Across San Diego, self-guided sampling tours have become the event du jour for business improvement districts (BIDS) to fundraise while promoting their neighborhood culinary scene. Taste of Gaslamp was the first such event in San Diego, occurring for the 28th time in September. Many other neighborhoods have replicated the gastronomic trek. On different weekends in September, foodies could try Chicano flavors in Barrio Logan for Sabor del Barrio, only in its second year, or head to the inaugural Taste of College Area for munchie-approved subs, wings, and ice cream.  

“It’s a great marketing tool for a neighborhood to highlight their culinary niche,” said Michael Trimble, who leads the Gaslamp Quarter Association. He recalled when Taste of Gaslamp began, it was a way to entice visitors to a neighborhood people tended to avoid. He noted in the 1990s, other than Hillcrest, few areas were putting on events as a neighborhood. Yet Hillcrest’s CityFest, its own longstanding neighborhood event, has not been adopted by others the way Taste of Gaslamp has.  

For the uninitiated, a neighborhood Taste event brings in hundreds of attendees who check in, receive a passport of locations, then have free rein to try a variety of bites and sips over a set period. Restaurants donate the samples and ticket sales go to the hosting BID. To promote retailers rather than just restaurants and bars, adjacent establishments serve cocktails inside salons, boutiques and other businesses so visitors see the entire community. Neighborhoods with fine-dining establishments where making hundreds of samples is too big a lift sometimes add a VIP component with fewer tickets.  

“I know people have bucket lists of places they want to visit just within our own hometown,” said Sarah Church, who co-owns Pizza e Birra along International Restaurant Row on India Street. “So the Taste is a great opportunity to visit multiple spots and get a good feel or idea of where you really want to go and spend more money.”  

When she first opened and participated in Sabor de Mission Hills, it meant her restaurant was listed alongside well-reputed eateries that drew people to the event. While people might go to a tasting event to try a Michelin-recognized chef, they are exposed to lesser-known places. These samples are her favored form of advertising. “It definitely does result in long-term customers,” Church said.  

According to ticket data, the majority of Taste tickets are sold to mid-city residents supporting local businesses but there are plenty of people from Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California who make a day trip to experience San Diego’s burgeoning food scene. Even tourists from the Netherlands bought day-of tickets to Taste of North Park last year as a way to survey San Diego’s food scene in a favorite neighborhood. Tickets tend to hover around $40, making it lucrative for the BIDs yet also much cheaper for participants than actually buying a meal at each place.  

Each neighborhood’s culinary scene is so different, attracting different palates, so BIDs do not fear competition. At monthly meetings of the BID Alliance, where BID executive directors from across the county share best practices, merchant leaders ensure Taste dates do not conflict. Not much more is needed from other BID leaders. “It’s a model that is easily replicated with some coordination and a lot of communication with your merchants,” Trimble said.  

Planning typically lasts six months. For North Park, which has one of the most popular Tastes, it takes 10 staff members, 100 volunteers, 15 ABC permits for boutiques, and lots of logistics management to have 1500 attendees descend on the neighborhood to try a plethora of food and drink samples in a hectic four hours on the first Saturday in October. North Park’s early version of the event circa 2002 happened because five restaurants decided to hold a sampling event with each other inside Sunset Temple. Now like other neighborhoods, it is a self-guided walking tour across multiple locations.  

“It was a way to get North Park on the map,” said North Park Main Street Executive Director Mark West. “Each one of the communities [that] have established their own Tastes, that reflect what Taste of North Park does, they see that works to bring people into their community.” 

The formula may look similar but many communities do add an individual twist. In University Heights, the Taste event co-occurs with UH Arts Open, a self-guided arts tour. Little Italy split the Taste into two nights with different restaurants. With its tight geographic footprint, Little Italy also has live music with communal seating in the central Piazza della Famiglia. To make it easier to traverse the hilly neighborhood, Mission Hills offers a free trolley service which creates a large party atmosphere as trolley-loads of people flood locations at the same time.  

To remain relevant, the Gaslamp Quarter Association has turned to innovation. Participants vote in a people’s choice award contest with winning eateries getting a large advertising package. “The money that’s raised from the event is put back into the marketing and promotion of the culinary scene,” Trimble said. This year’s Taste ticket also included a free pre-party at Happy Does and an exclusive after-party at Swing Social.  

Not all BIDs host Taste events. The Boulevard has a coffee tour along El Cajon Boulevard that is less labor intensive than a Taste as those interested in the tour purchase individual coffees on their own timeline. Gaslamp recently unveiled a similar craft cocktail crawl with prizes for those who visit multiple locations. Even if those tours catch on, it is hard to imagine the popularity of Taste events could be supplanted. Their affordability and jovial atmosphere bring the entire community together.  

“People get really excited about food and they’re in a good mood,” Church said. “It’s really fun to see how much fun they’re having.”