Taste of Syracuse remains a great Syracuse event. There's always been vendors who give tiny samples and others who give super generous ones, you just have to take your chances (or spy on social media or other people's orders) to decide whether the portion is worth it. My usual routine is to go right at opening and beat the larger crowds, but this year I went in the evening on Saturday. Some streets had WAAYYYY more congestion than others and it was hard to move -- made even more difficult by the occasional person who had obviously been visiting the beer tent and had trouble walking straight. That aside, most lines moved pretty quickly, and was still able to get like 7-10 samples in the hour or so I was there. Standouts for me this year were the mango cheesecake loompya at Oompa Loompyas and the crab rangoon at Vietnamese Noodle House, but there were lots of tasty things. This festival is always a great way to check out brand new businesses making their debut in the CNY food scene, along with hitting up an old favorite or two. read more

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Taste of Syracuse still rings first place for me of best festivals in syracuse. As prices get higher and higher at other festivals, Taste still is low at $2 a sample. I really appreciate this, as it lets me taste multiple stands and then buy thier full sized meals or snacks for my favorites. This year I was really in love with the shrimp bruschetta from Bold Coast Lobster, but there were several fantastic options. Most lines move pretty quickly which I also appreciate. F.T. Chen bringing in authentic chinese street food was also a huge hit for my group, as we are all foodies loving to try other cultural foods. We got the grilled squid on a stick and were very happy about that. Always get there early, to keep lines smaller. Also, always remember sunscreen.. its something we always seem to forget and the sun can be pretty brutal! read more

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A fun event where you can try numerous local eateries all at once! One thing to note: Many places only take CASH (some take venmo and/ or credit card). There are ATMs around the area, though. (Almost?) all vendors had $2 options, though the quality and size of those sample options vary greatly. While some places offered sample sizes that were quite sizable, other places gave samples that were smaller than Costco samples. My favorite bite of the whole day was from Ruby's Colombian Cuisine - chicken arepa sample. Great sample size and tasted delicious! Crispy outside, pillowy inside, and filled to the brim with fresh, wonderfully seasoned ingredients. There are garbage cans throughout the event area, which was appreciated. There were also more seating areas than I had expected (benches, picnic tables, etc). It does get crowded very quickly, so I'd suggest coming earlier in the day if possible. read more

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Another great Taste of Cuse! So many great bands, and vendors! $2 samples of Birria Tacos was definitely amongst the most popular and our favorite sample! Boom boom guacamole balls, The Noodles Crab Rangoon, Eva's sausage with horseradish, so many amazing samples to try! Beverage tickets 3 for $25. Wine slushies $12. I chose to Lyft, much easier than dealing with downtown parking for such a busy event! Great food, music, and running into old friends! read more

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So glad that the rain stopped, so I could get to the Taste of Syracuse this afternoon. I try to go every year. This event showcases the breadth of flavors and cuisine in the region. It's a great place for trying something from a new food venue or having a fan favorite. This year I had samples from: Catering by Chef Jeff - Cheesesteak slider - This was the perfect slider in terms of size, flavor, and lack of messiness. BTW I have a friend who has been at events Chef Jeff has catered, and she raved about his cooking. https://chefjeff.pro/ Congo Box - Chicken sample - I first had food from Congo Box at a previous Taste of Syracuse and have visited their food truck at different events. They sell food from their food truck all year round on West Fayette in Syracuse. Their chicken is awesome...hot off the grill! https://www.facebook.com/p/Congo-Box-100070485204944/ Gilligan's Ice Cream - Mango habanero vodka ice cream. They had an amazing list of homemade ice creams and offered samples for sale of each. Delicious! https://www.gilliganssherburne.com/ Inka's - Peruvian fried rice - Amazing to have Inka's set up at the Taste of Syracuse within a "stone's throw" of their restaurant. The fried rice had a light, unique flavor. Now I really want to go to this restaurant! https://inkassyracuse.com/ Over the Cuse Deli & Grill - Halal chicken over rice. I've driven by this eatery and had no idea what it had to offer. Delicious food and a place I need to visit. https://www.overthecusedelingrill.com/ All of the vendors were wonderful and the food awesome! This is definitely the premier food event in Syracuse and one that everyone should go to! read more

Glad the weather turned around this weekend. Beautiful day and fun time walking around the taste of Syracuse even though it feels smaller each year. We got there around 12pm and stayed until 3pm. 12-2pm was perfect. Busy but lines were moving and wasn't hard to get around. By 2:30 it was crazy and we left at 3pm after rounding out our day with salt city coffee. Longest line this year personally was the birria queso taco. Everything we got in order: Peppino's - Risotto bomb did not start off well, small sample and greasy but was cheesy inside Wildcats - Wingdings a staple with wildcat sauce and I always enjoy these (usually at trappers same owners). Light spice with their blue cheese. Ale 'n' Angus - cheesy beer chips, loved these and great portion size. Chips were good with lots of cheese, bacon crumbles and scallions. *Side note if I was here to get a full size meal I would've gotten there beef on weck as it looked AMAZING with a huge helping of beef. Fair Deli - Rueben egg roll was very good, sample was only half of one but I was lucky to get a good size sample. Very tasty Margaritas Mexican Cantina - chimichanga and queso is probably my top 1 or 2 for this taste. I'm a sucker for queso and the chimichanga was amazing. You got to pick steak or chicken and I chose chicken. Chicken was well seasoned. They had a very spicy hot sauce out which I enjoyed. Their regular menu was fairly priced with very big $4 tacos. XO taco - chicken taco it wasn't bad but was small had an aioli sauce on it and lettuce. I added guava ghost sauce as they had an array of hot sauce out. Very spicy but liked the flavor of the guava peaking through. The saucy sandwich - Thai chili meatball wasn't bad and good size meatball, very flavorful Board and bar charcuterie - arancini and $4 shock top beer *while not actually on the list of vendors their right off the taste area. Taste of Syracuse actually blocked their entrance side road this year which I found disappointing because it detracted people from going there. Great spot with solid prices for alcohol. I also tried their sample, which was delicious, cheesy inside with nice crunch garlic Parmesan flavor. Tommy C's - Mac & cheese in a cone a fun twist but definitely for the kids. Not much flavor to the Mac & cheese but very cheesy. I would skip this in the future personally. Birria queso taco - Mexican horcharta, cucumber agua fresca, beef mini taco, birria quesadilla slice. All very good but the horcharta and birria quesadilla slice were my favorite. The line for this one was a mess not only popular but horribly placed in a busy walking area near one the street entrances which made it tough. But I really enjoyed the quesadilla. Beef taco wasn't bad either and cucumber agua Fresca was refreshing and much needed as it got hotter. Salt city coffee - 16 oz blueberry lavender draft latte and chocolate hazelnut draft latte all made with oat milk. The blueberry lavender was very good lavender brought out the sweetness of the blueberry. Chocolate hazelnut tasted like chocolate milk which isn't bad it was very good but I like to taste my coffee so wish the espresso was a little more forward. Overall very good though and cool that it was on draft. I didn't get to JiWoos this year but their hot bop is always a favorite!! Overall my favorites top would be margaritas, birria queso taco, board and bar, salty city coffee, and ale n angus read more

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The taste's new layout this year truly helped with the congestion, as the nature of it will be packed regardless. It stinks that the samples are $2, but again, the nature of life. Its great to see local businesses continue to innovate and thrive, and how diverse Syracuse continues to grow in culture, food and activities. It's the biggest identifier for the true start of summer in Syracuse! read more

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Do you like crowds of people shoulder to shoulder spewing garbage from their mouths and smelling like garbage because of the mass of food and it being a hot summer day? Do you like spending $2 a bite for food you normally eat, waiting for 30 minutes in line for it, and occasionally waiting only to be told "we just sold out", and it to have been steaming in a tray so it's not as good as it should be? Do you like settling for garbage Sysco food when you could be elsewhere with fresh ingredients that aren't stuck in a tray with warmers all day? It's just a vibe, go somewhere you like with people you like and save yourself some bucks, some hassle, and have a better experience read more

Went to Syracuse last weekend for a football camp with my son and as we strolled downtown we notice tons of people gathered. We found out that we were there just on the right day to enjoy "A Taste of Syracuse", which is a yearly festival help downtown and they have 115 different vendors (Mostly food, some art, clothing and jewelry) seems like everyone in the area came out for this one as the streets were extremely crowded and you can barely get by the the smells of good food and people having a great time just drew us to it. read more

There are samples of so many things, for just a dollar, and free samples as well. Go with an appetite, and enjoy the entertainment. There are local bands and some big names at night. Always fun and lots of people. Go early and expect to see people you know! read more

I suppose writing this review won't be a huge help this year, but next year this info will just as valid(which I suppose would be this year if you are currently reading this a year from when I wrote it). So you probably guessed that Taste of Syracuse is kind of a big deal. You guessed right! I have been going to Taste Of Syracuse now for probably 10 years. It has gotten bigger and bigger each year. Part of that is a good thing, part of it kind of stinks. We can start with the small negatives first. There are way too many people going here for the small cramped downtown location. They need to move this entire event to somewhere else like the inner harbor. Now on to the good stuff. THE FOOD! I love bringing out of towners to this event because you can taste so many different food types. Almost every booth has a 1$ sample that you can buy. If you love the food, you can buy the full size edition. There is food and drinks from just about every type of culture in the Syracuse area. If you haven't been here before, I highly recommend it. Just remember to wear your mental armor because the crowds might aggravate you. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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! read more

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! read more

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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, Cafe 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. read more

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. read more

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. read more