The Weather Was Wet, But The Rain Didn't Dampen Spirits At the Taste of Santa Ana 2022
The weather forecast stated there was going to be 11% chance of rain in Santa Ana, California on October 15, 2022. I didn’t think much of it. It was probably going to sprinkle for a couple of minutes or so I thought. But boy was I wrong! The Santa Ana skies decides to openup directly over MainPlace Mall
But the rain didn't ruin the event. Not by a long shot.
I arrived at MainPlace Mall right before 5:00 PM since I had purchased the VIP tickets. VIP tickets cost a little bit more, but they give you the opportunity to start the food tasting early. During the last Taste of Santa Ana event back in 2019, I had to wait in very long lines and really wasn’t able to taste most of the food. This time around, I had a completely different experience.
The first booth I went to was Bari Pizza and Pasta, which has a restaurant right off the 5 freeway, close to the Santa Ana Zoo. They offered the skull pizza and let me tell you, it was delicious. It’s basically a pizza stuffed with cheese in the shape of a skull. The cheeses. The sauce. The bread. All were scrumptious. The folks at Bari Pizza did not spare any expense.
There were a ton of Mexican restaurants represented at the Taste of Santa Ana, but Tacompadre was my favorite. m
The next booth I went to as. Tacompadre. Tacompadre was offering a taste of their cochinita pibil tacos. Cochinita pibil tacos are Yucatan-style pulled pork tacos which were garnished with a pickled onion and a bit of salsa. I must have gone back around 5 times. These tacos were authentic and tasty. Tacompadre has a restaurant inside McFadden Public Market in Downtown Santa Ana. I must have went to around 15 other booths and by the end of the night, I was stuffed. Here were some of my favorite food exhibitors.
- CafeCito
- Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
- Maz Cafe Con Leche
- Mia's Catering Events
- Mr. Fries Man
- Tacos EL Gringo
- Polly's Pies - Santa Ana
- Three Roots Mexican Cucina
And let's not forget the different types of drinks that were available for "sipping" at the Taste of Santa Ana.
I seldom touch alcohol. I may drink a Cadillac Margarita, perhaps twice a year at the most. But it was the weekend, so I figured I try at least one of the alcohol beverages at this event and that ended up being Juju Wine Labs. Juju Wine Labs offers sweet wine with a bit of carbonation, which I found to be very tasty. I could actually drink that on a monthly basis.
Flashpants one of the best 80's cover bands really brought the Taste of Santa of Santa Ana alive.
I don’t mind the rain. I really don’t. But I decided to let my friends and family enjoy the Taste of Santa Ana on their won, while I took my three-year old. Running after a three-year old in the rain isn’t how I would like to spend a Saturday night. Well, the band changed all that. As soon as they cam on the stage, the event came to life. In fact, there were some folks that decided to start dancing in the rain. It was quite a sight.
