tararrel, ring out a song of good cheer Now's the time to roll the barrel, for the gang's all here Truly was a totally awesome event!! Roll out the barrel coz that's just how I felt...a barrel..that needs to be rolled out...hahaha...soo full!!! Like what other says 7 kinds of burger tasted...which is the equivalent of almost 2 big burgers..seriously!!! 3 kinds of fries, and onion ring (sorta)...plus OMG 3 kinds of shakes!!! and bottomless drinks for sure!!! Thank you Abby for such a very nice and very intimate event....Thank you staff at SmashBurgers and host...Nice to meet you Michelle (silver) and John (gold) (i get to meet at least 2 Yelpers that I've never met) and of course it was awesome to see familiar Yelpers too... PS Thanks for those red pair of cool Yelp socks...

I won tickets to this event through the yelp east bay instagram contest. I was super excited to go…read moreand learn about the cultural and try some food and enjoy the festival. What was included was booths lined up after the entrance gate that had all sorts of things like bracelets and henna Turkish desserts. After that you got to the food court area. There were many options you could choose from like drink shaved ice and bbq. In the back were a few rides going on. There was also a little dome that held some music and cooking demos. For food we tried the chicken lumpia and a briyani plate with chicken tikka kebab on top. The lumpia was really good! Sometimes when you order lumpia they come all oily in the middle and super hot. These were cooked perfect. Nicely rolled where the inside was just the stuffing and it was crispy and delicious. The briyani was excellent as well, a little on the spicy side but full of flavor. The chicken was cooked perfect not tough and not undercooked. Yum! Why I took off two Stars was I thought I was going to learn more about some of the cultures. I did not. There were some shows but they were at strange times and not happening all through the event.

At first glance the festival looked tiny in a huge furniture parking lot off of Stevenson Blvd…read more Upon entrance there's quite alot of non food stalls (going on an empty stomach made me rush through) selling from household items to spices, clothes and one stall with a variety of Turkish delights. Narnia comes to mind. The pistachio was pretty delish, but really sweet. It'll pair well with tea I'm sure. Rounded the corner and that's where the treasure is at. BBQ, gyros, bean pies, schwarmas, Puri bites, kabab plates, burgers, smoothies, Rita's Italian ice custard and gourmet ice cream! About 10 stalls in all, but quality is where it's at. We came at noon when it opened so the grilling was just starting. We started off with Puri bites to wet our palate. $3.50/6 pieces! Great deal IMO. Dahi Puri is a crispy shell filled with mashed potatoes, tomatoes, tamarind sauce, onions and crispy bits on top. It was delicious. We then tried the Pani Puri. Same crispy shell but filled with tamarind and green chutney sauce. Eat it right away otherwise the shell gets soggy and you'll have to pick it up with a spoon. Trust me. The line for the peshawari kabab stall was amassing quite a line and the person manning the stall was a bit overwhelmed. It took some time for me to get our $2 mango lassis because he was torn between taking orders, getting change, passing out drinks AND food. The poor guy. We waited about 20 min for my lamb kebob plate for $10. Luckily the lamb was succulent and grilled to perfection. All's well that ends well. We got gourmet ice cream from Golnazar at $5/ small tub. Just the right proportion to end on a sweet note. The also had cooking demos and live music, but we left before that started. I'll return for the Puri for sure, but it was a great outing on the weekend. I hope they continue next year because the food is on point.

Last years Festival was great..this years should be even better! The 2015 Cajun & Blues Festival,…read moresponsored by the Isleton Chamber of Commerce, held this Father's Day Weekend at E2 Family Winery on Highway 12 in Lodi, is dedicated to his memory this year, as every blues musician from festivals to the smallest of venues will honor his memory. All those players in every genre who loved him, will play the blues in honor of him as they have never played before! I first saw B.B King live at Crabshaw Corners in Sacramento when I was just a teen playing rock & roll/countrymusic as a harmonica player. I left that show a convert to the blues. While I learned to appreciate all blues, Billie Holiday, with her jazz styled infused blues, was my favorite female artist. B.B. King my favorite male blues artist. His pure original style making "Lucille" cry the blues every which way no other guitarist could, propelled B.B. to take his art-form worldwide. All the greats after him owe him homage as the trailblazer of American Blues.. While B.B. King had his influences from earlier blues figures, B.B. took the blues mainstream. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix,, Elvin Bishop, just to name a few, all learned from... The Master. While "The Thrill Is Gone" his music and influence will live on. The lineup for this years Isleton Cajun & Blues Festival has some of the hottest acts in the business... and some of the best acts in Zydeco-Cajun Music from the Delta who will no doubt let their blues influence shine also. Should be the best festival yet! http://isletoncajunfestival.net/

Absolutely embarrassing traffic control. Two hours to drive 1/2 mile. Organizer needs to be…read morefined, fired and hung out on a yard arm. Ruined a wonderful day. A little bit of an update.... we spent the afternoon at the festival and it was pretty sad. Only one vendor had crawdads and the line was 2 1/2 hours long. Very, very disappointing.

I was lucky enough to be one of the Yelp members that won a pair of tickets this year (Holla!) so…read morethank you to Shirene for picking me! I haven't done a great deal of Wine tasting since moving up this way last year so I was super excited and invited a girlfriend along with me. My Husband came too and played chauffeur for us for the day which turned out to be a good idea as there were A LOT of Wineries participating in this event. Ticket pick up was easy and we started our tasting and Wente Vineyards before heading off around 5 or 6 others . Yes, both myself and my girlfriend completely lost count due to matching ''sponge brain syndrome''. Most of the tasting were Reds with some White's and for the most part were really organised but also found a couple of the Wineries seemed a little confused and spacey about which Wines were included in the tasting for the day which made for a slightly uncomfortable visit. I would definitely give this tasting again and would love to see a shuttle in place for future years. Or if our tasting group is big enough just Cycle the route and hope we don't get stopped for being drunk in charge of a Bicycle. That could be embarrassing.

What can I say... One review to cover the gamut that I visited?…read more Shame on the wineries who said the were participants but had the ** shoddiest ** showing---- some not even bothering to take aliquots from barrels, but simply decanted it and served from a table top!!! Another place ( bent creek) literally had large plastic beakers and retro dudes literally using medicine droppers to mix new with old vine Cab--- it was so laughable to me. The greats and highly organized, thoughtful , & great wines served!!!! Concsnnon hit a super home run. Enjoyed the chard the best. Barrel room was fantastic. Wente also went to great lengths. Nth degree $95/ bottle Pinot was good. Barrel room cool,& live music both locations . Garré impressed me with their 6 barrels and great knowledge . Sangiovese was nutty and very unique for me. Enjoyed the down-home. Mitchell Katz was a live party!! Also 6 barrels to taste from, the wine was very memorable and nice bouquets and nose. Unique was the show at Big White House and John Evan--- bohemian artsy fartsy cook shack cabin with loads of tastes!!! By far the most fun!100% scored on my wine quiz :) Lame players were Murietta's well ( thank goodness they had a redemptive view), Crooked Vine ( one eew barrel to sample from), Bent Creek ( joke). Great to walk among some locations--- great perfect low 70's weather too

We attended this annual festival at Fremont's Downtown Event Center on Saturday afternoon, and a…read morehad a positive experience. Free parking was available in the lot for the plaza and the place wasn't crowded and had an awesome laid back vibe. There were a few merchandise vendors, and we ended up buying some salt-free spices. They obviously also had a good amount of beer tents, but you could only get beer by purchasing a tasting package for $50-60. It's a pretty good deal for an all day affair, if planning to try a lot of the different beers on site. But not for us on this day. They had about 5-6 food vendors on site, but some of the tents were out of burger-related dishes by the time we arrived in the early afternoon (ie. Kay's Creations was out of their classic cheeseburger lumpia and loaded cheeseburger lumpia). Still, I liked the diversity in the festival's food offerings overall, food trucks selling halal and pakistani menu items, a cheesesteak truck, and a taqueria (Rincon del Cielo) also selling lamb and beef burger specials which we ended up trying (it was yummy and cheesy!). They also had a burger throwdown and competition with awesome trophies for best burger and People's Choice best brew award (yes, the trophies were shaped like a burger and glass of beer... of course I took pics!). Our favorite part of the event was the live music on stage. We spent a majority of our time picnicking on the grass and lying around while listening to the sounds of the Evan Thomas Band. The sound quality was excellent, and the band was outstanding as they played mainly blues music for the small audience. The festival overall was quite small, but it was free to attend, and on such a beautiful sunny day, we enjoyed our visit.

The Fremont Burger & Brew Fest was this past Saturday, 5/21/22. $40 in advance (+ tax & service…read morefee) or $50 at the gate for AYCD beer...way way too much. How much beer do you have to drink to make it worth it? With your spiffy wristband, you can indeed fill up your 4 oz glass as much as you want. Here's the rundown: ================= * 12 breweries ...and a 3-4 whiskey booths for an extra $10 ticket fee * Community booths * Artisans * Food Trucks (10 or so) for separate purchasing Burgers?: ======== * For the price, shouldn't it include a burger, or burgers? * Shouldn't a event name like this feature, or in addition, serve up the best burgers in the city? * The Food trucks, none of which were BURGER trucks, had a special of the day BURGER ($12-16) to their menu offerings. Two of the trucks were the ol' "roach coach", not specialty trucks. Additional problems I have with this event: ===================================== * The breweries were mostly pouring out of cans, and a few out of a keg. * It felt small, like a small community fair (that's what it is, actually). Positives: ========= * I really liked Shadow Puppet Brewing from Livermore, CA (#1 at the event) * Oakland United Beerworks was #2 (in my opinion) The bottom-line: =============== It's for beer drinkers. They can take their 4 oz glass and sample the heck out of those breweries. You can, if you wish, walk the event unpaid, and still eat at the food trucks and check out the artisan and community booths.