CINCINNATI — Calling all foodies! From main courses to sweet treats, if you’re looking to sample some of the best dishes in southwest Ohio, then Taste of Cincinnati is the place to be.
One of the best parts about the three-day festival is the amazing food and it gives business owners a chance to reach a totally different customer base.
We spent some time behind the scenes and inside the kitchen at The Establishment.
This will be their first time at Taste.
Keeping a close eye on the day-to-day ins and outs is General Manager David Walters, and driving the menu is Chef Red.
The kitchen took off during the pandemic and Chef Red has helped navigate the restaurant through it all.
Kitchen sales have doubled since last year, and new additions like brunch have made a huge difference.
“Constantly innovating, changing our menu. He’s changed our menu every season, updates, takes things off, adds new additions,” Walters said.
At Taste of Cincinnati, The Establishment will share signature dishes. They’ll be serving up Nashville chicken sliders, cheeseburger sliders and Amish chicken quesadillas with a chipotle pepper glaze.
“We’re super excited. It’s been a lot of effort on our end scheduling people, figuring out our costs, how to work this event. It’s a monster event. This is one of the biggest things Cincinnati puts on annually,” said Walters.
More than half a million people are expected to stop by and see all that the Cincinnati food scene has to offer.
“We were a little nervous going into it, but we know that we aren’t in over our heads and we’re going to kill it all weekend,” Walters added.
“It’s celebrating its 45th year this year in 2024. We have over 80 vendors cooking for us this weekend, we have 30 food trucks, over 30 restaurants and 20 vendors from the Findlay Market,” said Chelsea York, the Cincinnati Chamber’s vice president of Events and Experiences.
As always, you can expect a family fun weekend with tons of food and live music.
“We recommend bringing a picnic blanket this year. We do have the Lytle Park picnic zones. So Lytle Park is a newly renovated park right down the street from the footprint so you’re welcome to take your food and drink over there. There are plenty of places to spread out with a blanket and enjoy,” York said.
For Walters and the team, Taste of Cincinnati is a chance to share their passions and the food that makes their spots so unique.
“That’s massive. That’s tons and tons of people that have never heard of us before and we’ll get that exposure and hopefully retain some business from it. Taste the quality, remember the quality, and just come back and see us because of it,” he said.
Taste of Cincinnati spans four blocks of Fifth Street downtown.
It runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 pm and Monday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Alese Underwood
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