Taste of Bloomington returns after lengthy post-COVID hiatus

BLOOMINGTON — The annual Taste of Bloomington festival dates back to the 1980s, but it looked to be a permanent victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, local restaurateur Jordan Davis will bring the taste back on Saturday for the first time since 2019.

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The revived Taste of Bloomington will feature live music and 50 restaurants lining Kirkwood Avenue between downtown and Indiana University.

"It felt like there was something missing," said Davis, who owns the Bloomington ice cream shop Chocolate Moose. "It's a very hard business to make it in. Anything we can do to help the people willing to take that risk, we're all about."

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The Taste of Bloomington is free to attend, but each food sample will cost $5 or less.

Davis founded Food Truck Fridays at Switchyard Park to showcase local food vendors, but said he was determined to help even more Bloomington eateries survive.

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"We're missing out on quite a few restaurants that we've lost," Davis said. "COVID was very difficult for a lot of them, that's why Taste ended and why it didn't come back until now. For us to highlight these restaurants and show what your options are without breaking the bank is really cool."

Visit Bloomington executive director Mike McAfee said the city's food is a big reason behind its popularity.

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"The hospitality and tourism industry is a $500 million industry here, and about $150 million of that is spent on food," McAfee said. "Half of those people want to eat like a local."

McAfee believes Bloomington's local flavor is more global than other Indiana cities.

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"On 4^th Street, there's 15 international restaurants, so we call it International Row," McAfee said. "There's Thai, Korean and all kinds of international cuisine."

By contrast, Kirkwood Avenue now features many large American chains such as Chipotle, Raising Cane's and Sweetgreen. Davis said those restaurants have a role in Bloomington, but wants to preserve the city's unique palate as best as he can.

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"I do an 80/20 rule, just like my ground beef," Davis said. "I go local 80 percent of the time and to chains 20 percent of the time."

Taste of Bloomington starts at 3 p.m. on Saturday and lasts until 10 p.m.