GUT BUSTING!!!
(4.8 stars)…read more
Wear some stretchy bottoms, comfy shoes, and a whole lot of SPF. 2024 ticket was $50 in advance (sold out so no tickets sold day of which would have been $65). VERY ORGANIZED. Lots of good eats, no place ran out of food. But My stomach ran out of space.
San Diego offers a couple of "Taste of (fill in the neighborhood)" and San Diego County offers a few "Taste of (fill in the city)". Through the years I've been to a handful of them and select based on variety of offerings.. Taste of Adams Avenue is probably the best within San Diego proper as it offers a variety of different foods... 2 mile span, 4hr window, and 43 bites/sippies (growing bigger each year).
:: THE EXPERIENCE ::
Check-in starts at 10am, event starts at 11am and ends at 3pm. I managed to knock out 32 of 42 (11 left) in 3hrs and couldn't finish without feeling like my stomach expanding and my butt was about to explode. I even prepared by taking a Pepcid AC + Tums beforehand. There was so many good eats, plenty of food, and a few that are pass-able. Let's start off with the least favorite.
***LEAST FAVORITE (serving choice + portion)
1) WHITE RICE BODEGA (Filipino) - cornbread or beans. UHM, kind of disappointed they made something so easy and cheap just to participate yet not even something Filipino. This was THE perfect opportunity for them to promote their restaurant (and Filipino food) in some way and they chose to serve a piece of sweet corn bread OR beans.
2) CLEM'S TAP HOUSE - for $1 a juneshine can of beer. Great deal and all BUT there were a good amount of people who walked in and walked right out. The thought of 1) carrying a closed can around the event OR 2) opening and having to sit there in the small space and drink the beer while the event is going with hundreds of people coming in and out... just didn't seem appealing for that $1 spend
3) ABNORMAL HEIGHTS ROOFTOP - they offered two skewers either the watermelon and cheese or the chicken. Idk why but I went for the watermelon and cheese and it wasn't tasty.
***FAVORITES: (flavor + portion)
1) MADI (American) - mini waffle churro stick + mimosa. Really good piece of French toast and yummy sip of green mimosa. This was a tease of their menu! Great introduction!
2) TAJIMA RAMEN (Japanese) - Tonkatsu ramen with a nice piece of pork belly. I've ate here many times before and love what they served their star dish. For a taste of event.. their portion was plenty.
3) FORTUNATE SON (Chinese) - rice, cucumber salad, and orange chicken. This was a yummy bite. Portion was plenty. Will have to come here and eat a full meal.
4) CHRIS ONO GRINDS (Hawaii) - rice, Mac salad, Kalua pork, and huli huli chicken. Ate here many times. Portion was plenty and tasty.
AND THE REST... all were pretty good with a variety of eats from pizza, pasta, parties, burger, pull pork sandwich, pad thai, chow mein, dumpling, ahi poke, ice creams, cookies, and more.
Be strategic about your path or you could be walking double the 2 miles. The check in was in the middle of the route, most will start in the middle or at 1 of 43 and work their way to 43. A few smart others (including myself) started at 43 and worked backwards. This helped with crowd traffic - by the time we hit the middle all those started in the middle have dispersed. For transportation around the event, there is a trolly that goes thru Adams but most people walk and deal with the heat.
Definitely worth the $50 spent in attempts to hit all 43 spots in 4 hours. I tapped out at 3hrs with 11 left. Tried my best but just couldn't hang. Will try again next year.
JABA APPROVED. Until the next bite...