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Sunday, May 10, 2009 , Updated

Taste Addison 2009 highly reminiscent of versions 2008 and 2007

by Teresa Gubbins

Marc Lee

Taste of Addison attendees grabbing a bite

ADDISON — Taste Addison 2009, one of the earliest festivals in the Dallas area to observe the now-popular "tasting" type format, returned to Addison Circle this weekend with just about the same set of vendors, restaurants, and guests (Ted Allen, Tre Wilcox) that have made the annual event a success for the past 15 years.

This year, Taste was expected to attract more than 60,000 people over the course of its three days (including Sunday, from 12 noon to 6 p.m.), with food from 55 Addison-based restaurants, as well as performances by bands both local (Bowling For Soup) and national (Foreigner).

One way that the 2009 version surpassed prior years: weather. It's often been hot at previous years but a cold front on Saturday brought temperatures down to the '60s. Saturday night required actual jackets.

Lines were longest at Los Lupes, a Mexican restaurant whose offerings included frozen margaritas, and Texas de Brazil. The Flying Saucer offered 10 beers on draft, with the most popular being Maredsous.

"People like it when they find out it has a higher alcohol content," said bar mistress Lacey.

Texas de Brazil drew some of the festival's least reflective individuals, such as this woman who stood with her two friends, snickering at other people in line.

Q: Why is everyone lined up here, what's the big deal with this place?

A: I dunno, I never had it.

Q: Have you waited in lines like this for other food items?

A: No.

Q: So why this one?

A: I dunno. I just smelled it.

Marc Lee

Madison, Julia, and Laura Dietz, of Rockwall, share a funnel cake.

Marc Lee

Ghengis Grill employees at Taste Addison 2009 do not fear color.

Marc Lee

Joe Lee, 35, of Addison eats baked-not-fried French fries and sweet potato fries from Topz Hamburger. This was Lee's third Taste event. "It needs more food -- it needs crawfish!" he said.

Marc Lee

Obligatory corny dogs were an especially long version.

Marc Lee

Kellie Johnson, of Frisco, eats an ice cream sandwich; her husband Dexter had his eye on ribs.

Marc Lee

Brinkley and Blake Harrison indulge in cotton candy. Their dad, Chuck (not shown), took them to Taste Addison for the first time. "I wanted to do something with the kids and get out of the house," he said.

Marc Lee

Sherif Kamel (right), co-owner of Desi Wok, pours new vat of tikka masala sauce into bin. Kamel was eager to share the news that the direction of his restaurant had changed from its initial "Indo-Chinese" theme to offering a larger selection of Indian street food such as made-to-order potato chips (see below).

Marc Lee

Neat, unique "potato chips" made to order at Desi Wok

Marc Lee

Meat roasting on trademark skewers at vastly popular Texas de Brazil stand. In Texas, meat always wins. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, there is, but it's nothing we can get into here.

Marc Lee

Ammanda Wright, 27, Leah Shryock, 23, and Nyambura Muigai, 23, work the stand at Cafe Brazil, where the top seller was chicken crepes.

Marc Lee

Employee from Celebrity Bakery pipes icing onto red velvet cupcake.

Marc Lee

Shea Sexton and Ryan Harris, both 16 and from Richardson, came to Taste Addison because they were "bored" and because they were interested in some of the bands, including Bowling For Soup