The only other Tamale Fest I'd ever heard of was the city…read moreof Indio and I happened to find out about this one by accident when I was getting coffee one day. Placentia's tamale festival almost looks like a scene from a movie. If you park at the non existent train stop parking off of Crowther and walk across the bridge, you get the perfect view of the festival. The first year I went, there were tons of tamale stands and a few were offering samples of tamales and asking people to vote for them, that was in 2019. Post pandemic, I didn't see too many tamale stands this year and definitely no one handing out free samples. I ended up waiting in line for Tlaquepaque's tamales, out on the street, then a passerby said I could go inside the restaurant and it's much faster and you can get rice and beans as well. I ended up going inside the restaurant and the line indeed did move faster and I got a chicken and pork tamale to go. You could also order sides and other items as well to-go and you could see everything being made in front of you. I did visit the corner store for the strawberry tamales from Imperial Restaurant and Market and wish I knew they were selling tamales earlier. The strawberry tamales almost taste like cake and I love this particular sweet tamale and look for it at tamale festivals. Imperial Restaurant & Market's was so delicious and I wish I got more than 1! Outside there was a stage that had entertainment all night long from Native American dancers to Christmas Carolers to Mariachi Divas. There's round tables and chairs as well as high tables spread out on the street for people to sit and enjoy their tamales, but if you're not there early they usually go fast. There's also a big beer garden area and the streets are lined with food, craft and artisan vendors. There's more stores and restaurants on these streets as this is Old Town Placentia and most of those brick and mortar stores are open as well. It's a great time to visit Placentia and get a feel for what the city is like.

This was my first time hearing about the festival in Old Town Placentia, so my boyfriend and I…read moredecided to check it out last night. There were several tamale stands to choose from, but I recommend looking for signs that say "best voted" or checking out the stand with trophies displayed in front--you can't go wrong with those! Not a big fan of tamales? No problem! They also have birria, birria ramen, burritos, quesadillas, funnel cakes, and churros. It's like a mini fair, complete with a beer garden. Plus, several surrounding restaurants were open and selling tamales as well. The entire event is vibrant and festive. I highly recommend visiting this festival annually--it's definitely worth it!

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of berries. I don't hate them but I'm also not obsessed. So when…read moreI went to Knott's one day and it became crazy packed, I got irritated and literally mentally fought showing any interest in anything boysenberry. I snubbed the boysenberry so hard. Boysenberry fans, jam packed Knott's for the month and I was not having it. No joke, I seriously boycotted the whole thing. I eventually gave in on the very last day when I met a very nice and friendly family from Northern CA. They had boysenberry glazed thick cuts of bacon. BACON. That's what got my attention. I was like, "That's it! Sold!" I regret not buying the boysenberry food passes sooner. I caved so late in the game and then frantically tried to find six boysenberry items to redeem it with. By that time, lines were crazy long and it sucked to wait in long lines for the next handful of hours. Tip: Don't be silly or dumb like me, and just buy the pass as soon as the festival starts. You can redeem throughout the month or all in one day. Totally up to you. For sure don't wait until the last minute. Since I only had a handful of time left that very last day, I only tried four items but we doubled up on two of them. Boysenberry food we tried from the boysenberry food pass: 1) Boysenberry beef brisket over Mac n cheese - 5/5 stars. I liked that they used white cheese for this. The meat was tender, juicy, and the sauce did not over-power at all. 2) Boysenberry BBQ meatballs over mashed potatoes - 5/5 stars. We wished we had gotten more than one order of this. 3) Boysenberry glazed thick slicked bacon on a stick (not pictured) - 5/5 stars. This was so popular that they ran out the first three times I went to get some. I finally got two sticks on my fourth attempt. The two sticks were thick and generous portions. Between the five of us sharing the bacon, it was actually a decent amount. It's almost like ham, so I couldn't finish one stick of this on my own. 4) Elote with boysenberry butter, boysenberry mayo and cotija cheese - 5/5. OMG. This was our absolute favorite out of the four. It was surprisingly SO GOOD. We got two but could've eaten a couple more between all of us. Boysenberry food items I ordered that was not part of the boysenberry food pass: 1) Grilled salmon salad with a boysenberry vinaigrette - 5/5. This can be found at Coasters Diner. That boysenberry dressing was amazing. I desperately wanted more. 2) Boysenberry marinated carnitas - 4/5. Served at Casa California located in Fiesta Village. I had this like once in the beginning and again at the end of the festival. It is good. Don't get me wrong, but I was wanting carnitas carnitas. If you know what I mean. Still delicious and I'd eat it again. It sounds kinda weird to have boysenberry on savory foods but it just works. It's shocking that it's not a strong berry flavor which is what I had expected before I even tried anything. That's my bad. Now that I've had a taste of boysenberry food at Knott's, I will be much smarter about it for seasons to come. I ended up enjoying the food so much, one of the kids and I, commemorated it by buying matching boysenberry sweaters. I'm a huge fan now!

Knott's Boysenberry Festival is one full of Boysenberry foods, fun, and I especially love that the…read moredecorations are heavily purple hued! Do you really know what a Boysenberry is? It is a cross between a raspberry, blackberry and a loganberry. Interesting! This is the berry that is celebrated at Knotts Berry Farm's Boysenberry Festival! I've come to Knott's Berry Farm for the festival a few times on my own and once for a Yelp Elite Event (YEE: Ditch Day at Knott's Boysenberry Festival in 2018). This review is mainly for this year, March 13 through April 12, 2026: You can outright pay for Boysenberry food items, or you can buy a Tasting Card. The price for the card fluctuated during the festival. I went online to buy the Tasting Card for $45 because I saved some money instead of buying in person. Once you receive the email, you have to take it to a store or kiosk that sells them and they will scan the QR Code & give you the physical Tasting Card with lanyard. One card allows you 6 food items. Not all Boysenberry food items are eligible to be used with the Tasting Card. If I was a drinker, I'd use my Tasting Card on Alcoholic Beverages because they cost the most. The 6 Items we used our card on were: *Boysenberry Sausage on a Hoagie with Boysenberry Mustard, Peppers, and Crispy Fried Onions ($11.99+tax) ~ this is really good! *Spicy Bulgogi Over Rice ($11.99) ~ it was okay *Boysenberry & Matcha Mousse Cup ($10.49) ~ nice dessert and it came in a plastic keepsake cup when I got it. They switched to disposable plasticware by my next visit. *Boysenberry Beef Brisket over Mac and Cheese ($11.99) ~ Brisket was oversauced, didn't care for this *Crispy Chicken Wings with a Boysenberry Sriracha Dipping Sauce ~ the wings were delicious *Boysenberry Brick with Boysenberry Jam & Boysenberry Soft-Serve Ice Cream($9) ~ this was quite tasty but needed more ice cream! ***One thing to note about the Tasting Card is that there are no tabs to tear off, so you have to keep track of how many you've used. I prefer visually seeing how many I have left rather than relying on my memory. Items we paid for separately were: *Deep Fried Cinnamon Sugar Churro w/ Boysenberry Bavarian Cream & Boysenberry Ice Cream ($9.49+tax) ~ get this! *Boysenberry Kiwi Lemonade ($9.49) - [topped with a blackberry, so odd!] ~ not worth the price, but was alright *Lg. Boysenberry Milk Tea ($11) from Leafy Love Tea Kiosk ~ not bad, but too pricey for the amount of drink *Boysenberry Soft-Serve Ice Cream Cone ($7.99) ~ always a hit! *Coconut Cream Bao Buns with a Boysenberry Drizzle ($9.49) ~ served nice and hot ... pretty good! *Boysenberry & Cheese Muffin ($4.99) ~ muffin was super dry, skip it *Boysenberry Sassparilla Soda in a bottle ($3.99) ~ I prefer the regular Sassparilla TIP: Mrs. Murphy's Kitchen is an indoor area with seating and you can enjoy the cool A/C while you eat! There are so many food and drink options for the Boysenberry Festival this year! Sadly, we only scratched the very tip of the iceberg of offerings available! We came 3 times to use up our card and try as much food as we could. There are outside vendors selling stuff you wouldn't normally find at Knott's apart from the festival. I enjoy seeing what they have. There were some glassblowers & a silversmith working. Be sure to go to Old MacDonald's Barn to see the Mama Goat (Patty) and her kids Belle & Lenny. If you walk around Boysenberry Lane just past Ghost Rider, there are more shops and Photo Op places. There's also a place to buy Boysenberry Plants! It's best to come with family or friends who will share so you can try more items! We will most likely return again next year!

This was the first year ever that my family and I attended Lunar New Year. The festivities were…read moreonly located in a part of the Disney California Adventure. The forecasted animal this year was the horse. Historically all the specialty Disney festivals were highly anticipated and packed a punch. The food and drinks at this one were just fine. At the primary restaurant establishments, Aunt Cass was selling the strawberry green tea bread pudding. It was a little dense but creamy. The strawberry completely took over the matcha. You would not know there was matcha in it if it wasn't for the green color. At Lucky Fortune Cookery, we also got the Baymax macaron, which was also heavy on the raspberry with little to no matcha flavor. At Pym Kitchen, the spicy pork belly grilled cheese was made with white American cheese, spicy aioli, pickled onions, sourdough bread with a green onion crust. The Korean spices were top notch. It was crispy on the exterior with strands of melty gooey cheese in between. The green onion was a fun savory contrast that added depth to the dish. The tater tots were perfectly cooked. This is the most bang for your buck when it came to the Sip and Savor pass. Bamboo Blessing was noted to have very good popcorn chicken. Some of the pieces were juicy, while others were dry and tough. The seasoning that coated the pieces was rather bland. The chili garlic sauce was really thin. Longevity Noodle Co's japchae noodles with kalbi short ribs was one of the better items. The short ribs were well seasoned and pretty tender. The glass noodles were a great vehicle for the meat and vegetables. It is unfortunate that the serving size is so small. Lucky 8 Lantern's rendition of beef pho fell flat. It's basically rice noodles, sliced beef, shaved jalapeños, pickled onions, with pho broth dip on the side. The beef flavor was not very pronounced. The noodles were so wet, the baguette was falling apart. It was impossible to dip. Overall, it became very messy to eat. Red Dragon Spice Traders' spicy chicken wings with sesame seaweed crunch were underwhelming as well. The sauce was really thick and much too spicy for the average consumer. Wrapped with Love was by far the busiest and for good reason. The quesabirria eggroll with guajillo pepper consommé was a perfect rendition of Asian and Mexican fusion. It was so juicy and tender on the inside. It was perfectly crisp on the outside. If only it came with 2 pieces. Their taro Vietnamese cold brew was creamy and lush, with a healthy dollop of sweet cream on the top. Now onto the entertainment, there was a parade that occurred 2-3 times a day. It was stunning but only a few minutes long. If seeing Mulan, Mushu, Chip and Dale, and Horace are a must, then it is worth seeing. As far as the meet and greets went, that was hit or miss as well. Red Panda was impossible to see due to popularity. You had to show up really early before the appearances times near Pixar Pier just to be able to make the line before the cut off. Next, the main character hot spot was at the gardens spot. Mickey and Minnie were Korean attire. They rotated with Mulan and Mushu. Depending on where you were in line, the character you wanted to see could have been swapped out already. Last but the least, there was a small lunar new year addition, showcasing a story of a lantern renting with family, that started off the World of Color evening spectacular. That was really stunning. Over the years, the animated projections have gotten more clear and ornate. Overall, Lunar New Year was in my opinion the least impressive celebration in a calendar year. It was isolated a small portion of DCA. The execution of food quality just wasn't there. The process to meet characters was difficult. And the entertainment was just all right.

I really appreciate Disney for its inclusivity by celebrating a cultural holiday that I grew up…read morecelebrating with my family every year. The Lunar New Year festivities are held in Disney's California Adventure (DCA) theme park only. Mulan is my favorite princess, and "Mulan's Lunar New Year Procession" parade is my absolute favorite during this time of year. There's usually two show times, and it's held on Hollywood Blvd. They offer seasonal foods during this time. There's seasonal menu items at select restaurants in DCA and Marketplaces. Marketplace is a kiosk that sells seasonal samples of Asian-Fusion foods and full size drinks. There's usually 6 marketplaces during LNY. Each marketplace is located in a different area in DCA. You can purchase a Sip & Savor pass which comes with 6 tabs that allows you to go around to each marketplace and try an item of your choice (alcohol not included). Purchasing a Sip & Savor pass can save you some money if you plan on trying a lot of foods. Each sample ranges from $9-18. I honestly think the food is okay. Remember, this is a theme park, so nothing is authentic lol. I don't really care for the food, but the desserts and drinks are really good. There's also fun activities and cultural entertainment held in Plaza de Familia. You can also learn what your Chinese zodiac is and how each culture celebrates LNY. I also love seeing the characters dress in their LNY costumes. I've met Mickey, Minnie, and Mushu here before.

I went to this event twice but both times I was at the Los Angeles location by USC. The first year…read moreI attended was in 2015 and Big Grams really stole the show. Wild performance! - I also attended the following year and thought the line up was well presented. I liked the people in the crowd and the atmosphere. Everyone was excited to be there and treated other attendees with respect. This is not true at all festival events so, I appreciated this vibe. - The snowboarding aspect to the event was unique and fun! I also enjoyed the art-focused pop ups. From what I can tell from the other reviews, the Pasadena location move has not been successful. I find this surprising because Pasadena offers more space, easier driving conditions and better parking options.

Designated alcohol area, cannot bring drinks out of the fenced area. The line to get in the…read moredesigned alcohol area was 400 people long, line to get a drink was another 100 people long. Not sure if I'll be back next year

This is my second "Drink Eat Play" event I've been to. The first being the OC Beer Festival which…read moreboasted 50+ beer vendors, a live band and gourmet food trucks. It was a great event which I recommend to all of drinking age. So I then get an e-mail promoting the International Wine Festival in Hollywood. The promo stated that there would be wines from all around the world along with food options such as cheese, crackers and other snacks. All you can eat and drink from 5PM-8PM for $40. Unfortunately this event does not compare. The event took place in a hotel banquet room and were about 15 vendors. There were placed around to no particular order and there were no signage indicating what they were offering or where the wine came from. The food was OK and there had a good cheese selection. They also had a chocolate fondue which was probably the highlight of the night. The event was three hours long, but some vendors ran out of wine by 7:00PM so we ended up leaving early. So in the end, it was OK enough for one visit but I don't think we will be doing this one again.

I went in not knowing anything about this show except that it had a Christmas theme...and I am THAT…read moreperson. I love everything Christmas. The show was at the top floor of the Beverly Center, when parking in the structure, park by the grand court elevator which is on the side of the lot closest to Beverly. That way, you can avoid the long walk from the la cienega escalators. Though the website mentions parking validation, there is none but it's only $1/hr up to 4 hrs. Once you are in, you are in instagram heaven. So many things to pose with and the decorations are beautiful!! Once you are done, you are seated at a a table. It reminds me of an improv type theater for a comedy show. You can order your cocktail (or wine, etc.,) & food to enjoy during the show. The show itself was entertaining - it's rated R, I can see why there is an age restriction (18 +). It's a little of everything - comedy, drag, dancing, singing...hahaha! It's a fun evening out with your good friends.

Wow, what a FUN FUN & SEXY night! We had bought tickets to go with friends for my birthday and we…read moreweren't sure what to expect. Not only did they have cute and sexy and fun photo ops, the appetizers were sooo delicious and the show SUPERB! The talent these amazing actors have is incredible, the singing and acrobatics were out of this world and the sexy NSFW dances were fun & super sexy! I'll only post the PG13 pics but not the naughty ones. I highly recommend you go this Christmas season and experience it for yourself. It'll be a great date night or social occasion. We received great service from beginning to end when it came to ordering my cocktail and food. They were always attentive an prompt.

Yes, I absolutely recommend the Universal Backlot! I've been here on many occasions! The tour does…read morea great job showing you around, but a VIP tour is highly recommended to truly explore the backlot. Enjoy the history of this place!

Tram ride is different every time. It's been a bit but happy to be back and we have gotten to see…read moresome of the tour that we haven't in a few years (including the Monster's mural)

As one of the few people who paid full price & wasn't comp'd to check this event out, I have to say…read moreit was still worth it! Super fun, positive vibes, lots of great tastings & flowing alcohol - what's not to love other than the steep ticket price, lol? I had been curious about this event for awhile. For my friend and me, it was perfect. We often have a hard time deciding on a restaurant or cuisine so this was a great GNO. This was my first time at the festival, but honestly, I'd do it again!

I'm pretty disappointed with the event we attended last night. Purchased VIP tickets and was only…read moreabout 10 people from the front. When we entered at 6:30 (an hour early for VIP), the place was somehow already crowded?? Minutes later, it was hard to even walk inside the hangar. We were shoulder to shoulder with people. Luckily we got to sample most foods. The food selection was great. Plenty of wine tastings and other drink options. The issue was not the food. The problem was how incredibly crowded it was. Around 7:30 when it was time for the general admission entry, I thought there's no way they could fit anymore people in here. Then it became SO CROWDED that you literally could NOT WALK or get to anything! People were bumping into each other trying to get anywhere. It just became an extremely stressful experience trying to get to anything, so we just left. I just want to say shame on LA Food and Wine for overselling and cramming as many people in like a SARDINE CAN! This used to be a wonderful event and I was so excited to finally be able to attend again, only to be disappointed. THIS WAS A FIRE HAZARD! There's no way that many people in that hangar was safe in any way.