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Standing outside his food booth Sunday at Taste of Omaha, Hubert Pearson was reminded of his home in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.
The booth in Heartland of America Park was surrounded by green grass. There was live music and nice weather. Pearson could see the water from where he was standing, checking the Jamaican jerk chicken cooking on his grill.
Pearson, manager of Caribbean Delight Jamaican Jerk Restaurant, loves the people and the atmosphere at Taste of Omaha. This summer marked the restaurant's fourth year at the food and entertainment festival, and Pearson said there's a high demand for the specialty food it offers. By 2 p.m. Sunday, his booth was out of beef patties and chicken wings.
“We just can't keep up,” Pearson said.
More than 40 restaurants participated in the 13th annual Taste of Omaha, which kicked off Friday and ended Sunday evening. The event took place in Heartland of America Park and at Lewis & Clark Landing.
Festival director Mike Mancuso said there was record attendance Saturday, with about 50,000 visitors. He estimated that about 100,000 people attended the three-day festival. Saturday's hot weather and Sunday's early afternoon rain showers didn't faze the crowds, Mancuso said.
Mancuso said the event continues to grow. This year included a mix of longtime favorite Omaha-area restaurants with others new to the dining scene.
Free admission and food variety, along with live entertainment and music on three stages draw the crowds.
“We have so many quality restaurants that bring their cuisines and signature items for people to taste that they might not have tried otherwise,” Mancuso said.
Lawrence Allen, Rachel Turner and her kids Hannah and Gabriel stood around a table eating gyros, bison burgers and french fries. Taste of Omaha is an event they'd been looking forward to for weeks.
“It's fun, it's good family time,” Turner said.
Food lovers walked around the parks, scoping out the offerings, then making the tough decision of what to eat.
Theresa Varin and her 8-year-old son, Nicholas, opted to stay away from the ordinary barbecue and instead try foods from around the world. They liked the African world-fusion cuisine from the new restaurant H.O.C. at Irie and ordered some potato cakes from Zum Biergarten before heading over to the Espaņa booth.
Varin said they moved to Omaha three weeks ago and thought the festival was a great way to find good restaurants.
Mancuso said the “World Tour Pavilion” area was new to this year's event and focused on restaurants with cuisine from places like Germany, Italy, Africa and Spain.
Jenna and James Taylor tried gyros, rib tips and bread pudding. The bread pudding was so good they're already planning a trip to the restaurant it came from: Tussey's Casual Grill.
Getting noticed and gaining customers is the goal of participating restaurants, said Pearson.
He said many customers go to dine at Caribbean Delight after sampling Jamaican food at Taste of Omaha.
“People are very receptive out here,” Pearson said. “We enjoy their company, and they enjoy our food.”
Contact the writer:
444-1304, news@owh.com
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