Atlanta Food and Wine Festival

What a complete waste of money. I’m so disappointed in this event. I had such high hopes for this and was so let down.
I’ve recently been to Atlanta Eats! and The Atlanta Wine Auction. I was expecting this event (considering the pricing of the tickets) to be somewhere between the two. It was nowhere close!
Granted — it rained — and that turned everything into a big giant mess. Let’s start with the fact that one of the tents was set up on a grassy area, which was instantly turned into a mud pit. Not their fault. Of course, with all the rain, everybody crammed into the tents.
My biggest complaint is that there were just way too many people that were crammed into way too small of a space. I guess the greedy organizers wanted to make as much of a profit as possible. Why else would they not cap off the number of attendees?
It’s supposed to be a Food & Wine fest, however, the most we managed to find were stands with bourbon, vodka, or beer. I think in total, we found 5 wine stations, 3 of which were sold out of wine. Only one actually offered wine that was drinkable.
Many of the local restaurants were out of food by the time we got there (which was about 15 minutes after the tents opened). Some of the food was good, some was just mediocre. There were a couple that I actually spit out.
I have heard much better things of the Taste of Atlanta and Atlanta Eats! was a lot of fun (PLUS: tickets were half the price). Never doing this event again! I think it was poorly organized, extremely poorly laid out in a space that is just too small to accommodate that many people. They need to either expand the size of the venue or cap the number of attendees. This was absolutely ridiculous!

Tasting tents. ick. Put way too many people together with either hot or rainy weather in tents where restaurants and liquor folk are trying their damnedest to serve up something palatable. A funnel of human flesh fighting over who gets the pork slider at the end of a table. And this sounds like fun?
Rain trumps sun for spoiling this festival. Its a muddy mess if it rains. Definitely stay away if there is rain.
In general, go if you are a glutton for punishment or enjoy seeing people toil under adverse conditions. If you truly want to do the food folk a favor go see them at their restaurant where they can truly shine.

Come early and make rounds before food runs out.
Rain was the only downfall, but rain or shine, it was still a great event.
Some of the favorites were:
— Caroline’s caramel cake
— Revolutionary doughnut: Peach sliders (Pearson Peach)
— Big Green Egg: Beef brisket
— French Bread Chocolates: Beer & pretzel chocolate
— White oak kitchen & cocktails: Peanut butter macaron and Egg & bacon benedict
— Strip: Peach, swordfish, steak skewer
— Colleta: Gnocchi
— Davio: Mushroom Gnocchi
— King of pops: Tequila salty caramel
— One flew south: Veggie dish
— Feast BBQ: Collard green juice oysters
— Shrimp roll, can’t remember the vendor name
— All wine and drinks!
Also, bring a big purse or bag so that you will have your hands free for wine glass in one and and food in other =D

This is a combo score for 2013 and 2014.
This is probably my favorite festival in the city, involving two of my most favorite things — food and wine. Duh.
2013 was outstanding. A friend and I went on Sunday for the Tasting Tents and we got there as soon as it began. We were welcomed and overwhelmed with a plethora of food and drinks to sample. I loved how everything was sectioned together — seafood, beef, chicken, desserts, southern snacks, BBQ, etc. Craft beer, hand crafted cocktails and spirits were also being poured. The crowd was good, it was easy to navigate and there wasn’t much wait for any of the items, save for some of the seafood. For some reason, people lose their sh*t over seafood — myself included!
Everyone receives a commemorative wine glass to use for the tastings as well as a handy dandy hands-​free wine holder. One of the best inventions. We had a marvelous time on a mild spring day and discovered some new restaurants and got re-​introduced to some favorites. Everyone brought their culinary A game.
Fast forward to the 2014 event held May 29-​Jun 1. My bf and I caught the «early bird» sale for the Tasting Tent tickets and decided to go Saturday. We were later asked by a friend who is part owner of a wine store to volunteer at his table. We jumped on that for Sunday. The weekend was threatened with rain but thankfully, we saw none. The location for the tasting tents moved a bit to 12^th street (11^th last year). The Loews Hotel served as the main hub once again for ticket/​wristband pickup and the daily seminars. Note to the organizers: the room where pickup happens at 11^th and Jupiter — please do something about the lack of air. It was worse this year since it was a pretty hot day. When we arrived, things were backed up, there were about 5 lines reaching to the back of the room and they ran out of wristbands. (How does that happen when things just started?) People were cranky and anxious to get their tastings started. It took us about 15 minutes to check in.
After walking another 8 mins or so (there is a shuttle if you want to wait) to get to the actual Tasting area, we got our glasses and were on our way. Man was it PACKED. This was more apparent under the «main» tent where the bulk of the food is (beef, chicken, pork, desserts, beer, along with wine throughout). It was hard to navigate, stifling hot and after a while, not too enjoyable. We still got to taste quite a bit but had to begin doing it in «shifts». Go in, and come out for air. One person stays on the outskirts while the other goes in to fight for food. The southern snacks tent wasn’t as bad but still got hot under it. The seafood and BBQ areas didn’t have the same issue aside from a couple of lines. Mind you, we enjoyed ourselves and made do but it was definitely a different feel from last year. It seemed more of a cattle call and I’d venture to say it was completely oversold.
We came back for our volunteer duties on Sunday, thankfully, to slightly cooler weather. Crowd was good but not as crazy as Saturday. We had so much fun pouring and talking to everyone. After about an hour and a half in, we noticed many people coming up with plastic cups. We asked a patron and they mentioned it was what was given to them — they ran out of the wine glasses. I was shocked. How does an event of this magnitude run out of the one item that is promised in the price? Especially if you know the amount of tickets sold? The tasting tent tickets were $ 100 each unless you caught the early bird special. I was disappointed for those on Sunday who missed out. Plus, I think they ran out of the plastic as we were borrowing cups from the beer booth next to us. This fact also leads me to believe that Saturday was definitely oversold. Furthermore, with an hour to go, many of the food stations in the main tent were out of food. Whomp whomp!
To the organizers, I’d strongly suggest capping the tickets for the Tasting Tent days. The experience should be wonderful for all whether they go on Friday or Sunday. Running out of anything would be less likely to occur if you knew what you were dealing with. I suspect having same day sales added to that. I could’ve sworn that last year had an end date to ticket sales but maybe not.
Stars of the event — the vendors! So many great tastes, I’d be here all day naming them and this review is long enough.
I LOVE this event. I give all of this feedback in hopes that they get back on top of things and make next year even better for everyone. Overall, it is well executed and
I hope to make some of the sessions and do a full day next year. It’s worth the price of admission if you are a foodie or very into your wine. Here’s hoping to a better experience in 2015. Cheers!

Loved the experience but it is hot and crowded. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by great food and a lot of alcohol.
The tasting tent events are single day passes that run for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Once inside the gate it is restaurant after restaurant that provides free tastings of favorite menu items, wine vendors, bourbon vendors, distilled spirits of all varieties, cheese makers, and more. It is an excellent opportunity to experience all that is good about southern food.

AF&WF 2014. This was my first year volunteering and also attending. I volunteered for the event and had tasting tickets for Sunday. The event needs to be spread out more. You could not move through the tent at all! I think this is a disservice to the people who pay for the tickets, but also for the restaurants and vendors who are there. There is little time to talk, discuss or often times even take note of the delicious food you are eating. They definitely need to get a better handle on the crowd numbers or spread the event out or I believe they will lose their core attendee and just have people who are looking for a drunk fest, not a food & wine fest. We got there at 1:30 and left around 3:30. Many of the places had run out of food by the time we were leaving. I blame that on the festival overselling tickets, not the vendors.
Yes, I realize there are classes and events that you can pay for separately that are part of a larger ticket price that cover celebrity chefs, cooking techniques and more. However, I did feel that there was ample space to spread the event out a bit more. And, right around the corner behind the Federal Reserve/​across from Steamhouse is a pretty large area that could have been incorporated as well. Just a block away. Would it cost a bit more for another tent or two — of course. But, I felt the event at the Lowe’s where I volunteered for 3 days was a completely upscale, worthy and different event than the cattle herding tent tasting event.
I did volunteer and I did get my ticket free. If I had paid $ 100 for that ticket, I would be fuming considering the crowd especially in the large tent. I know this was their first time in this area so I can only hope for changes for the better next year. The volunteer experience was great. If I had the money, I would definitely do the classes and events at the Lowe’s. I loved the tasting tents for what they were, but it was just stupid crowded.
Our best treats were the Central Ribs (really, really excellent and I am not usually a rib person), the bacon donut from Revolution donuts, Pork Belly (we think it was Red Apron or Parlor Market), Belle’s Organics RTD cocktails, Pennington’s Strawberry Whiskey and the Whisper Sipping Cream. The guys at Liber & Co that make shrubs — we had a quick minute to talk to when we first got there — were super!
I liked that the food vendors were grouped into sections — albeit they were less grouped and more crammed once you got the attendees in the mix. The vendors tables were but up against each other and left no room. I believe the chili cookoff at Stone Mountain mostly does a good job in that they allow their vendors an entire area that is theirs versus just one 6 foot table. The crowd seems to flow better. It’s a trail versus just a maze of tables. Yes, I know it’s intown and much more crowded, but it’s also supposed to be upscale (yes, I know the chili cookoff is not — AT ALL) and when you have people elbow to asshole in one tent, it definitely does not give off an upscale vibe. Also, when people have their bags just looking for swag, it’s a bit of a put off. Seems to cheapen the experience.
For our time there, there was also only one guy in the Coke tent playing an acoustic guitar. Even the chili cookoff and oysterfest have a bit of entertainment to enhance the event. But, I would forgo that for a bit more space on the food & wine. I think the craft beer tent was a good add.
I enjoyed it for what I had invested and hope they will fix some of the issues for next year.

My first year attending AF&WF and I will absolutely be attending every year on out. Food was abundant, drinks were flowing, and entertainment was not lacking. Just a couple that stood out to me: duck confit sliders from ONE (holy sh*t this is legit), berry stuffed donut sliders from REVOLUTION DONUTS (what the heaven did I just eat?), Eddy’s cranberry cocktail (none of the artificial sweetener junk but true cranberry juice mixed in with some spirits), watermelon ice PATRON pops by KINGOFPOPS (crap tequila is going to make me lose control), seared scallops from Ray’s (can I hazz secondzz pleaszzze), chicken drumsticks fried in waffle batter from… crap I forgot, but it was SOOOOO F****NG good! Damn, that’s a true shame b/​c that fried chicken drumstick waffle concoction was phenomenal.
Too much wine, too much beer, too much damn moonshine. Hallelujah this festival has me hooked! Unlimited (seriously) free beer glasses from Stella, Lefe, and Hoegarden — don’t mind if I do! Although I only took Stella glasses b/​c my bag couldn’t fit anymore freebies (sunglasses, check; meat spices, check; chopsticks, check; more random stuff, check).
Goodbye pescetarian lifestyle, hello world of chicken and so much more. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of vegetarian/​pescetarian options but I just could not resist the chicken temptation. Plenty of BBQ options that smelled mighty good, but my dietary restriction’s gotta have a limit somewhere ;) no BBQ pork or beef for me, but poultry was fair game.
Per the other reviewer — I’m sure glad I avoided Saturday b/​c Sunday was a blast! The only «negative» comment was that the event was supposed to last 1:30 — 4:30, but around 4:00 things were running out (food mainly). I suspect it was b/​c it was the last day the festival was being held. If I had a chance to re-​do it, I might aim to do it on Friday since it’s the first day and they are less likely to run out of anything!

I only went to a few events over the weekend, but enjoyed them.
The people were nice, the food was good and the drinks were strong.

I really enjoyed this event-​if only for the abundance of good things to eat concentrated in mostly one place. The wine was mostly in the Delta Airlines section by flight attendants and the rest of the place was mostly bourbons, beers and some vodkas and tequila. A lot of good food from a lot of local places– Jim ‘N Nick’s stood out, Low Country for barbecue. Fried chicken wise Magnolias was good as well. A lot of barbecue but done in an upscale way with a lot of good sauces. Hugh Acheson from Top Chef Master’s was there too on behalf of the peanut council and his dish was made really well-​a pork dish with a peanut slaw.
There were two spots, one with more of an upscale feel and the cart area which had more of a ‘party vibe’ as the person who sold us tickets. However, by the time we got to the street cart area there really weren’t too many people and it seemed like a lot of it was redundant-​two Patron tasting tents, really? However, some of the carts were standouts. Klausie’s Pizza was definitely with the ‘hypocrite’ a mostly veggie pizza but with bacon my choice and utterly delicious. The Yum Yum cupcake truck also was good. I had the Thelma: Chocolate cake with caramel, crushed pecans and chocolate glaze. Bite sized and tasty.
I definitely had a lot to eat and a lot to drink but it balanced out. However, they could easily have consolidated it into one site and cut the price a little bit and I think it would have been perfect.