Taste of Cambridge

Loved this! Came with a friend, and tried out multiple dishes from many restaurants.
Only «complaint» is that many ran out of food a bit too early at many locations. I would have hoped this would be better coordinated.
Great to see which restaurants are going and decide based on that. Also– beer and wine selections were great! Got to taste a few new local ones!

So much food and drink! I thought this event was overall a success, but there was definitely some disorganization. The people manning the ticket tables didn’t seem like they were entirely aware of how things worked (i.e. didn’t check my id, didn’t know about drinks tickets — they said you would get 4 drinks — ended up being unlimited). At one point, I noticed there was a very long line at the main entrance when there was another ticket table nearby that was completely open — they could have directed part of the line over to this table to help get people in. I actually overheard some volunteers commenting to each other that the event was very disorganized. This surprised me as the event is in it’s 11^th or so year. Then again it did get cancelled twice… I was surprised at how many food and beverage options there were — I thought the new date would result in few options. I was happy to see this was not the case.
I could see where your impression of the event could vary based on when you arrived and your tastes. I found there to be an amazing variety of food and drink options — many of which were very good — and I also arrived early so I was able to make the rounds before it got too crowded and tables ran out of food. Some of the highlights were striped bass ceviche, whole tasty burgers, sushi, mult. ice cream tables (some desserts other than ice cream would have been refreshing), Indian food, Thai food, Mexican, etc. The drinks options included Strong Bow, Sam Adams, Harpoon (IPA and UFO), John Harvard’s Brewpub, 4 wine tables with a variety of red and white options.
Four stars for being affordable compared to similar charity events and for the variety of food and drink options. There is definitely room for improvement, but I had a great time.

WATCH OUT, this event is totally unorganized. They are completely not ready for the rain, despite being in Boston, not like Phoenix. Even if the entire event is cancelled, they will not give you your money back at all. Skip this one and just donate to charity and visit local restaurants, rather than getting nothing for your money.

Location has changed but still lots of fun. Drinks and food tastings — and throw in a little dancing.

If I organized a block party, this is what it would be like.
I was hesitant to go to Taste of Cambridge because I thought that maybe it just wasn’t worth my money or my time, but I’m glad that I broke down this year because there’s nothing like a food coma on a happy, warm thursday evening with some reggae playing in the background.
All you can eat, with yummy restaurants to try out and four alchy drinks max (which no one I knew managed to finish up). The food wasn’t necessarily the most memorable but it’s still great to sample stuff. Obviously it isn’t an exact indicator of how a restaurant’s food is…(has anyone watched those Top Chef challenges?) so I didn’t necessarily take away any winners or losers. Just the sense that I’m glad that I live in an area with so much good food!
It sounds like they change the way they run things each year. If I had only been allowed to sample one thing from each table, I would have been ANNOYED. Also, although the beers are miniature, I preferred it that way since I can barely finish a pint by myself, but they aren’t as miniature as other tastings I’ve been too, which was nice because it was jusssssssst right (for me).
I was able to get away with eating fish and veggies but I could see how it would be hard for a vegetarian and basically impossible for a vegan to enjoy their visit to this event.
Totally try it out if you don’t mind the cover (that goes to a good cause) and if you like trying lots of different foods. YUM!
Until next year…

I can’t believe that I’m the first to comment on what a success Taste of Cambridge was last night. I’ve been wanting to go but didn’t think I could afford the hight $ 75 cost. Luckily, even though I could’ve used my Harvard employee discount, my friend got me in for free.
For those who have never been: Its a feast of all the best restaurants in Cambridge, both high end and comfort food. There is plenty of food to go around and most of all I’m thankful that these restaurants did not skimp on quality for an occasion like this.
When it comes to the food, I can hardly think of any negatives other than the fact that it is hard to hold so much good food in your hands while walking around the plethora of tables. I noticed that the VIP’s had these nifty trays where you can put all the food that you pick up and it had a holder for your drink. I was coveting those. Also, it would have been nice to see a bigger effort to be GREEN. With every table, we got new forks, plates, and cups. Especially at an event like this that’s for charity, they could’ve found some vendor in Cambridge who could’ve offered to be the provider of green products for all the restaurant booths.
At an event like this you need strategy. For all the buffet lovers out there, here it is: stay away from heavy things, like carbs and rice. Those are empty fillers. You want to get the most variety without getting full to quickly.
THE BEST OF THE BEST!
Upper Crust: can’t go wrong and the pizza was amazingly kept hot. (who by the way is confirmed as to opening a location in Harvard Sq)
Temple Bar did an awesome job with their scallops on black beans
Olé’s pork sandwich was good but too messy
Hyatt Regency’s Hotel’s Shrimp in a Mango Purée was AWESOME
Newcomer ART BAR in the Sonesta Hotel had a great light Scallop as well with a tangy avocado. Yummers
Harvest’s assorted bruschetta was delicious.
Rialto’s Shrimp was delicious as well.
Blue Room did some incredible food as well.
Not impressed/​Bad ideas/​Disappointing:
Asgard: the only pasta option but it was in a heavy cream sauce. Not worth it
Sebastian’s: chicken was dry. it didn’t showcase their great store
Hong Kong: pass
Chez Henri did a pork dish that was delicious but hard to eat.
Uno’s? Huh? Why?
Sandrine’s Cucumber Shooters: disappointing.
AWESOME Reggae band~! AWESOME AWESOME!

The Taste of Cambridge is an outdoor fundraiser that provides a real diverse sample of what this fine city has to offer. In some cases it’s truly horrible chinese food, in other cases it’s truly divine, as was Rialto’s grilled lamb and foccacia sandwich with olive tapenade that I am going to copy (because I’m such a rad knock off artist in the kitchen) But this is flattery Dear Rialto, you truly inspired and pleased me with your dish’s deceptive simplicity.
Secondly. There was plenty of food and drinks people. Don’t get scared by those saying there was only «little cups» or «one type of beer». You could basically eat and drink for two hours straight – they were not punching my ticket and were relaxed about the rules. But yes, I did expect full pints, full glasses of wine and more of it due to the 50 $ price tag.
Thank You Formaggio for your outstanding blasts of flavors! I know there were a lot of chefs (read egos) bouncing around and for that it was fun, and the longest line didn’t lie, I am going to Rialto because of their showing at this event. The live jazz, perfect weather, and nice people added even more flavor.

I’ve gone to this maybe 4 times in the past 5 years. And I have to say that in the past two years, it seems to have gone downhill. The main issue is that there aren’t as many of the top-​notch restaurants and the empty space is being filled in by the likes of Qdoba. I’m not interested in Qdoba and find it odd that a $ 50 ticket includes fast food.
There are still some good standouts: Craigie Street Bistrot, Upstairs on the Square and Henrietta’s Table are all there doing creative things. There were some upscale pub places that were trying hard. Typically, I think Harvest has the most creative stuff (one year they had popcorn with truffle oil and a homemade chocolate bar to promote their dinnner-​and-​a-​movie deal with Brattle Strett Theatre), but this year, Henrietta’s table stole the show with the berry shortcake.
For Taste of Cambridge, it seems to have peaked and I don’t think I’ll be going back next year.

okay. i went to this last year and i wanted to give a little update for people who are considering going this year (july 19^th!).
–the price has gone up from $ 40 to $ 50 in advance.
–the drink tasting thing natasha mentioned was not the case last year. they stamped you for every beer. and the beers were tiny «tastes». that totally sucked. i also don’t remember seeing a wine area, just a cambridge brewing company table and a narragansett table? but then i love narragansett so i probably never moved much farther away from that table :)
–the way they work the tickets are you buy a ticket and it has numbers on it for each table. you go to each table and you get a stamp so you can’t return. the only exception to this is that you get two free space stamps you can return to anywhere for. i used mine to return to olé for their delicious vegetarian tacos.
–speaking of vegetarians, i am one and this was totally not the place for me. i left still starving which was ridiculous considering how much FOOD there was. and considering the fact that it was taking place in the people’s republic of cambridge, home of harvest co-​op and whole foods and all sorts of veg-​friendly places, i was pretty pissed, and surprised that that would be the case. i understand each restaurant is going to choose what they make but not allowing any flexibility about the one-​stamp policy sucked. i got there right when it started for non-​vips and by the time i made my way halfway down to veggie planet’s table they were out of food.literally. what does that tell you about vegetarians at this thing! the worst part was since you had a square per table you couldn’t really go back to the ones that DID have veg-​friendly food.
–also, the bukowski’s guy was a TOTAL douchebag to me when i asked if any of their food was vegetarian. a not-​unreasonable request considering all the vegan food on their regular menu. he pointed to fried chicken and told me that was vegetarian and that the mac & cheese or whatever was vegan. what an asshole.
–i understand not every place in this world is going to accomodate every diet, so that’s totally fine. i just thought i should give veg-​people a heads-​up so you don’t expect to be able to gorge. it was a fun event and my omni boyfriend had a blast eating at every single table, especially since i usually gave him my stamps as well.
it was really fun to go outside after work and walk around and eat little nibbles but gosh $ 50 is a lot, even if it is a great cause. i really hope they change their policy on the one-​stamp-​per-​table policy because i would love to go back!

I definitely agree with Natasha! This was such a great event, and with some seriously amazing food. The wine tasting led us to a great Sauvignon Blanc range from New Zealand… yum! Totally worth going, get there early or tables will run out of food!

I know all you Unilocalers love food and therefore must go to Taste of Cambridge, happening this year on July 20^th. For 2 hours you can gorge on samples of food from cambridge’s top restaurants. Last year I had a blast and enjoyed fare from places such as Rialto, Craige Street Bistro, Henrietta’s Table, Fromaggio and Finale. Tickets are $ 40 but its all for charity and totally worth it.
Here is a tip: they say you can only get 4 drink tastes with a ticket but really they just punch your ticket when you enter the drinks area and as long as you stay in the area you can keep sampling all the wines you want.