Westword Dish - Meridian Station

If you 're going to go to a food event in Denver, this is the one! I was lucky and got VIP tickets from Westword Daily Deals for $35 a pop as opposed to $60. This got you into the event an hour and a half early plus two drink tickets and a ticket for Stella Artois along with a Stella chalice and plate (with a cut out so that the chalice stem can scoot in there so you don 't have to waste a hand holding the glass! , seriously the way to go instead of going at the regular opening time like common folk! We really didn 't have a plan of attack, we started at one end and worked our way around. The first stop was my favorite of the event-Honey Chicken Salad on a pretzel roll from Trillium, it was absolutely delicious and a full sandwich as opposed to just a bite. There wasn 't a lot of consistency as to the portion of food the restaurants were serving-some were bites, others were full sandwiches like from Tin Star Smokehouse, half hot dogs from Mustards Last Stand and full slice of pizza from Paxti 's, others were little tasting cups and ¼ of sandwich which was appreciated come round five! Lines weren 't bad at all, the most in front of me was six people come time that general admission was let in. I was in fatty heaven and love not only did I get to try excellent food but found out about so many new-to-me restaurants in Denver and surrounding areas. Every single restaurant represented was friendly, had coupons for free drinks (way #2 to my heart and were genuinely excited to hear that I 've heard about them on Yelp if that were the case. The venue was perfect, the sculpture garden across from the Performing Arts Center is huge and when you 're done can roll yourself over to the light rail station so you don 't have to worry about parking. And can we talk about the DJ? From EDM to Labyrinth 's You remind me of the babe (nothing like stuffing your face to David Bowie , he was rockin and did an awesome job! Plus there were clean portipotty 's on the premise and hand sanitzer galore!! Bring your fat pants and enjoy the nosh, this was the best food event I 've been to yet and 110% worth the money spent!

Absurd amount of meat at this event! WTH. Next time let 's clearly advertise event as Westword 's MEAT DISH . Being 2013 and with the growing Vegetarian population this event fails to have a clue. I know many of the restaurants present normally offer Veggie options and I believed finding pasta, sandwiches, tacos without meat would not be a problem. I was wrong. I will give 5 stars a hurray to Interstate, Nile, Paxti 's (and naturally Watercourse) and the Real Dill for providing Veggie options. But again considering the admission price paid only to find nearly every booth with pork/ beef/ chicken stricken food forces me to rate the Westword Dish 2013 as a 2-3 star venue.

Ive heard on the talk thread that this wasn't a good event to go to. Well IN other years they may of had issues but this year it was great. Plenty of Restaurants. Even some food trucks. And A Vape Business was there. I bought a GA Ticket. They had plenty of booths to get Alcohol or Soda or Water. The lines at the Vendors weren't bad at all and they moved along pretty quickly. Plenty of Stand up tables to eat at or Picnic tables to sit down at. DJ Rockstar Aaron was putting down the sounds on the 1's and 2's and kept everyone dancing. Their was no drama and it was great trying bites of Food in one place from various restaurants. Though some restaurants gave enough to be a Full Meal. But Who's complaining. Til Next Year Westword Dish and THANK YOU

Switching this event from a night time event to the day time was a great idea. Not only did we get to beat the rain that came in the late afternoon but the food was amazing! Having a VIP ticket was definitely way to go for $35. Finally got a Stella Artois chalice and yummy samples from Tony 's Market! There was always ample space to sit either on the bench or at one of the tables. The girls that were at the Scion booth had chronic bitch face. They just sat in their camping chairs the whole time and had the Damn, we have to be here all day look while crossing their arms and shaking their legs. I just walked up to grab a hat and an ice scraper and left. I don 't know why any of the reps were there. They could 've excited us about the new tC that was parked next to the booth or the orange FRS that was parked underneath the huge statues in the middle of the event. Instead nothing! The rest of the event was awesome. Pink Taco truck was there along with CHUBurger trucks parked along the road. Dae Gee, Tin Star Smokehouse, Little Man Ice Cream and Sugarlicious were also some of the restaurants/shops that stuck out in my mind. Breckinridge Brewery made an excellent root beer float that consisted of rootbeer, jamaican five spice and Breckinridge bourbon! What an event! So much food in a nice spread out space. People were friendly and the music definitely brought a great energy!

Love it. This was my 5th year in a row and I don't plan on missing anytime soon. LOVE the fact that they moved it to earlier in the day. The free mini cocktails this year were a nice treat and, as always, VIP is the only way to go. It's pretty easy to work your way around the entire place before they open the gates and let the masses in. Wait, maybe I shouldn't divulge that information? Be smart and remove the top bun from any burger/sammich item you may get you're just wasting valuable space if you cram yourself full of bread!