Chefs Clayton Chapman of The Grey Plume and Joel Mahr of Lot 2 will face off in the first “Battle for the Toque,” one of a handful of new, live events that will be part of the city’s 19th annual Taste of Omaha, which takes place this weekend.
Last year was the first year the festival expanded across the Missouri River, and Mancuso said the organizers learned some lessons, mainly that festival goers wanted to traverse the Bob Kerrey Bridge and have some activities on the Iowa side of the river once they got there. This year, there will be activities in Iowa on Saturday only instead of all weekend, including live music, demonstrations and helicopter rides.
Main acts this year:
Josh Dorr
9 p.m. Friday, Nebraska Lottery Harbor
The Trammps
6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Rotella’s Bakery River Stage
Otis Day & The Knights
9 p.m. Saturday, Nebraska Lottery Harbor
swgiust wrote:This is one of my favorite Omaha summer events.
I hope the vendors listened to me after last years Taste.
It is TASTE of Omaha, not WHOLE MEAL of Omaha. A $ 15 rack of ribs or a $ 12 whole pizza is not a taste!
Hope to break my record of 12 different things eaten!
I know a lot of people don't like this festival, but I have said it every year....this is my favorite festival in Omaha. You have free music and entertainment and food you can purchase. And back again this year are helicopter rides on the CB side of the river.
I agree the portions are huge and cost a ton. I would love it if they would be 1/2 the size so you could truly sample a bunch of different vendors.
If you play it right you can eat for pretty cheap. A lot of times the BBQ and pizza places will offer discounts on any food they have remaining. I remember one year we got a whole pizza for $5.
I also really love the layout and the fact that they continue to use the downtown parks as they were intended to draw people back to the river. It doesn't seem quite as crowded as the Summer Arts Festival b/c it is more spread out.
swgiust wrote:This is one of my favorite Omaha summer events.
I hope the vendors listened to me after last years Taste.
It is TASTE of Omaha, not WHOLE MEAL of Omaha. A $ 15 rack of ribs or a $ 12 whole pizza is not a taste!
Hope to break my record of 12 different things eaten!
I completely agree. I love this event. And portion sizes should be small, with prices to match. This would allow patrons to sample foods from as many different restaurants as possible.
We went down tonight (Friday evening) trying to beat the storm. The place was a mob scene. We barely found a parking spot (in the Parks Service lot) and started our noshing before the winds whipped up and the sky darkened. We decided to hightail it not ten minutes before the sky opened.
But with unused food tickets we will be back tomorrow!
My best suggest for people that haven't been to Taste of Omaha, don't go. It is crowded, most places are out of their best food, and prices are ridiculous.
A La Vista man was killed Sunday when he was catapulted off his motorcycle and over the side of an elevated section of Interstate 480 in downtown Omaha, landing near festivalgoers at the Heartland of America Park.
We went Friday night, just before the storms rolled through. Parked at the National Park Service lot after nothing closer was available. Decent food, but we left early before the rains hit.
Went back Sunday about Noon. Large crowds of happy, well behaved people. The two of us spent a total of about $25 and left full. I don't like the setup with a bunch of non food related |expletive| booths linking the Landing to Heartland park. And far too little shade. But there was a nice variety of restaurants.
They ought to repeat this in September, when the weather might be better. And limit it to vendors actually selling items you can ingest. My 2 cents.
According to the article from the World Herald, the 2018 Taste of Omaha set attendance records with over 125,000 people attending. The weather was nearly perfect for this year.