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After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, Taste of Syracuse returned to downtown Syracuse this weekend.

Over 60 central New York restaurants set up at the festival, which took place in Clinton Square, and the warmer temperatures didn’t stop people from enjoying food and music in the sunshine. Many vendors said that while their businesses suffered greatly during the pandemic, being at the festival means the food industry is bouncing back.

Luna Café, which debuted at the festival back in 2019 before it moved to a permanent location on East Fayette Street, was one of the many returning vendors. The cafe was scheduled to officially open around the beginning of 2020, but the pandemic delayed it until August 2021.

“It was only appropriate to come back to the place where we began,” said Josh Davis, the owner of the restaurant.

But despite the positive changes, Davis said the atmosphere at the festival didn’t feel like it had before the pandemic.

“It was a different era then. It was only a few years ago, but nobody worried about (COVID-19), nobody was worrying about being sick,” Davis said. “Nowadays, people are a little bit more cautious, but it’s still a blast and we’re so glad to be back.”

The festival is “Syracuse’s greatest event,” said Carrie Fanizzi, the owner of Big MaMa’s Cheesecake. She said around 10,000 people stopped by her tent during Taste of Syracuse and hoped the festival could bring more exposure to her business.

Like many other restaurant owners, the pandemic forced Meru Patel, one of the three owners of Syracuse Halal Gyro, a restaurant located on Westcott Street, to switch to take-out options and promote contactless delivery.

Though the restaurant industry has gone through two difficult years, Patel said the festival had “great vibes.” This is the first time the restaurant has been part of Taste of Syracuse since it opened in November 2019.

“I can’t count (how many people came),” Patel said. “It looks like people really like our food.”

Bradya Hill, a Syracuse local, attended the festival with her daughter on Saturday. After she lost her job during the pandemic, she said she enjoyed seeing so many people out.

“The corn is good, and I don’t know where we got it from. It was lemon pepper corn and then chicken bog on the top,” Hill said. “I’m about to go and get another one.”

Published on June 6, 2022 at 2:54 pm

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne