Attendees explore ‘Taste of Atlanta’ in Old Fourth Ward Park
Over the weekend Old Fourth Ward Park played host to the 17th annual Taste of Atlanta food and drink festival, featuring more than 90 local restaurants and bars for a full three days of foodie heaven.
Attendees came from across the state, (and beyond) to sample offerings from some of Atlanta’s hottest restaurants and chefs, but in 2018 there is much more to the festival. Cooking classes and demonstrations, a beer garden filled with local brews, and cocktails from some of the city’s top bartenders highlighted the event’s other entertainment options.
Celebrity chefs including Taqueria del Sol’s Eddie Hernandez and Kyma’s Pano Karatassos (among others) were in attendance to showcase some of their patented dishes, while other newcomers to Atlanta’s restaurant scene such as Hattie B’s Hot Chicken and Root Baking Co. were on hand to show off their wares to the massive crowds on hand.
The event has become the city’s largest gathering of restaurants and bars and a showcase for one of the state’s fastest growing industries. Over the past three years alone the number of Georgians employed by the food service industry has jumped from 64,000 to 140,000, and the Georgia Restaurant Association, of which Taste of Atlanta is a member, has become one of the state’s most influential advocacy groups.
Sunday at the festival saw the event’s first ever ‘Brunch Day,’ featuring dishes from shrimp and grits to breakfast empanadas. Brunch has of course been a meal of great debate at the State Capitol in recent years, capitulating in the passage of the ‘Brunch Bill’ during the 2018 legislative session, moving up the time at which restaurants can serve alcohol on Sunday mornings to 11:00am. Voters throughout most of the state will vote to approve that law this November, and if an informal poll of Taste of Atlanta attendees serves as any sort of indicator, expect it to pass with flying colors.
