Taste of Downtown is an annual event sponsored by the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance that gives you a great excuse to eat out in the middle of the week.  Several locally-owned restaurants in the downtown area participate by adding a featured special to their menu that shows off the best their kitchen has to offer.  The best part is that you get to eat good food for at a great price.  Favorite choices:

• Joshua Wilton House has a $35 three-course meal that includes a glass of wine.  Call ahead for the day’s menu and reservations.
• Cally’s does a selection of appetizers, entrees, desserts and a tasting of microbrews for $20.  Last year, this won the ‘holy-cow-that’s-a-lot-of-food’ award.
• Jack Brown’s – If you haven’t tried it yet, now’s the time.  $10 for lunch or $12 dinner.  Kobe beef burger, fries, beer…what else is there?
• Artful Dodger has a $10 entree and cocktail special.
• For lunch, check out Clementine’s ($6 soup & griddle), Smokin’ Pig ($5 BBQ meal), Old Dominion Coffee ($7 wrap and drink) or Cally’s ($8 BBQ platter).

I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity to skip cooking.  Awards will go to the restaurants for most food, best deal, biggest surprise and I wouldn’t eat it if it was free.

Check out the HDR website for full details.

The most important thing I’ve learned about life in Harrisonburg is this:

To get that light, tasty treat of shrimp, lettuce and noodles wrapped in rice paper (dabbed with Sriracha and dipped in peanut oil), I have to order “spring rolls” when I’m at Thai Cafe but “garden rolls” at Taste of Thai.

Normally I’m all for the crunchy goodness of deep-fried food, but getting a hot plate of shredded meat in a cardboard-colored roll is not going to fix my light and spicy craving.

I also know the exact numbers for my favorite meal at each restaurant and have their phone numbers saved in my phone for easy takeout ordering.  If these places ever redo their menus, I might have to learn how to cook.