That Royal Tavern sammich rocked, as did the Brauhaus’s bratwurst “slider” – kudos to them for bringing plenty of food, they were still serving when most others had run out.
The Kennett offerings were good and I especially liked the SPTR’s Mexican beef tartare.
Better food than last year, but still weak offerings for vegetarians, which needs tobe addressed since they really put it out there that there would be better alternatives this year. For instance, according to their website all the Royal/Dos Segundos/Khyber booths would have veggie offerings. Well, yeah, Royal could serve you just the rabe. Khyber would make you a vegan buttered popcorn. Dos had tofu, but didn’t advertise it and by the time my wife found out there was none left.
Beers werer better in 2010 – too many really dark & heavy offerings this year, I thought.
JMHO, YMMV.

I agree, there was a plethora of pork (and chili) this year.

Regarding the vegetarian complaints, does that mean, by offering all those many pork dishes, that the chefs were insensitive to kosher diets? No. It’s not a vegetarian (or a kosher) festival, per se, and there were plenty of vegetarian options that I saw (a ton of tofu at Dos Segundos, for the first few hours, at least; multiple cheese offerings; bruschetta; and a ton of deserts). The advertisements did expressly invite vegetarians to the mix, though, so I understand the disappointment. Maybe a designated health/veggie area would help in the future.

I shelled out $125 for a VIP ticket. If I didn’t get my fill of meats, I would have been very disappointed. In the end, it all goes to a good cause, and, it’s a grand event, celebrating our city’s wonderful food world. Such a festival is never going to be “perfect,” and I would try to look at the glass as half-full, instead of half-empty.

Great festival! Next time, less dark/heavy beers though, agreed … and maybe larger tasting glasses!