I was the very lucky winner of a pair of VIP tickets for the Taste of Eastside via Yelp. Thanks…read moreYelp for my first event of 2018 !!! And thanks to Hillary S. for coordinating the details on our behalf! Taste of the Eastside is a yearly event that takes place at Los Angeles River Center and Gardens (there's the LA River Visitor Center inside) and showcases cool bites from restaurants located in the Eastern part of Los Angeles. The location is beautiful, Spanish style architecture, nice, charming venue with a huge parking lot (free!), easy to find in an area that I'm not that familiar with. As a VIP you get to sample as much food as your belly can take, 3 drinks, a VIP bag with goodies and an earlier entry (earlier than 4 pm). The event goes from 4 pm (or earlier for VIP-s at 3 pm) till 8 pm. It's ticketed, it's fun and worth it, but get there earlier while the food is plentiful and fresh! $45 regular tickets (unlimited food, drinks to buy separately), $55 at the door. VIP $75 or $85 at door. Check their site for more info, kids packages, etc. Highlights: Favorite dish was from Spread Mediterranean Kitchen, their pita with harissa braised beef, pickled cabbage and hummus. Just delicious, the right amount of spicy, flavorful meat and the freshest hummus! Close to the top were the tasty Southern Style sliders from The Guest House, with a layer of nice fig jelly that gave the a kick. And the nice hibiscus ice tea on the side, southern style as well. My favorite dessert: the Winner is Gigi's Cafe Cubano, with their lovely Cuban-Mexican pastries, great display, plentiful, generous, wonderful customer service. Their guava rolls rock! I have to visit their store in Filipino Town! Up there is Pazzo Gelato for the best ice-cream type at the Fest. I loved their selection, The Vietnamese Coffee + Donuts was great fun and the Peruvian Chocolate was dark and smooth! Favorite drink: The Amber beer (Sabre Toothed Squirrel) from Smog City Brewery. Other food samples that we enjoyed: The Octupus from Barbrix, well grilled, great tapas dish, the avocado toast from Spoke, the Pork Belly Taco and grilled corn from Diablo Cantina, the chocolate balsamic lamb chop from Bon Vivant (messy but tasty), the Olive Oil Cake from Dom's (very original idea), the Greek Meatballs and salad from Momed, cheviche from Malo and nice tamale with mussles and a wonderful blueberry cobbler from Red Herring. Jenni's Splendid Ice-cream had a great salted peanut butter flavor ice-cream and a nice darkest one. Nice service. Silverlake Wine had a decent selection to offer, I tried a nice red wine from Italy, there were other cool breweries as vendors that I didn't sample. Next time! I wasn't impressed with McConnell's Ice-cream, I love their flavors, but here they were resting on their glory, lazy, bad customer service (the girls working the stand were buy texting), they had one flavor, decent - strawberry/rhubarb float, but they let it out to melt. Careless. I wasn't also taken with Greenbar Distillery, I was craving for a good, cold cocktail when I got there, they made me a lemon vodka one. I didn't taste the alcohol, it was so much ice in that cup that you had to search hard to find the drink in there somewhere. I had to toss some of those ice-cubs to taste the thing! Nice atmosphere, relaxed vibe, there was a DJ keeping the mood up and a few bands later on. People bring blankets and make a picnic out of it. They have food and drinks demo, folks are serious, the lists were full too fast, I couldn't get in, just at the end of a cocktail demo and tasting which was fun (for Genever in Filipino Town). It was nice to take advantage of the VIP lounge, a cool place to relax, people watch, have a coffee to digest your food. Go Get Them Tigger Cafe provided some nice choices, their Latte was just right. Great event, had a blast, a wonderful way for foodies to try some of the coolest restaurants in town. Get a taste of they're up to till you'll visit them at their location. It gets your appetite going. Beautiful location, great food, felt spoiled! Wait, I was spoiled! Best way to explore the moveable feast of the Eastside of LA!

(Attended 05/31/15 SU @ 3:00pm): A sampling of tasty treats and liberal libations as you explored a…read moreculinary collection of Los Angeles' Eastside! My 2nd year as a proud volunteer at the 5th annual Taste Of The Eastside event, I previously attended its first three years at the Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood. A lovely local event where ALL proceeds benefited L.A.'s first cooperative nursery school, Rose Scharlin Cooperatve Nursery School, in addition to Pablove Foundation, SEE-LA, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and the Hollyhock House, this allowed restaurants to showcase themselves for a wonderful cause. Here was an over-arching synopsis of 2015's event: TICKET PRICES Kids Under 2-years old: Free Kids 2 to 12-years old: $8.00 General: $50.00 (included unlimited tastings) Premium: $60.00 (included unlimited tastings, 3-sample bar flight, VIP food & mixology demos access) VIP: $90.00 (included unlimited tastings, 3-sample bar flight, VIP food & mixology demos access, early entry at 3pm, exclusive gift bag, front row demos seating, priority parking) Drink tickets: 1/$6.00 or 4/$20.00 VENDORS/ENTERTAINERS: A collage of selected images (sorry for those excluded) as if you were there! Diablo Pop/Taco http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=Xe5KuztXjK6gggU_Ujl7qQ El Condor http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=hpRpy0rrp7dOUdmOhg3yCg Feast Catering http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=o4ibHMTJBZLJcVQ_9Am7KA The Greyhound Bar & Grill (local beers: Angel City Brewery, Golden Road Brewing) http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=4LF0i0AUL_9KOUmqtqZ8sw Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=1hdIN0b5JurDziAKXsQ81Q Knuckle & Claw http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=WQnzenU99N3xU7SOndZCow Lemon Poppy Kitchen http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=dMsoW1YHAW8oM68XXv8DRQ Little Dom's http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=xfv2uIjMZ7R_hixQ45yXIw Maximiliano http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=UJ0OS0oBayjz8SSOqJ7zIQ Momed http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=Dou1xSx6-MdqQEy5g0clGQ Podunk Punks http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=Kd_vKSEp-AoyYMlU8gBrfQ Polka Restaurant http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=EKXwAuEuzw1jnyWUVvzayg Xoia Vietnamese Eats http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=ZgBtkDsTpsahuUNVswHEIQ Service - You were intermittently allowed in as a crowd control measure, but once inside the drink and food lines flowed easily and rapidly. All the vendors appeared happy to be there and were willing to answer any questions. Please note for next year that some vendors started packing up an hour before closing because they ran out of food. The live bands were a nice touch that the crowd enjoyed. The demos were informal, informative and interactive which held the crowd's attention. Everything seemed to run rather smoothly! Parking (Free) - Plenty of spots in their private lot or on the surrounding streets; 'nuff said. Atmosphere, décor, ambience - Held at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens the past two years, this facility was truly a hidden gem in all places Cypress Park. Spanish style with a lively centerpiece water fountain http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=1_9N4C-k26nLZUESiYWhrA, a spacious courtyard, a family-friendly lawn area http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=8jVT2inwc8GIQ6sH2UG9Vw&select=rMU_RsxbncJBTQ-82kzICQ, a small beer garden, and halls filled with folding chairs where the demos were held. Tall tables (no chairs) covered with bright-white clothes dotted the entire facility for patrons while vendor tables where coordinated end-to-end to maximize space. Natural lighting as you'd imagine with some electric lighting brought in for the dusk hours. No TVs and the live bands provided all the music you needed. Attire - Totally casual, so I would normally be in a t-shirt, boardshorts, and flip-flops. Overall, the Taste Of The Eastside was a wonderful event to introduce oneself to some exciting and inventive cuisine in this corner of Los Angeles. Plus, our hard-earned money went to support some wonderful local organizations. However, I recommended that the organizers made a concerted effort to slightly change up the vendors from year to year for fear of it getting stale. I found total value based on the prices, service, and experience noted above (total paid experience was around $70.00 [$50.00 general admission + $20.00 drink tickets] BEFORE any comps/discounts). And, they accepted my credit card of choice...AMEX! 5.0 STARS

When in town make sure to stop by tacolandia with your Familia and give em a try…read more Plenty of options to choose from, won't disappoint from my experience

This is my second year attending Tacolandia and I had a good time as usual. For those who have…read morenever attended the event, Tacolandia is a food festival that is held yearly. As you can guess by the name, it's taco galore!! There are bunch of taco vendors serving up delicious samples of tacos. There are also a few non-taco vendor, like ice cream. The event itself is relatively well organized. There are tickets for general admission and VIP. I would suggest the VIP tickets as it gives you access to a separate entrance and there is a bathroom that you can use. (The only restrooms in the general area are Porta Potties). I also suggest you get to the festival earlier, as there will be a HUGE line to get into the festival. There are lots around the festival, but I normally park in Union Station and walk over. Once you are in, it is TACO TIME. There are tons of vendors, it is almost impossible to try to eat all of them. A tip is to share one taco with other, so you can taste as many. The only one minor complaint that I had is that this year there were way too many carnitas. I guess it is because it is easier to make in mass quantities, but I wanted some differnet types of meat. Also, this year, there was no taco that really stood out for me. But, aside from that, I was stuffed and happy. The other thing I want to mention is that although they have vendors who provide drinks (Zico, etc). There is no place that just provides water, which was a shame as this year, it was SOO hot. So, I had to buy my own water for $2. I did stay for pretty much the entire festival this year. A tip for anyone who wants to stay the entire time, there are some vendors who will just start giving things out so they can close shop. This year, the Kettle chip vendor towards the end of the events just gave us a BAG full of chips. I am pretty sure that I have enough chips to last me months. I will definitely be back next year!

LA' s finest taco festival Tacolandia died and was reborn as Taqueando. Taco vendors hand picked by…read moreBill Esparza. If you are really into tacos you need to be here for this. You'll find the best in al pastor, carnitas, carne asada and some stuff that probably shouldn't be in a tortilla anyway.

Came here for the 2nd annual festival event and it was amazing!…read more I've never been to this park. It's clean, green and just outside of Chinatown. Street parking is plentiful and the event was free! There were educational vendors offering fabulous information about the river down the way, as well as the flora and fauna of the LA area. My family learned a lot and got to bring home some cool souvenirs too. There were food trucks to enjoy on the grass while watching music and spoken word performers. Film clips were shown on the big screen just as the sun set over the hills. We had a wonderful evening away from the beach. Highly recommended!

Yo Yo Festivalites!…read more After all the amazing photos my friends posted of the inaugural mini-Coachella fest last year (aka Arroyo Seco Weekend) I was like DANG! I gotta go! Hooked us up with VIP weekend passes...still not entirely sure what was so "VIP" about them, but nonetheless had an ah-mazing time! The line-up was pretty awesome...my favs were Neil Young, Robert Plant, The Pretenders, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind, Jeff Goldblum and The Revolution...played all of Prince's hits...they were so good...gave me chills! Food and drinks were plentiful...we all got hooked on Kogi's short rib burrito...it was to die for! Filled with hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, cheddar, jack cheese, chopped onions, cilantro, romaine, cabbage lettuce tossed in Korean chili-soy vinaigrette...seriously jonesing for one right now! Definitely planning to go again next year, but hoping they can put more "VIP" into the VIP...yeah, they prob know what I mean but it's still so new so they need time to work out all the quirks. The highlight? Meeting Jeff Goodblum!!! What an absolute treat!

Mini Coachella with same douchie frat guys and entitled sorority tricks. Great music and venue…read more Better parking planning than Indio, but the heat is reminiscent of 1999 Coachella. How do I have time to write this you say? Mediocre band on stage and I'm sober AF! Big plus for allowing lawn chairs in and $3 water. Also , great mix of ol' skool bands and Weezer, cause I like a the Weezer.

What a fun and awesome little event. I am surprised there weren't more participants there to enjoy…read morethe 24 restaurants that were showcasing their goodies there! Honorable mentions go to the following: Green Street - Awesome new twist to their famed Diane Salad, they used Kale instead of lettuce, which was perfect since it holds up better to their delicious salad dressing Slaters 50/50 - with the largest contribution of the night, a quarter of their awesome burger FAVORITE OF THE NIGHT: Osawa - with their Wagyu nigiri! Wow that was an awesome piece of beef! I will definitely be visiting their restaurant for more of that amazingness!

For some reason, and believe me I've been sucked in too, food trucks are alllllll the rage. Only…read morelame asses eat at places set inside a building, all the cool kids get their meals from restaurants that can relocate at a moments notice. Because of this new phenomenon events like this last weekend's Truckit Fest are springing up all over. The question for Truckit Fest: can they do a better job than the others? After waking up from my food coma yesterday I decided that they must be doing something right because we stayed for almost 3 hours and ate WAY too much food. Like waaaaay too much, hence why I'll be hitting the spin bike at the gym like a red headed stepchild this week. The huge victory was the lack of long lines I find at every other food truck gathering. The lines here were anywhere from zero people to ten at most, I think the longest I waited from stepping in line to biting into the grub was probably 15 minutes which is pretty damn good. The location was perfect, right inside and around Union Station. The trucks lined up outside on both sides with artisan jewelers and other craftsmen selling their treasures inside. We had food from trucks offering sushi, tacos, sausages, shaved ice, coffee, vintage clothing (yes, clothes trucks), Indian food, and we only tried maybe 15% of the trucks in attendance. They're going to be rocking this fest once a month, I'm curious to see how it progresses. The parking was easy and they had a smart setup for VIP guests: you can order from a booth in the VIP lounge and runners bring you all your food while you relax and wait. We had VIP but the lines weren't long and it was beautiful outside, so we didn't take advantage this time but on a cold day or longer lines I could see that being pretty sweet. They tossed in some live bands and a beer/wine garden for good measure and voila, they had a pretty successful first festival if you ask me. Will this gig pan out, month after month, drumming up enough interest to sell the general admin and VIP spots? I have no idea. All I know for now is I had a terrific time, got a huge sampling of LA's food truck scene, and will definitely spread the word. If you've got the urge to see just what this food truck craze is all about, the Truckit Fest would be a perfect place to have your mobile-food cherry popped for sure.

Who doesn't like a great food event especially one that's filled with a plethora of food from…read morevarious food trucks, live music and scattered with a little shopping. There was about 20 food trucks, give or take, a couple of clothing trucks and some small clothing and trinket stalls. My husband, his cousin and I hopped on the metro to Union Station which was only 3 stops away. There was a long line to get into the event but it moved really fast and after paying the $5 cover, we were in in no time. We were bombarded with sounds and sights and sudden pangs of hunger. What to eat? What to eat? We had a "Chili Cheese French Fry Sandwich" at The Munchie Machine. I had a cup of some Blue Bottle coffee at the Drip Bar...mmmm....We had the "Slumdog Dosa" from the Dosa Truck. We shared a couple of custard and caramel stuffed churros from Mama Churro and wrapped up with another sandwich called the "Victoria Sandwich" from Shrimp Pimp that consists of sautéed shrimp on a toasted French roll with smoked salmon. The event wasn't extravagant or even very big but the cover charge was cheap and it had good energy, the weather was good, the music filled the air, and we had a good time.

This was my first time visiting The Spooky Swap Meet at Heritage Square Museum. It was pretty…read moreamazing! My only regret was that I wish I didn't have enough money. The Victorian houses are beautiful and all the venders, scare actors and staff were friendly and accommodating. I was surprised to see Nikk Alcaraz giving out candy and signing his book, Peculiar Baking! I'm a big fan of his so I had to buy a copy of his cook book for my girlfriend. There were many photo ops, food vendors, atmospheric music, trick or treating and a few haunted mazes. The only thing lacking was parking. I recommend using a Ride Share company rather than struggling to park in their tiny parking lot or getting VIP parking. Today (Sunday, 4/26) is the last day until next year. If you're a fan of Halloween (the holiday and the movies) I highly recommend attending this swap meet.

Super fun event with a great spooky vibe! Tons of unique booths, creepy-cool items, and themed…read moredecor everywhere. Perfect for Halloween lovers--plenty of photo ops, rare collectibles, and fun surprises. Highly recommend if you're into horror or vintage oddities.