Did Tacofest for the first time this year, sprung for the VIP section. Review is for that. Some amazing parts, some not so great.
Excellent parts of the VIP section:
--clean bathrooms with flush toilets, serviced over the course of the night to keep them clean! Absolutely worth the price of a VIP ticket.
--lots of chairs to enjoy the food and listen to the music, even if you were getting there late
--access to the front row in front of the stage
Not so great parts:
--food in VIP section was very disappointing, esp. for a non-meat eater (they said there would be veggie options, but when I was there, the only thing you could put in a corn tortilla that was not meat was some bland tomato-and-zucchini). There were a few grilled fish tacos, but they were just fair. There was supposed to be unlimited chips and salsa, but they didn't have red salsa. No guacamole to be found, though the green salsa was excellent.
--There was supposed to be a "dessert buffet." In fact there was no buffet - just ice cream sandwiches. Those were pretty good, but I didn't want more than one of them, and expected some variety.
--It's good that there were 4 drinks included with VIP tickets, but the choices were not great if you weren't drinking beer.
--And though we did get front row access, there were WAY too many VIP tickets sold for a very small front row space. We were definitely crammed like sardines there if we were lucky enough to even make it into the space before the headliner.
BUT, the atmosphere was still great (didn't need a VIP ticket for that), lots of people chilling and dancing in the beautiful setting of waterfront park. The bands were terrific (Salt n Pepa!!). And I have to give a shout-out to COAL BROS., which apparently has a new store on El Cajon Blvd. We wandered out of VIP to check out the regular food stands where you could buy food, and we were so lucky to stumble upon this place. Their tuna tostada was seriously legit - DELICIOUS, FRESH, and a steal at $5. Blue corn tostada, delicious ahi, and some yummy guac on the bottom. They are an offshoot of a Tijuana restaurant called Negro Asadero. Best festival food at the lowest price ever! read more