2018 Taste of Conyers
Last month I was excited to draw a line through an item on my Food Bucket List when I was honored to be an official judge at Taste of Conyers. This food festival celebrates the diverse, local restaurants and food entrepreneurs from this charming, small city in Georgia. 
This is a sponsored post in partnership with the City of Conyers. All of the tasting were complementary, however opinions are those of the author.
It was a perfect Saturday afternoon when I joined friends (Rochelle, Cassandra, Stacey)
AFLBS Taste of Conyers’ Judges
from the Atlanta Food & Lifestyle Bloggers’ Society (I’m the current president) in Olde Town Conyers at the converted railroad station that is now the home of the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The staff of the CVB Sandy, Jennifer, Teri and Mitsi greeted us with southern hospitality that made us feel right at home.
After an amazing FAM trip to Conyers, GA the week before I have a special fondness for this quaint city that is southeast of Atlanta. Needless to say, judging this important event was extra special to me. By the way shout out to Teri Haler who was a our wonderful guide at that event.
Taste of Conyers – Streets of Olde Town
The Taste of Conyers participants lined the streets of Olde Town bringing a fun, festive feel to the city
that even the puppy dogs enjoyed!
Taste of Conyers was dog friendly!
I must admit I felt a bit overwhelmed when I found out we were to taste and judge 22 contestants’ food offerings!
How would we keep track of where to go and what to taste? Luckily for us Sandy Fowler, Event Coordinator for the City of Conyers was our guide. I think Sandy must have been a camp counselor… she didn’t miss a beat as she led us from tasting table to tasting table.
Taste of Conyers – Sandy Fowler, Conyers CVB
Let me tell you food judging is great fun But it is hard work 
! Taste of Conyers included a diversity of food… from artesian chocolate to collards, bread pudding, crab cakes, beer batter fried fish, healthy ginger drinks, maple waffles, shrimp & grits and so much more! The categories were preset and participants chose which they wanted to be considered.
Our job was to identify the Best One: Appetizer, Entree, Dessert and Presentation.
We began our tasting at the end of Center Street across from Beasley’s Drug Company. This old fashion drug store complete with a soda fountain and black and white tiled floor has been an anchor of downtown Conyers since 1934 ~ yup 1934! Watch the video of Ora Beasley telling me her family’s story.
Our very first taste was a fun food truck, FlavorWave, serving shaved ice with the most unusual and refreshing flavors.
Finger lickin’ OMG! is how I would describe the next stop on our judging tasting. GiGi’s Place Inc. served up soul food. I must admit, I’m not much of a collards’ lover, but food friends, these were amazing – a little spicy and not at all mushy. GiGi’s ribs and corn bread were fabulous too.
Gigi ‘s Place Soul Food
The One & Only Gigi of Gigi’s Place Soul Food
Tempt-Desserts By Design is an artisan chocolatier and pastry company owned by a husband and wife team. We were offered perfect bites of chocolate. We also tasted wonderful macarons which had the right crunch and luscious filling you expect in these little cookies. Think I might need some now 🙂
Taste of Conyers – Tempt-Desserts By Design
The Celtic Tavern shared their amazing beer battered fish complemented with a tartar sauce that was a bit tart and helped cut the richness of the fried fish. It was so much like fish & chips that I grew up eating in Boston that I must admit I got a bit home sick.
Loved the beer battered fried fish from @celtic918 The Celtic Tavern. The homemade tartar sauce was the perfect complement! As good as any in New England say these Boston gals. Ps. The owners are uber cool – def a to go place in @OldeTownConyers @VisitConyersGA #TasteofConyers pic.twitter.com/nMn3brM604
— Diva Foodies (@DivaFoodies) May 6, 2018
💛 the “mom and son partnership of Horatios Healthy Cuisine. We tasted a super healthy but super delicious ginger, honey apple & lemon drink that went beautifully with a moist and divalicious carrot muffin. Note: check out Timothy Lee’s tat below!
Taste of Conyers – Mon & Son Partners – Horatios
Cool Tat – Timothy Lee, Horatios
I happily dived into the perfect bread pudding from The Bistro Conyers which I didn’t want to stop eating it! So good.
Taste of Conyers -The Bistro’s Bread Pudding
Winners of 2018 Taste of Conyers!
Best Appetizer: UGA Ext Service Rainbow Wraps -Veggie Wraps
Best Entree: Gigi’s Place Inc. – Chicken, Ribs, Greens, Mac Cheese, Cornbread
Best Dessert: Coaxum’s Low Country Cuisine – Bread Pudding
Best Booth Presentation: The Bistro Conyers
Thank you to the food vendors, our CVB friends, the City of Conyers and all who made this an exciting food experience. It is proof positive that there are divalicous dishes outside of metro areas ~ including of course Conyers, GA!
Connect With Conyers, GA
Connect With CVB/Olde Town Conyers, GA
The Uber Cool Conyers CVB Staff
