Record turnout for 2017 Taste of Hoover at Aldridge Gardens

About 400 people showed up for the sixth annual Taste of Hoover event tonight at Aldridge Gardens to sample menu items from Hoover restaurants, caterers and other food and drink providers.

Aldridge Gardens CEO Tynette Lynch said this was the most successful year yet.

“We had more restaurants than we’ve ever had, and we sold more tickets than we’ve ever sold,” Lynch said. “It was packed.” Typically, the event has included about 30 restaurants and caterers, but this year there were 38, she said. Gardens officials sold 380 tickets this year and gave out some complimentary tickets, she said.

They had to shut off ticket sales to make sure they didn’t run out of food, and they didn’t, Lynch said. She asked restaurants to bring more food this year as well, she said.

Phyllis Ferguson of Hoover’s Polo Trace subdivision said this year’s event was wonderful.

“The way they had everything set up, it was so nice,” Ferguson said. “There was more food than I could handle. I really didn’t taste everything. I got too full.”

Chris and Beth Williams came from Helena to give the event a first try after someone gave them tickets, and they were not disappointed, they said.

“There was plenty of types of food to choose from and ethnicities,” Beth Williams said.

Her favorites were the jerk chicken, cabbage, rice and beans from Jake’s Soul Food Café and Bar and the pot roast and mashed potatoes from Ashley Mac’s. Her husband really liked the chocolate baklava from The Greek Kouzina. “It was out of this world,” he said.

Holly Barton, a wedding and marketing specialist for Happy Catering, said the Taste of Hoover is one of her favorite events to work each year. It’s a relaxed night, and she gets to meet a lot of people, and they get to sample Happy Catering’s food, she said.

Charity Chancellor, the managing partner for the new Metro Diner in Inverness, said this was a good opportunity for people to learn about their restaurant and try their chicken pot pie.

But she and the women who came with her didn’t realize how fancy some of the restaurants’ decorations would be, she said. They plan to put more into their decorations next year and might cook chicken and waffles on site, she said.

Jackson Ulmer provided music for all the guests as they mingled and moved from table to table, and strings of lights helped provide for serene mood lighting.

Ticket prices for this year’s Taste of Hoover increased from $30 to $40 for members of Aldridge Gardens and from $40 to $45 for non-members. The event raised about $16,000 for Aldridge, which is about double last year’s take, thanks to the increased prices and greater sales, Lynch said.

The Hoover Sun is a sponsor for the Taste of Hoover.