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2022 Taste of Hoover pleases palates at Aldridge Gardens

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Tahara Evans thought she would come to the 2022 Taste of Hoover event at Aldridge Gardens Thursday night and then go get dinner afterward.

But this was her first time to go to the event, and she didn’t realize just how much food there would be, she said. “I don’t think I’ll want to eat for a couple of days now,” she joked after making the rounds of the 32 food and beverage vendors who were there.

The event is designed to give people a taste of the restaurants, caterers and drink providers in Hoover and a fun night out to socialize, said Tynette Lynch, the city’s director of hospitality and tourism and CEO of Aldridge Gardens.

Organizers sold about 350 tickets and gave out about 50 complimentary tickets this year, so there were a little more people than normal, Lynch said. She normally tells restaurants to plan to feed samples to about 300 people, so she was a little nervous they might not have enough food to make it through the night, but it turned out fine, Lynch said.

“We’ve never run out of food,” and this is the 11th year of the event, she said.

The Taste of Hoover also serves as a fundraiser for Aldridge. With contributions from sponsors lumped in with ticket proceeds, revenue was probably about $15,000 to $16,000, and net proceeds likely will end up about $10,000 after bills are paid, Lynch said.

Evans’ husband, Hal Wood, said he knew there would be enough food to equate to dinner, and he took advantage of the offerings. His favorite was the cornbread salad by Yellow Bicycle Catering & R&S Food Service, he said.

That was a new menu item, and it got a lot of good reviews, chef Lea Smith said. Yellow Bicycle Catering also served numerous other samples, including Jamaican barbecue pork sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, shrimp and grits, bread pudding and spinach potatoes.

Yellow Bicycle also won the prize for the best display at Taste of Hoover, with Pollo Lucas coming in second and Newk’s Eatery placing third.

Wood said he had never been to Pollo Lucas, a Mexican chicken restaurant off Lorna Road, but was very impressed with its food as well. He also is a big fan of The Whole Scoop ice cream shop and enjoyed the samples from Chattanooga Whiskey Experimental Distillery and Dread River Distillery, he said.

“All of it was fantastic,” Evans said. She’s an event planner who just joined with partner Donna Bishop to form Bishop Evans Events, and they will be looking for food and drink providers for their customers, she said.

Gloria Womack said she and her husband, Wally, of Vestavia Hills have come to the Taste of Hoover several times before, and she was even more impressed this year.

“I thought it was one of the best they’ve had,” she said. “The volume of food was wonderful. There were more places to sit.”

Wally Womack said his favorite was the bread pudding from Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux and one other place he couldn’t remember, as well as a couple of samples of gumbo he had.

Karen Mitchell of Vestavia Hills said she comes to the Taste of Hoover every year because she loves the variety, loves seeing people and likes to find new restaurants she can visit. Her favorite dish Thursday night was the bread pudding from Tre Luna Bar & Kitchen, but “it’s all been great so far,” she said.

As people sampled food and socialized, they listened to live music from Brendan Young, a Nashville recording artist from the Birmingham area.

Food and beverage providers that participated in this year’s Taste of Hoover included:

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