FESTIVAL | Capital cuisine

Downtown sizzles the weekend after the Fourth of July and not just from the heat. The popular twoday festival, Taste of Downtown, runs Friday and Saturday, featuring the cuisine of over 20 city restaurants. Bite into scrumptious jerk pork tacos, meatloaf cupcakes, blackened salmon sliders, Caitie Girl’s horseshoe tributes, Cannolis, turkey cranberry cream cheese pretzel sliders, fried oyster po’ boys, New England crab rolls, grilled marlin burgers and more from your favorite restaurants including: American Harvest Eatery, Augie’s Front Burner, Bentoh’s, Brickhouse Downtown, Café Brio, Café Moxo, Coliseum Corner, Del’s Popcorn Shop, Gian Franco’s Italian Restaurant & Deli, Head West Sub Stop, Holy Land Diner, Hot Dog Pusher, Lake Pointe Grill, Maldaner’s Restaurant, Nick & Nino’s Penthouse Steakhouse, Porter & Hazel’s Delicatessen, Robert’s Seafood, Sebastian’s Hideout, The Butternut Hut and Z Bistro. Food and beverage tickets are $1. An admission wristband is required to buy food and drinks. Taste is a Downtown Springfield, Inc., event in association with the American Music Show. More info is at downtownspringfield.org.