Taste of Buffalo presented by Tops Friendly Markets returns to downtown Buffalo for its 41st event on Saturday, July 13 (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.), and Sunday, July 14 (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.). The nation’s largest two-day food festival features culinary delights from 43 restaurants and food trucks, four New York state wineries, live local music and more along Delaware Avenue starting at Chippewa Street and continuing into Niagara Square.
“The Taste of Buffalo is one of the most anticipated premier summer festivals where families have the unique experience to stroll and explore more than 200 food items from our area restaurants staying true to the festival’s core mission of promoting local restaurants, showcasing downtown Buffalo, and giving back to the community,” 2024 Chair Tom Mahoney said. “The diversity of Buffalo’s worldly food scene is the perfect reason for the community to come together and share a meal. Your purchases at the Taste are not only supporting participating restaurants, but also make donations to local charitable organizations and high school scholarships possible.”
Ten rookie restaurants are participating in their first Taste and include Allen Street Hardware, Barrel Factory Kitchen, Carrubba’s Chicken Pit, D.A. Taste, Lime House Sushi & Ramen, Moneybags Dumplings, Not Just Cakes, Pierogi Pete’s, Resurgence Brewing Company, and Sto Lat Bar.
Festivalgoers asked and the Taste’s veteran restaurants heard as 24 will have brand-new menu items at the event this year. Try them at the festival and vote for your favorite by scanning the QR code on their tent.
Admission to the Taste is free. Food and beverage tickets can be purchased at the three festival ticket tents in $6 sheets. Cash, Visa and Mastercard are accepted.
Presale Taste food ticket vouchers are now available for purchase at the registers at participating Tops locations. Vouchers are available in $10 and $60 increments and are redeemable for food tickets at the festival ticket tents. Each $60 voucher comes with four free Coca-Cola beverages at the Taste.
Tops continues its invaluable support of the Taste of Buffalo as the presenting sponsor for the 21st year. Stop by its red-striped tent at the foot of Delaware Avenue and Niagara Square to enjoy a delicious, family-friendly summer menu including Hanzlian’s Italian chicken sausage, Tops premium burgers, steakhouse blend burger or bacon and cheddar burger, Sahlen’s hot dog, corn on the cob, strawberry shortcake, and side salad with Craisins. While there, spin the Tops prize wheel for a $1 donation. Proceeds from both the food and prize wheel will benefit BestSelf Behavioral Health.
Visit the second Tops tent inside Niagara Square early in the day and Tops Pharmacy associates will help you and your family build a better medicine cabinet and tell you about all the services available at your local Tops Pharmacy. Later in the day, the Tops Brands team will have free samples and you can also learn how to earn free money for your local school, through Tops in Education!
Get out of the sun and enjoy your food comfortably under Tops shade tents located throughout the festival grounds.
“Every year, this time-honored Western New York tradition draws thousands of eager festivalgoers from far and wide to relish the delicious and diverse array of offerings that our wonderful city provides,” Tops President Ron Ferri said. “We are proud to once again sponsor such a cherished event in our community.”
New this year, you’ll find Buffalo’s hottest chefs, including two James Beard Award finalists selling their exclusive dishes in two-hour segments at three “Rockstar Kitchen Pop-Ups” located throughout the festival. Don’t miss your chance to try some incredible dishes. A complete schedule is available in the digital festival guide at tasteofbuffalo.com.
Local and national sponsors will offer samples and interactive activities along with plenty of entertainment and fun. Here’s a taste of some of the experiences to check out this year:
•Enjoy your favorite Coca-Cola beverages, including new this year, Smart Water and Vitamin Water, at five convenient locations throughout the event.
•For festivalgoers 21 and older, Genesee Brewing Company is back with four locations including the Genesee Beer Garden in Niagara Square, which will be decked out and beachy and feature your favorite nostalgic Genny brands and summer favorites. The only place in Buffalo to get your hands on the exclusive Dry-Hopped Alora Cream Ale is at the Taste of Buffalo!
•Visit the community table tent presented by Gordon Food Service and sponsored by Buffalo Spree in Niagara Square and sit down and relax. Enjoy your meal and strike up a conservation with your neighbors. Hosted by International Institute of Buffalo, learn about the wonderful work they are doing in the city.
•On Saturday, kids can pop into the Buffalo Architecture Foundation tent to take part in a coloring activity featuring Buffalo’s iconic buildings, create a paper mosaic tile and participate in story time. Also in Niagara Square, grab free samples of Cracker Jack, Lay’s Stax, NERDS and Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, while they last; and dive into coloring the Taste’s giant cartoon mural, too.
•The only place to get a free tray to carry all your delicious food and beverages is from the First Student tent on the outer ring of Niagara Square. While there, let the kids climb aboard their full-size school bus.
•The Checkers Fry Love Express will be serving up free samples of its famous fries.
•The Erie County Department of Health will share how to properly administer life-saving hands-only CPR all weekend in addition to providing a private nursing area for moms with infants.
•Hartman’s Distilling Company believes memories are best reclaimed in the presence of fine spirits, so stop by and get yourself a refreshing Hartman’s Seltzer or Loganberry Vodka cocktail.
•Take a trip through New York state in an I LOVE NY immersive getaway pod. Experience the great outdoors with virtual reality, discover the best of art and culture on a giant coloring wall, strike a pose in a hot air balloon, and more!
•It’s always a party with The Slush Bus. Merritt Winery’s mobile food truck is rolling into the Taste to bring you their famous wine slush.
•The Surprisingly Savannah Mobile Tour hosted by Visit Savannah offers an opportunity to experience Savannah’s charm with live music and free samples of delicious pralines and honey.
•Visit the Tums Insta-ready photo backdrop inside Niagara Square. Grab some quirky props, strike a pose, and spice up your social feed!
•The Traveling Tipsy Trailer is back with refreshing champagne and wine slush pouches and cocktails.
•Check out Volkswagen’s fantastic vehicle lineup and tour your favorite with a product specialist for a complimentary gift while supplies last.
•Powered by purpose and charged by nature, Zespri SunGold Kiwi is a fruit on a mission. Stop by their tent to try their sweet and juicy kiwifruit.
•Catch live local music, DJ P-Nasty and DJ Darkmatter, and enjoy a variety of performances throughout the festival. Salsa in the Park’s dancers will spice up the inside of Niagara Square on Saturday from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Don’t miss the Rick James Dance Party hosted by Stone City Affair featuring Rick James’s Stone City Band at the Genesee Beer Garden inside Niagara Square at 1 p.m. Saturday.
•Paisan from Chef’s, a founding Taste of Buffalo restaurant, will be roaming around the festival to meet and greet the children.
•New York Pork Producers has partnered with Taste restaurants again this year. As part of this exciting partnership, attendees will easily identify menu items featuring delicious pork products by the New York Pork Producers logo prominently displayed next to each dish.
•Batavia Downs is back to let you know where the entertainment continues after the Taste. Check out the giant digital boards at the festival to see the summer music lineup coming to Batavia Downs.
•Additional sponsors include New Era Cap, New York State Troopers, Bond Schoeneck and King, 360 PSG, AdPro, NFTA Metro and the Buffalo POD, Buffalo's first shipping container mobile bar.
Mayor Byron Brown said, “The Taste of Buffalo is an incredibly fun and delicious experience, and it is also an opportunity for people to try the many food options in our city. With an exceptional range of participating restaurants, the Taste is a food lover’s dream come true and this year’s lineup is sure to please. I want to thank 2024 Taste Chair Tom Mahoney and his team for their continued dedication to this event, as well as Tops, which is presenting sponsor for the 21st year. I look forward to seeing both residents and visitors at this year’s Taste of Buffalo.”
Visit tasteofbuffalo.com to view and download the digital festival guide featuring participating restaurants and their menu items, the festival site map, the “Rockstar Kitchen Pop-Ups” lineup, live music schedule, and more.
Named winner of USA Today’s 2023 10BEST Reader’s Choice Travel Award Contest for “Best City Food Festival,” the Taste is a not-for-profit organization with more than 1,000 volunteers helping to put on the annual event. More than $606,000 has been raised at the festival for local charities, in addition to scholarships awarded annually to local high school seniors pursuing a culinary or hospitality-related degree. For more information, visit tasteofbuffalo.com and find us on Facebook and Instagram.