Taste of Buffalo returns to downtown this weekend

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's time to loosen your belts and whet your appetites. Downtown Buffalo will, once again, be lined with restaurants from all across Western New York for Taste of Buffalo.

Chairman Tom Mahoney says there will be a new element to this year's Taste of Buffalo: Rock star pop-ups.

"What they'll do is they'll be showcasing their product for two hours, and we're talking extremely good talent. We have two James Beard finalists that will be attending amongst others," said Mahoney, who notes there will be three groups of five.

Of the 43 restaurants and food trucks taking part, 10 this year are rookies.

"We have Moneybag Dumplings, Resurgence Brewing, Lime House Sushi and Ramen, and that's our first ramen restaurant in 41 years," noted Mahoney with WBEN.

There is also a new competition for the veterans.

"We've introduced a new award, and it's called a Veteran New Item award. It will be decided by the festival goers," Mahoney said.

How it works is people will look for the QR codes at their tent, and they can vote for their favorite new item. Some of the new items include Dirty Bird's collard green and fried catfish sandwich and Sweet Melody's Buffalo PB and J sundae involving loganberry and Cheerios.

Mahoney says you can feel good about your (over)indulgence.

"A portion of the sales always go back to our scholarships and our non-for-profit organizations and we have over 20 of non-for-profit organizations this year that are instrumental to our success," he said.

The Taste of Buffalo takes place this Saturday from 11 a.m.-to-9 p.m. ET, and Sunday from 11 a.m.-to-7 p.m. ET. It starts at Delaware and Chippewa, and runs down to Niagara Square.

Admission is free, and you can buy food tickets at tents along the venue.