Taste Trenton, the capital city’s restaurant event featuring area restaurants in a self-guided tour throughout Trenton has announced plans to organize a 10-day event for its September 2024 showcase of culinary options in the city.  Newly titled as “10 Crucial Days of Dining”, the effort maintains its signature restaurant crawl elements of small sampling plates at reduced prices with a more traditional restaurant week in which patrons can go to a restaurant for a regular multi-course meal at a special price. Ten Crucial Days of Dining will begin on Friday, September 13 and continue through Sunday, September 22.

Taste Trenton Coordinator, Bernard McMullan, explains that the expansion is in response to the requests of Taste Trenton guests who feel a single weekend is simply too short to try out all of the restaurants on the tour and want to explore more. “In addition,” he notes, “we had started to invite restaurants to offer meal specials and about a half are already offering full meal discounts or special meals at a set price.  So, this is a natural evolution.”

Taste Trenton began as a single day event in Summer 2014 featuring 10 restaurants, all located in Chambersburg—the city’s best known restaurant district.  In subsequent years, Taste Trenton expanded to include downtown Trenton and ran for three days. Just before the pandemic, the program grew further to include the entire city, signing up restaurants in the Top Road region, in South Trenton and anywhere else where restaurants were offering great food. By then, the number of restaurants had expanded to 40 and represented an array of ethnic and traditional cuisines. Taste Trenton is limited to restaurants operating within city limits.

For guests, the process is straightforward. Order a “pass” on-line for $10 (www.TasteTrenton.Com) valid for the entire event. Registered guests receive a return email with a TasteTrenton pass to present at each restaurant they visit. Several days before the opening of the Ten Crucial Days of Dining, menus for each participating restaurant will be poste, listing days and hours, tasting specials, featured meals and prices on TasteTrenton.com; printed maps will be placed at various public locations around the city.  The listings also provide helpful information including type of cuisine, forms of payment accepted; whether an establishment serves or allows alcoholic beverages, and other information.

“People both within and outside Trenton are often surprised to learn that there are more than 100 restaurants with tables and menus in Trenton—and that number generally excludes pizza shops, take-out Asian, and delis.” McMullan notes. “Our task in Taste Trenton is to allow people to experience the range and diversity of those restaurants in a manner that encourages guests to walk across the threshold of each and try them out. If they have an enjoyable experience, they will come back; if not, then restaurant managers may need to consider what can be changed to make guests want to return.”

Restaurants will begin receiving applications over the next two weeks with a due date of August 15 for inclusion in the event.  Owners and managers may contact Bernard McMullan at TasteTrenton@gmail.com to ensure they receive an application.

Area organizations that offer artistic, musical, historical, and other activities in Trenton are also being contacted to share information about their upcoming events and how patrons can learn about them. This information will be compiled and made accessible through www.TasteTrenton.com.

Ten Crucial Days of Dining is organized by Taste Trenton Tours, LLC,  a New Jersey registered nonprofit organization. All organizing work is conducted by a team of volunteers interested in making Trenton a culinary and cultural treasure accessible for all. Persons wishing to volunteer in any capacity can contact Bernard McMullan at TasteTrenton@gmail.com.

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