2013 Taste of Downtown Giveaway

I have come out of blogging hibernation for YOU! So I could offer you a giveaway! I think that’s quite nice of me…

The Annual Taste of Downtown is coming up next week (Thursday, September 26, 2013) and it’s an event we’ve participated in a couple of times. There’s a lot of walking, a lot of tasting, and I think it’s a fun way to discover new restaurants or dishes. We’re always pleasantly surprised at least once when we stop at a restaurant we would normally pass up, only to find they have one of the tastiest samples of the night.

Taste of Downtown covers four neighborhoods and there’s usually a shuttle that runs around to take you from neighborhood to neighborhood. I can’t remember seeing the shuttle last year, nor could I tell you where to hop on, since we kind of just started at one corner and hoofed it up and down the streets all night long.

Ticket’s can be purchased for $30 in advance or $35 the day of the event, either online or at various spots downtown (see list below). Proceeds benefit The Downtown San Diego Partnership, a non-profit organization that is committed to the success of San Diego’s vibrant and world-class urban downtown district, while continuously promoting and enhancing our unique community through programs such as: The Downtown Clean and Safe Program, The Downtown Walking Map, and many others.

So far, participating restaurants include:

East Village
East Village Tavern + Bowl*
Detox Lounge
Knotty Barrel
Lotus Thai Downtown
Starbucks -10th Ave.
The District
Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery
Valentine’s Mexican Food
Venissimo Cheese
Village 631*
Financial District
Ra Sushi
Sixth Avenue Bistro
Spike Africa’s Fresh Fish Grill & Bar
Starbucks – Broadway
Urban India Restaurant and Bar
Gaslamp Quarter
All Stars Sports Bar & BBQ
Bolillo Tortas
Chianti
Ciro’s Pizzeria & Beerhouse
Dick’s Last Resort
Donovan’s Prime Seafood
Gaslamp Tavern
Heavenly Cupcake
Henry’s Pub
Hooters of Gaslamp
Kamikaze 7 Sushi Joint
La Fiesta
La Puerta*
Lucky Bastard Saloon
Maloney’s Tavern
McFadden’s Restaurant & Saloon
Meze
Ocean Room
Rockin’ Baja Lobster Coastal Cantina
Royal India
Starbucks F Street
Starbucks Market
The Commons Bar
The Counter Downtown San Diego
The District
The Field Irish Pub & Eatery
The New Yorker
Urban Bar & Grill
Whiskey Girl*
Horton’s Plaza
Starbucks Horton Plaza
(event tickets can be purchased at restaurants with an asterisk)

I am usually on Twitter (@threedogkitchen) during the Taste of Downtown and I find it’s helpful to know where other people have stopped and what they enjoyed tasting. If I know who’s going to be down there, I’ll just follow their feeds. One year we tried to get a #hashtag going, and I’m determined to give it a try again this year.

For one lucky reader (maybe I should say, lucky loyal reader, if you’re still hanging with me after so long), I have two (2) tickets to the Taste of Downtown. The giveaway will end on Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 11:59 pm PST. I will choose a winner using random.org and contact the winner via e-mail for the mailing address to send out the tickets. To enter, leave a comment at the end of this post with a suggestion for this year’s #hashtag.