Taste of North Park 2017 - recap

Urban Solace at Taste of North Park

Once October rolled around, our minds had already drifted toward the annual Taste of North Park event. Due to travel and other things, we had not attended since 2014 (or 2015 if you count the mini taste) but this year was finally GAME ON. The event was held Saturday October 15, 2017 between 11-3am and we had a ticket that included beer and food ($45). There were also food only ($35) or beer only ($15) options when purchasing in advance. This new separation was a nice change especially since certain friends of mine admitted they only came for the beer! With ticket in hand, we walked between the various businesses in search of the best samples. Check out the highlights below!

Venissimo Cheese at Taste of North Park

Spooky cheeses at Venissimo Cheese observed everyone eating this delicious MimoLette cheddar/gouda hybrid.

Figaro Dessert Cafe ice cream selection at Taste of North Park

Choose your own flavor at Figaro Dessert Cafe. I love options!

Hammond's Gourmet Ice Cream at Taste of North Park

More options for sweet gelatos at Hammond's Gourmet Ice Cream. Mini cone included!

Caffe Calabria pizza at Taste of North Park

Caffe Calabria has their pizza oven back in business which makes me super happy. I could eat pizza everyday, cold or hot! 

Sublime mac n cheese at Taste of North Park

Dennis is always craving the mac n cheese from Sublime and this year they sampled some for the event!

Encontro at Taste of North Park

These ahi tostada bites from Encontro were a perfect sample size! I'm digging that cute succulent bowl too.

Tostadas at Taste of North Park

Tostadas had a huge sample tostada with a meat or potato option.

Tostadas Agua Fresca at Taste of North Park

What made this stop even better was the agua fresca as part of the taste! After a little bit of walking, their cucumber lime drink hit the spot.

Nomad Donuts at Taste of North Park

Check out this stash of Ube donuts from Nomad Donuts! Unfortunately, this flavor and the dragonfruit flavor we tried were too subtle for our taste.

Coin-Op at Taste of North Park

There's nothing like eating tator tots while racing motorcycles... safely at Coin-Op game room. ^_^

True North Tavern tator tots at Taste of North Park

I truly do want to save room for upcoming samples but these True North Tavern tator tots always disappear completely after we stop here!

Mastiff fries at Taste of North Park

Mastiff (inside North Park Beer Co) served crispy potato rounds topped with harissa aioli, cotija cheese and cilantro. It wasn't super fresh in sample form but we'd give it another go for a standalone order.

Revive Kombucha at Taste of North Park

Dennis was thrilled to find Revive Kombucha right outside of Queen B's. Out of the four flavors being poured, we liked their most popular one, which I think is Boogie Down. They are from norcal and we're glad they shared their product with us!

Florencia's Ristorante at Taste of North Park

I believe Florencia's Ristorante is a new (to me) spot in North Park. We had a little bit of their pepperoni pizza and garlic bread to sample.

West Coast Tavern at Taste of North Park

We had many more bites than pictured but our final sample was an asian glazed pork belly on a crispy tostada from West Coast Tavern. Thank goodness we ended the event on a good note! 

North Park continues to be one of my favorite foodie neighborhoods. Whether you are an avid eater, beer lover, or a little of both, this exploring event is not to be missed! 

Disclaimer: We were provided tickets to this event and our food and drink were complimentary. We were not otherwise compensated and all opinions stated are our own

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Comments

caninecologne's picture
Submitted by caninecologne (not verified) on Mon, 11/06/2017 - 7:28pm

Wow, everything looked so good especially the agua frescas and the tater tots! Fun!

Florencia's has actually been in North Park since 2006. I used a coupon there in 2011 with TC when she was younger. They had great lasagna from what I remember.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Tue, 11/07/2017 - 9:29am

Ahh, I've walked down University Ave many times but just haven't noticed Florencia's until the taste! The samples were a little bit oily that day though.

Faye's picture
Submitted by Faye (not verified) on Tue, 11/07/2017 - 10:21am

Oh man that looked like a nice tasting! A lot of variety, pretty presentation, and decent potions.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Fri, 11/10/2017 - 9:05am

great neighboor. we can no longer do the "eat everything" thing, especially for these bigger tastes!

Nicole @ Bento Momentos's picture
Submitted by Nicole @ Bento ... (not verified) on Tue, 11/07/2017 - 11:33am

So many delicious looking eats!! Too bad about the ube donuts... that would've been a great fusion. I'd love to base our next California trip on visiting this event!

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Fri, 11/10/2017 - 9:07am

they have another location that's been open longer and sells out all the time! this event is only once a year in october. let me know if you ever visit SD and i can suggest a few spots!

Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table's picture
Submitted by Laura @ Sprint ... (not verified) on Wed, 11/08/2017 - 8:38am

This all looks fabulous! North Park is one of my favorite neighborhoods to eat in around SD.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Fri, 11/10/2017 - 9:09am

i visit this neighborhood the most! sometimes you have to do some walking but parking isn't crazy expensive like downtown!

Soo@hungryones.com's picture
Submitted by Soo@hungryones.com (not verified) on Wed, 11/08/2017 - 1:53pm

That was a good selection of treats! I love visiting Hammond's.

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Fri, 11/10/2017 - 9:10am

yea there's good food all over here!

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