You could say Taste of Cincinnati is my Super Bowl. I’ve been preparing for this year’s Taste of Cincinnati since last year’s festival. This year, Taste of Cincinnati celebrated 46 years of tantalizing palates — and quite possibly its biggest and best yet, if the large crowd was any indication.
Taste of Cincinnati offers not just a taste of the city but a taste of the entire world. Nepali, Thai, Syrian, Argentinian, Italian, Nigerian, Jamaican, Mexican, Hawaiian and Creole are just a few of the cuisines represented at Taste of Cincinnati. Decades-old Cincinnati institutions, such as Izzy’s, LaRosa’s and Pompilios, compete for festivalgoers’ attention alongside new additions to the culinary scene like Vintage on Race. Findlay Market even has its own section, featuring current vendors based out of the market, as well as graduates of Findlay Kitchen. Taste of Cincinnati lives up to its name, representing all that is delicious and delightful about Cincinnati: the diversity, the unique regional charm and the juxtaposition of modern and classic.
Every Memorial Day weekend, Taste of Cincinnati takes over Fifth Street downtown, from Main Street to Columbia Parkway, spilling into the crossing streets. Taste of Cincinnati is the country’s longest-running food festival, and it even has its own food contest every year prior to the actual festival, where voters determine the best dishes offered at the culinary event. I attended all three days of the festival with an empty stomach and a full list of stops. I would recommend going at least twice, to taste as much as you can.
The weather was perfect during the first day of the festival, with a mild temperature and without a hint of wind or rain. I started with a slice of LaRosa’s cheese pizza ($5).
I then moved on to the Findlay Market section. As a frequent customer of Findlay Market, I was already familiar with most of the offerings, but I was pleased to stumble upon something completely new to me: Rocky’s Home Flavor, a Cameroonian catering company. Cameroon is located in Central Africa and shares a border with Nigeria, and the food served at the Rocky’s Home Flavor booth shared some similarities with Nigerian food, such as the puff-puff ($5), a delicious fried dough snack with a crispy outside and a soft inside. These joyful little treats came with the choice of sweet powdered sugar or a hot sauce option. I went with the powdered sugar, and I wanted to go back and try the hot option, but alas, Rocky’s Home Flavor was only at the festival on Saturday.
I moved on to other tried-and-true Findlay Market offerings: a Singapore empanada from The Empanada’s Box ($6) and a Red Summer Sun from Jane’s Bar ($12). The delicious, gooey Singapore empanada was filled with spinach and mozzarella, and the Red Summer Sun, perfect for a warm day in late May, consisted of El Jimador Blanco tequila, lime, watermelon and jalapeño. As usual, neither vendor disappointed.
Next, onto the food truck section. I first stopped at two of my favorites, MamaBear’s Mac and Twisted Greek. MamaBear’s Mac, as the name suggests, serves mac and cheese. At MamaBear’s Mac, I had the Vermont Cheddar ($6), a delightfully simple concoction of cheddar cheese and panko. (I would return to MamaBear’s Mac on the third day.) I then went to Twisted Greek, another truck I would return to, and I had the fried cheese hand pie with hot honey ($5), a delicious, creamy, savory take on the tiropita. (The second time I had twisted tater tots with feta and hot honey ($6). I enjoy feta and hot honey, so I liked this, but I preferred the fried cheese hand pie.)
On Sunday, I came in the evening, when it was starting to get even more crowded. I started with the signature cocktail designed for the event, the Cincy Cooler ($10). Made of vodka, cranberry juice and Sprite, it was available at several booths devoted to just that drink.
My first dish of the evening was a plate of party potatoes ($9) from Juniper Seed’s booth in the Findlay Market section, followed by cheese tequeños from Queen Tequeños ($5). Cheese tequeños are a Venezuelan snack reminiscent of mozzarella sticks, which happen to be one of my favorite snacks.
I soon made my way to CC’s Empanadas for another South American cheese snack, the most delicious cheese empanada I’ve had in a long time ($6). Garnished with a delicious garlic sauce and hot sauce, the filling in this empanada had a cheese pull a mile long. (I had to go back for this empanada.) CC’s Empanadas had several creative options, including goetta and lentil, but nothing could top the humble yet spectacular cheese empanada. Taste of Cincinnati is a cheese lover’s paradise; even the vegan cheese used in the party potatoes was delicious.
For dessert, I had cinnamon roll beignets from Maw Maw’s Creole Kitchen ($5). Combining an American classic with a Creole classic, this beignet was a pure delight.
I had to take one last trip to Taste of Cincinnati on Monday, and I started off with a light, tasty chardonnay ($9) from Delicato Family Wines and a red velvet cupcake ($5) from Best of Taste gold medalist The Cheesecakery. The Cheesecakery’s claim to fame is a cupcake made of cheesecake, an absolutely genius idea. (The German Shepherd who tried to steal my cupcake agreed.)
Next, I had a veggie jerk bowl from Jay’s Nyam & Jam ($7). The chicken bowl won a gold medal at Best of Taste, but the veggie bowl was a winner, too. Made with rice and peas, slaw and a special white sauce, this bowl was abundant in flavor, from tangy to spicy.
I got my caffeine fix with a Thai iced coffee ($6) from Lotus Street Food and an ube latte from Ramblin’ Roast ($9). Ramblin’ Roast won a gold medal for best beverage for its lemon vanilla latte, which is probably very good, but that ube latte should have won. The subtle sweetness and bright purple color of ube, a bright purple yam from the Philippines often used in desserts, was made for iced coffee.
Cincinnati’s food scene is expansive, diverse and intriguing, and Taste of Cincinnati is just the tip of the iceberg. Even in three days, I couldn’t fit everything in. Oh well — there’s always next year.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s June 11 print edition.
This article appears in Jun 11-24, 2025.