Sometimes old and familiar are the answer. Taste Addison returned to the north-of-Dallas suburb on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and proved that the more than two-decade tradition is the right one.
Addison officials experimented with a higher priced, cheffier festival called Fork & Cork in 2014 and 2015 at a time when fancy food fests were finding sustained popularity across the country. Fork & Cork was more exciting for food snobs. It was too expensive for most everyone else.
"We heard from the community -- and we're here to serve our community -- and they would really like [Taste Addison] back," said Mark Acevedo, director of general services and events for the town of Addison, in January 2016.
The return of Taste Addison, and thus the end of Fork & Cork, felt right. Event organizers amped up the enthusiasm by inviting country group The Band Perry to perform Saturday night, and attendees needed only have a $10-$20 admission ticket to attend.
Throughout the three-day fest, Addison businesses such as JC's Burger House, May Dragon Chinese Restaurant and Sherlock's Pub Co. served bites big and small, most costing $2 to $8. None of it was especially "cheffy" food, but most of the families lounging on the sunny lawn on Saturday afternoon didn't seem like the type who wanted to sample odd ingredients anyhow. Most were eating pizza, burgers and funnel cake. And there's certainly nothing wrong with that.
