The Taste of Buffalo returns to Downtown this weekend

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) It's time to loosen your belts and whet your appetites. Downtown Buffalo will once again be lined with restaurants 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," says Mahoney, who notes there will be three groups of five.

Of the 43 restaurants and food trucks taking part, ten are rookies. "We have Moneybag Dumplings, Resurgence Brewing, Lime House Sushi and Ramen, and that's our first ramen restaurant in 41 years," notes Mahoney. There is a new competition for the veterans. "We've introduced a new award it's called a Veteran New Item award, and it will be decided by the festival goers," says Mahoney. He says look for the QR codes at their tent and you can vote for your 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," says Mahoney.

The Taste of Buffalo is Saturday from 11am to 9pm and Sunday from 11am to 7pm, starting at Delaware and Chippewa going to Niagara Square. Admission is free, and you can buy food tickets at tents along the venue.