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On Thursday May 14th, the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce held their 14th annual Taste of Anaheim at the Shops at the Anaheim GardenWalk. This was a new venue for the festival as it was previously held in the parking lot at Angel’s Stadium and the Grove of Anaheim. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, but who wouldn’t with great food, drinks and live entertainment.
No matter where it was held though, this was going to be a better location than previous years; however it’s still the GardenWalk. In case you are unaware of this newer mall, the GardenWalk started off with many hardships due to multiple delays in development and lack of tenants. By the time this outdoor mall got off the drawing boards the economic crisis began therefore making it impossible to fill in the store fronts.
Before I end up giving a full review of the GardenWalk, let me just state that there are a few nice gems like the movie theater with a 21+ section, a wine bar, multiple nice fine dining locations, along with a bowling and entertainment center. With that being said, it still needs a few more shops to open and some word of mouth before it becomes a place to really consider visiting unless you’re very local. This event will definitely help the GardenWalk as there were many people there that can now spread the word about the place.
As for the Taste of Anaheim, there was some excellent food from many restaurants from around the city, and a few in some cities around the area. I noticed a great amount of seafood though. This wasn’t a problem though as it all tasted quite good. Probably my favorite seafood dish was some white tuna sushi from the Geisha House in Santa Ana. I can’t even describe how great it was, but it could have just been it was the first thing I ate almost all day! Nonetheless, I went back for seconds.
Some of the restaurants in attendance were Mr. Stox, Anaheim White House, Ralph Brenan’s Jazz Kitchen, Ruth Chris Steakhouse, Alcatraz Brewing Company, Oggi’s Brewing Company, and many more. One note worth mentioning was that Disney talked about Club 33 (A hidden membership only restaurant in Disneyland Park), Catal, Naples, Napa Rose, and Blue Bayou being in attendance except none were there. What happened? Either way Disney still had a few restaurants handing out samples.The set-up is nothing special. All that is there, and was expected, are a bunch of booths with different companies and restaurants behind them with an added stage for entertainment. The only act worth noting was Eli Mattson, which was the runner up on America’s Got Talent Finalist. I’ll be honest, WHO? Yeah I have no idea who that is. He was fine, but not my cup of tea. In fact, I think he kind of slowed things down from the other performers. Although, there were still quite a few people sitting down enjoying his music.
The whole event was overall very enjoyable and all the visitors seemed to have a very positive vibe. Everyone seemed mellow and was just enjoying themselves while having a bunch of free food, after a ticket fee of course. Why am I telling all of you this though? Watch the video. Just don’t miss next years.
