Oktoberfest celebrations continue this weekend with beer-fueled parties going down in Chandler and Phoenix. If you're looking for something more charitable to fill your time, you may want to check out Food Fight, a culinary tasting event to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix and the Arizona Restaurant Association. Don't miss your chance to strut your stuff for the judges of Fox's MasterChef this Saturday, and if you're looking for a Frito Pie, we know where you can get one.
A Taste of Greece Friday, October 4
This Friday will kick off Chandler's three-day celebration of all things Greek -- including and most importantly to us food lovers: food. The A Taste of Greece fest at the St. Katherine Church in Chandler will have an array of classic and traditional Greek dishes including chicken, lamb shank, moussaka, and (our personal favorite) dolmathes. Attendees will be able to find different delicacies at both the indoor and outdoor dining areas with pastries available too including baklava, melomakarona, and kourambiedes. Once you've fueled up, feel free to hit the dance floor for one of the Greek folk-dancing workshops.
Free admission to the event is available online. The festival will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday, form 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information visit the A Taste of Greece website.
More events this weekend: - Phoenix Oktoberfest - St. George Feast of the Middle East
SanTan Brewing Oktoberfest Saturday, October 5
The 6th Annual SanTan Brewing Oktoberfest will take over the streets of downtown Chandler this Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight. The fest includes live music, games, food, drinks and -- because you can't have Oktoberfest without beer -- expect a Bavarian-style beer garden where guests will be able to sip SanTan's Oktoberfest brew, a traditional German lager. The Expendables will be headlining the event, joined by Bad Cactus Brass Band, and while you're listening to some tunes you can partake in a game of beer pong, bag toss, or stein racing or compete in keg stacking and brat eating contests. Tickets to the event cost $10 and children are free. For more information, visit the SanTan Brewing Oktoberfest website.
MasterChef Casting Call Saturday, October 5
Don't forget that this Saturday, home cooks with thick skin will have a chance to achieve reality TV fame on Fox's competitive-cooking reality show MasterChef. This will be the fifth season of the show, which is judged by the infamously angry Gordon Ramsay, and follows up the new MasterChef Junior, a kid version of the same show. To audition you'll need one prepared dish to serve to judges, and you'll also have to be prepared to commit to nine weeks of filming between the months of January and April of next year. Parking will cost $10 and the open audition will run from from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Embassy Suites Biltmore. For more information visit the MasterChef website.
Oh, and you still can't bring a hair dryer.
Food Fight Sunday, October 6
Billing itself as "The Tasting Event of the Century," Food Fight will have a lot to deliver on this weekend. The tasting event brings more than 60 restaurants to the Salt River Fields for a gourmet fundraiser to knock out childhood hunger. For $150, attendees will be able to sample eats from restaurants including Citizen Public House, Sochu House, and Coup Des Tartes. Dress code is cocktail attire and the event is open to those 21-and-over only. The event will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix and the Arizona Restaurant Association. Gates open at 4 p.m.
TEXAZ "State Fare" menu Now through October 20
For Texas lovers and those who simply can't wait for the Arizona State Fair to start in a few weeks, TEXAZ has a fair-inspired menu to deliver all the deep-fried and sugary flavor you crave. The special limited-time-only menu includes Texas's Blue Bell Cotton Candy Ice Cream for $1 a scoop and "Fletcher's Original State Fair Corny Dog," a State Fair of Texas staple since 1942. You can also get your hands on a famous Frito Pie, as in the dish recently featured on CNN's "Parts Unknown" during which host Anthony Bourdain said holding the pie felt like holding "warm crap in a bag."
Come on, now you know you want to try it.
