Taste of Bloomington offers local cuisine and live music in downtown Bloomington

Whatever your food cravings might be, they are sure to be satisfied at the 21st Annual Taste of Bloomington held at Showers Plaza at Seventh and Morton Street on Saturday, June 21. The event allows visitors to sample a wide variety of food from 34 local restaurants and enjoy a day of live entertainment by local and regional bands. Proceeds from the event benefit two local charities: the Monroe County Community Kitchen and the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.\nTaste of Bloomington will offer a variety of ethnic and local cuisine such as pizza, Crab Rangoon, steak, marinated lamb, pasta salad and gyros just to name a few. \nThe purpose of the event is "to promote the restaurants and bring people to the downtown area," says Talisha Coppock, co-director of the event. It's a chance for visitors to experiment with several different kinds of food and for restaurants to possibly bring in new customers. "You can get some of your food out into the community and attract new customers," says John Bailey, general manager of Malibu Grill. "We do it every year. It's a nice way to be out in the community and the employees really enjoy that day." This year Malibu Grill will be serving chicken caesar wraps and spinach and artichoke dip. \nThe event can be a lot of work for the restaurants, but it is also a chance for them to give back to the community with their food, while still benefiting local charities. "It's hectic. There's a lot to do and a lot going on," says John Skolak, general manager at Crazy Horse. In addition to the proceeds benefiting the charities, visitors can also bring canned goods to the event to be donated. "It's a good community function, plus it's for a good cause," says Steve Stutsman, manager of Chapman's Restaurant. This year, they will be serving homemade pecan, apple and Snicker pies.\nFor many, it's an enjoyable event. "I think it's a good solid tradition for Bloomington," says Coppock. "There's a lot of camaraderie with the restaurants and the people working the event," she says. "It's a day to get out there and have fun with the other restaurants in town." \n"(Taste of Bloomington) is an opportunity to get your food out there and talk to people. We eat food from other restaurants and trade food with them. It's more fun than work," says Eric Havill, general manager of Macri's Deli, whose California club panini was voted best sandwich in last year's event. \nThe atmosphere is "free-spirited and fun," says Hughes. "It's an open outdoor festival, with tents, tables for sitting, live music; it's very festive," says Coppock. Around 6,000 people attend the event every year and although the weather could be a factor, "(Taste of Bloomington) will go on whether rain or shine," says Coppock. \nIt's also a day for employees to get out of working indoors. "Employees get to get out and have fun," says Carrie Hughes, marketing director for the City Grille. They have been participating in this event for the past few years and will be offering award winning smokehouse ribs, plus pulled pork, chicken barbecue and buffalo burgers. \nEmployees from the participating restaurants can also compete in the waiter/waitress race from 4 to 4:30 p.m. In this event, the restaurants form teams and compete against one another as members of each team must weave in and out of tables and chairs while balancing water on their trays. "The servers like to compete, and we like the spot we get because we're close to other restaurants. It's fun," Bailey says. \nAs part of the entertainment line-up for the event, the waiter/waitress race is a chance for the restaurant employees to enjoy themselves and bring pride to their restaurants. "We always get a team in that. We've come in second like three years in a row. We're going to work on that this year," says Havill. Awards will be given to the winners of the race and for best-decorated booth at this year's festival. \nThe rest of the entertainment line-up consists of 5 local bands' performances. Jenny DeVoe will be performing from 3 to 4 p.m., Pam Thrash from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Umphrey's McGee from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Broken Grass from 8 to 9:15 p.m. and Bahama Llama will round out the festivities from 9:45 to 11 p.m. All ages are invited to attend the event and children's activities will run from 4 to 8 p.m. WonderLab, a children's science museum, will have a booth set up for children's activities -- face painting will also be offered. Taste of Bloomington begins at 3 p.m. and lasts until 11 p.m. Admission to the event is $5.00 and food items cost between $.50 and $3.00.