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Photo by Erin Nelson
Kira Bishop, 9, and her older brother Zayne, 11, blow bubbles as they have a photo taken on the 360 Photo Booth at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Guests attend the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Crushed pink peppercorn chimichurri flank steak over a chipotle lime orzo with roasted corn, tomatoes, and blackbeans was served by Tre Luna at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Erin Colbaugh and Mitzi Eaker attend the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Guests sample mini cupcakes from K&J’s Elegant Pastries at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Guests attend the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Guests sample food from Tre Luna at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Chicken Cake Sliders served by Savoie at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Tre Luna serves samples of food at the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
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Photo by Erin Nelson
Guests attend the 12th annual Taste of Hoover event benefiting Aldridge Gardens on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023.
Aldridge Gardens added a touch of glamour for the 2023 Taste of Hoover event Thursday night, rolling out a red carpet for the entry path and setting up a 360-degree spinning photo and video booth.
Forty restaurants and food and beverage providers gave guests a taste of some of their fare at the sold-out event.
“It was all great,” said Scott Litsinger, who lives in unincorporated Shelby County off U.S. 280 and was attending the Taste of Hoover for the first time.
He came with Sharon Ziemak of Vestavia Hills, who said she found out about the event because she was a member of Aldridge Gardens last year and was on the venue’s email list. They thought it would be fun, signed up and were not disappointed.
“The bushwhackers were really good,” Ziemak said.
Jeff and Beverly Cobb, also of unincorporated Shelby County, said they were first-time attenders as well. He enjoyed the ice cream from The Whole Scoop and poundcake from Emily’s Heirloom Poundcakes, and she liked the chicken from Merk’s Tavern and bourbon from Dread River Distillery.
“Everything was delicious,” Beverly Cobb said. “We’ll be back. We’ll come back next year for sure.”
P.J. and Courtney Canada of Helena said they like to attend these kinds of events and thought Aldridge was a great location to have it.
There was a wide variety of food and drinks, from numerous catering companies to Mexican food, pizza, noodles, sushi, barbecue, roasted chicken, sweets, soft drinks, lemonade, coffee and alcoholic beverages.
Little Donkey and Hero Doughnuts, members of the Pihakis Restaurant Group, decided to participate as vendors at the Taste of Hoover for the first time this year.
Maggie Wiginton, director of events for the restaurant group, said Little Donkey has been in the Greystone area about five years but is kind of tucked away from most of Hoover. When sister company Hero Doughnuts opened in Stadium Trace Village in June, they decided to get more involved in the city and hooked up with the events team at the city of Hoover.
Little Donkey served its grilled brisket fajita tacos at the Taste of Hoover Thursday night, while Hero Doughnuts gave people a taste of its hamburgers in a slider format and “sidekick” doughnut holes. Because of Hero’s name, a lot of people don’t realize the restaurant serves things like hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and fries, so they like to use events like this to educate people about their other offerings, Wiginton said.
People scarfed up their offerings Thursday night, she said.
R&S Food Service/Yellow Bicycle Catering won best booth display, while Baba Java Coffee captured second place, and Classic Catering came in third.
Music at this year’s Taste of Hoover was provided by Brendan Young.
Kelly Peoples, the city of Hoover events manager, said the city sold about 320 tickets for the event this year and gave out about 120 VIP tickets, which put the event at ideal capacity. Paid tickets were $45 for Aldridge Gardens member and $50 for non-members.
Organizers still were balancing revenues and expenses Thursday night, but Peoples estimated the event might have raised about $15,000 for Aldridge Gardens.
