Taste of Alpharetta Returns May 3

ALPHARETTA, GA — The 28th annual Taste of Alpharetta will feature more than 65 restaurants serving up savory treats to more than 25,000 attendees on Thursday. The city's largest dinner party returns to town May 3, allowing patrons to enjoy great food, a culinary arts competition, live music and several family-friendly activities in the downtown area.

“We are excited to offer this fun, family-friendly event to the community, and we look forward to showcasing the many new and established restaurants that make Alpharetta a great place to live, work and play,” said Morgan Rodgers, director of Alpharetta's Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Services Department.

This free admission event invites patrons to purchase food and activity tickets for fifty cents each, and redeem them at participating restaurant booths for a wide selection of tastes ranging from $.50 to $3. Tickets can also be used at the event’s family-friendly activities, including a petting zoo, rock climbing walls, inflatables, balloon art and henna tattoos.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here)

Another aspect of this event is the Taste of Alpharetta’s Culinary Arts Competition, which features select restaurants competing in a variety of categories, and chefs from each category preparing their signature dishes live on stage.

Culinary judges for the 2018 competition include Atlanta Cuisine on Tap Editor Tom Maicon; TV Chef, author and restaurateur Hans Rueffert; the People’s Voice and Foodie Candice Belle Isle; Foodie Ashley Baughman; and Helen Cauley, freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle and Simply Buckhead magazine. The Culinary Arts Competition awards will be presented at 8:30 p.m. on the main stage.

“This event really showcases what makes Alpharetta such a great community,” said Rodgers. “Delicious food, great music, and your family and friends together in one place.”

Taste of Alpharetta serves up live music, starting at 5:30 p.m., with featured performances by Randall Bramblett and The Georgia Flood.

Free parking is available at the City Hall Parking Deck, free shuttles are available at the Wills Park Equestrian Center on Wills Road, and the Wills Park Wacky World on Old Milton Parkway. To help event-goers navigate around town, the city of Alpharetta has teamed up with SKIGNZ, a free augmented reality app, to offer a unique experience of all the cool and fun places and things happening in Alpharetta.

For complete details of the 2018 Taste of Alpharetta, including schedule, list of participating restaurants, and stage locations, please visit Alpharetta’s special event page.

Image via Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau