2012 Taste of Omaha

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:48 am

Does anyone know when this year's Taste of Omaha will be? Â It is one summer festival we never miss.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Thu May 31, 2012 8:06 am

Its this weekend.

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:52 pm

Thanks. Â I had heard and read zilch on it until I posted here, and an hour later I saw the World Herald's Go section. Â Should be a great weekend. Â Not too hot.

mgmlot93 · Post by **mgmlot93** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:57 am

The weather should be good and I can hardly wait to try Village Inn (sarcasm).

almighty_tuna · Post by **almighty_tuna** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:09 pm

Rick's Boatyard needs to figure out a better/faster way to extort $$ for parking. Sick of sitting on Riverfront drive trying to get through and waiting 10-15min for the traffic.

Uffda · Post by **Uffda** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:12 pm

Decided to pass on tonight with the cool weather and occasional rain - maybe tomorrow or sunday

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Sat Jun 02, 2012 10:04 pm

We went and there were thousands of people down there tonight. Â i know a few people that had booths and they didnt anticipate so many people (it was packed...and a long line of cars even when we left at 8:45). Â tried out some stuff but chicago dog ran out of dogs...big mama's ran out of chicken...chef mike ran out of brats and turkey legs...and others had signs up too. Â definitely bigger turn out than last year. Â still fun, tho.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:43 am

Can someone explain the draw of this event to me? Â I simply don't get it. Â I'm not trying to be snarky, either. Â I've attended and you couldn't get me back to it with a cattle prod.

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:55 am

Big E wrote:Can someone explain the draw of this event to me? I simply don't get it. I'm not trying to be snarky, either. I've attended and you couldn't get me back to it with a cattle prod.

I agree. Â It would not take a cattle prod to get me back, but there are a lot of things I would rather do.

ThatGuy · Post by **ThatGuy** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:53 pm

I feel the same way.

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:03 pm

For me, and im sure many, it is only because is a festival kind of atmosphere and with kids, we dont have many chances to get out. Â its cool to taste different places all in one spot, and they had plenty of beer ;). it was nice outside, good atmosphere (for us anyway).

as a side note, i talked to one of the vendors today and they were told that, as of last night, they had already set the all-time record for attendance.

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:50 pm

Big E wrote:Can someone explain the draw of this event to me? I simply don't get it. I'm not trying to be snarky, either. I've attended and you couldn't get me back to it with a cattle prod.

This.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:32 pm

twiztid1 · Post by **twiztid1** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:12 pm

I find it to be be fun for a few hours. Â The food is great, and it's a fun atmosphere around the park and riverfront. Â I missed the fountain this year. Â I just wish they would work on the non-food vendors and music. Â Most of the retail vendors sell junk, and I get tired of all the cover bands. Â I'd also like to see craft beer. Â It'd be great if Lucky Bucket was the beer vendor even though I'm not a huge LB fan. Â I know these are all areas that can be easily improved.

Saturday afternoon/evening was some of the best weather I can remember for Taste of Omaha, but I got bored after a few hours. Â I left around 8:30 to watch the hockey game at a nearby bar. Â With better music and alcohol though, this is an event I would probably stay the entire night for.

HskrFanMike · Post by **HskrFanMike** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:09 pm

I remember walking through there a few years ago, but I failed to see the value of spending $20 to eat what would otherwise be $5 worth of food off of paper plates.

omaharocks · Post by **omaharocks** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:00 pm

I have attended nearly every Taste of Omaha since it began. Â It's a great way to try restaurants you've never been to or discover ones you've never heard of, not to mention sample cuisines you might not otherwise make a restaurant trip for. Â It's also a fantastic place for people-watching! Â I think it's one of the better festival values around - my spouse and I spent $40 and got food from at least 6 different tents as well as 2 beers each. Â Two entrees and four beers can easily run you $40 at an average sports bar, and that's without tax and tip. Â We even had 2 tickets to spare that we gave to a couple on our way out.

I've never seen so many people at Taste before, and it's a well-organized event. Â It was no surprise a few tents ran out of food. Â My only quibbles this year were too many non-food vendors on the Lewis & Clark Landing and tents that don't offer "tastes" or samples - just full meals.

Big E · Post by **Big E** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:33 pm

omaharocks wrote:my spouse and I spent $40 and got food from at least 6 different tents

OK, how? Â Last time I went I couldn't even begin to think about eating the portions from more than two places. Â That was my biggest beef with it. Â I wanted to sample some places, but everyone was serving meal-sized portions.

omaharocks · Post by **omaharocks** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 4:50 pm

We shared a featherbone from Uncle Earnie's, an ear of corn, a small pork taco from Maria Bonita, coconut curry chicken from 7M, jambalaya from Jazz, and sausage, dumplings and sauerkraut from Eddie's Catering. Â I agree that too many places have full meals, but the most "expensive" thing we sampled was the dish from Eddie's and it was 8 tickets ($5). Â The dishes from 7M and Jazz were both served in small bowls, so just a few bites for each of us. Â We avoided the tents with things that were 10 tickets or more, but we did notice a few more tents with hand-written signs offering samples of certain items for 1 or 2 tickets each.

swgiust · Post by **swgiust** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:01 am

My wife and I have attended Taste in the past. It is a great, fun event.

I would also like to see a better availability of craft beers!

My biggest complaint, is the size of the portions. It's called "Taste"
of Omaha. Not "Meal" of Omaha.

A $ 12 portion of ribs, or a WHOLE pizza is not a taste. Prices are
too high and portions are to big.

This is a management issue. Who ever puts this on needs to instruct
their vendors of the theme of the event. Vendors must understand that
they will sell far more in smaller portions.

We walked by tons of booths and didn't buy because it was to much.
Too much food and too much money!

Omababe · Post by **Omababe** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:45 am

Big E wrote:OK, how? Last time I went I couldn't even begin to think about eating the portions from more than two places. That was my biggest beef with it. I wanted to sample some places, but everyone was serving meal-sized portions.

LOL, they want you to get full on THEIR food, and have no room left over to sample their competitor's fare.

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:42 am

We try to attend Taste every year, and we enjoyed our Saturday afternoon visit this year. Â It was crowded, but not dangerously or annoyingly so. Â We spent about $15-20 per person for food and drink, got to listen to some less than great music, watch a lot of "interesting" people walk by, wave to the folks on the powerboats running up and down the river, and get out in the sun on a beautiful early summer afternoon. Â We figured we walked almost two miles to and from our car, so we got some exercise to balance the calories. Â And yes, we got to try a couple of restaurants were were unfamiliar with. Â The food quality was generally very good, considering the challenges in putting out good food from a small tent. Â All in all, we love Taste of Omaha, and similar events held in other cities. Â It is, after all, a tourist attraction.