Tickets going fast for Taste of Downtown

Once a year, you can sample the food from 16 Carson City restaurants and only have to park your SUV one time.

"Taste of Downtown" comes to Carson City's downtown sidewalks Saturday for the seventh time with the most restaurants yet to present their specialties. Food service will start at 5:30 p.m.

"Taste" is the primary fund-raiser for the Advocates to End Domestic Violence. One thousand tickets at $25 each will bring the Advocates $25,000.

"This will keep the lights burning at our shelter," said Lisa Lee, Advocates executive director. "Without this event, our shelter doors may not be open. This is going to be a tight year."

Advocates has a 51-bed shelter for battered women and children. Lee expects to have more than 150 women and 200 children spending time at the shelter this year.

As of Monday, about 300 tickets remained for "Taste of Downtown," but Lee figures they will all sell by the end of the week because last-minute ticket purchasing is something of a Carson City tradition.

Tickets are available at the Ormsby House, Rhonda's Floral Gallery and Classy Seconds Thrift Store.

"We will have 16 wonderful, unbelievable, taste testing experiences from tantalizing restaurants," Lee said.

New to the Taste rotation this year is Red's Old 395, which just opened for business this week.

"They've been such fun to work with," Lee said. "They like doing this type of thing."

Juicy's Hamburgers will also be serving at Taste for the first time.

The other food purveyors participating in Taste of Downtown are:

-- City Cafe Bakery

-- Ormsby House

-- Glen Eagles

-- Carson City BBQ

-- Cafe Del Rio

-- Mom's and Pop's BBQ

-- Adele's

-- Carson-Tahoe Hospital

-- B'Sghetti's

-- Mo and Sluggo's

-- Horseshoe Club

-- Java Joe's

-- Garibaldi's

-- Hong Kong Gardens

Food will be served from 5:30 to 9 p.m. but don't wait until the last minute because food does run out.

Some of the nine bands scattered throughout downtown will play until midnight.

The bands appearing at Taste are:

-- Hyde Street Swing Section

-- Rock Slide

-- Fair Warning

-- Sierra Jazz

-- Eddie and the Cruisers

-- Tired Old Men, Four Old Guys

-- Not So Modern Jazz

-- Buddy Wright

-- Opus

If you go:

What: Taste of Downtown

When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday

Cost: $25

Tickets: On sale at Ormsby House, Rhonda's Floral Gallery and Classy Seconds Thrift Store