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Taste Tri-Valley began while I was spending four cold and delicious days in Canada. Bundling up against the 10-degree weather, I negotiated snow drifts from Uber drop-offs to dine at outstanding restaurants during the Montréal en Lumière festival which features art, cultural and gastronomic events.
When returned, I peeled off the layers, grabbed a light jacket and headed off to sample food at three the 75 participants in Taste Tri-Valley Restaurant Week. The fifth annual event features exclusive discounts and menus at restaurants and wineries plus a grand prize offered from check-ins through the mobile pass.
Out of the 168 offers with multiple options from certain participants, most offered 10 to 20 percent discounts on a meal. I hunted down two eateries offering buy one with half-off a second purchase. Other restaurants offered a special menu meal or item. I noted a casual Taste Tri-Valley lunch offer for $10.
The buy-one appetizer or entrée and get a second half-off at Dust Bowl Brewing Livermore Taproom caught my eye. I have noticed the taproom during trips to See’s Candies across the parking lot. Located opposite the San Francisco Premium Outlets, the Dust Bowl Taproom is a popular post-shopping spot and on Thursday evenings, a place to enjoy live music. The name of the Turlock-based brewery refers to the migration of Oklahomans to California in the 1930s which included founder Brett Tate’s grandfather.
The day after returning from Montréal, I met a friend for lunch at the Dust Bowl taproom. As I waited at the food trailer to order, I asked the woman ahead of me if she came here often, hoping for a menu recommendation. She smiled and noted she was from Ottawa on her way to Sequoia National Park. I shared my impressions of Montréal which, said Ariane Courtemanche, got more snow than their hometown. She and Kevin Myers ordered a ahi poke nachos with wild-caught ahi tuna and fried Korean Chicken sandwich with spicy-sweet gochujang sauce.
After many meals with French-influenced, Quebec province food and guest chefs’ Portuguese cuisine, I was ready for a Harris Ranch cheeseburger at Dust Bowl. To help defrost mentally from my jetlagged condition, I also ordered the beef barley soup on the Today’s Specials list. Plus, I wanted to see if it was homemade.
The burger, nestled in a healthy lettuce wrap, was tasty. Having savored one too many portions of poutine, a Montréal specialty of fries, cheese curds doused in gravy, I substituted fries for a freshly prepared salad. I ordered a small pour of the Dust Bowl label of my now favorite beer category, IPA hazy, called Peace, Love & Haze.
A gluten-free diner, my friend chose the quinoa salad with diced chicken, corn, black beans, avocado and more. The server highlighted the gluten-free Dust Bowl Strawberry Margarita Hard Seltzer for my friend, but she eschewed the 9.6% alcohol (ABV) level.
Through the Taste discount, I saved $7.50 on our entrées. Aaron Leza, the taproom manager, told me that two dozen guests had used the Taste discount pass in the four days he had worked so far during Taste. This was Dust Bowl’s first year joining the program, said Leza. “After opening in 2023, a vendor supplied the food for a year. Now we prepare and cook everything from scratch here, included sauces and dressings.”
I validated his words when I tasted the soup. There were good-sized pieces of flavorful meat in addition to the barley, and veggies. Before they left, the Canadian couple stopped by, and Myers said. “I could not put my Korean fried chicken sandwich down because it was so good and overflowing with delicious sauce.”
During Taste Tri-Valley, I seek food and drink at unfamiliar places while taking advantage of their discounts. I bustled over to Fresh Millions in Dublin for a $10 set lunch. The “millions” refers to the number of ways to get a healthy meal at the casual spot. There is an array of healthy mix-in veggies and more for salads and stir fry hot bowls with a variety of proteins and sauces, plus paninis and wraps. Global flavored sauces range from Thai peanut to Alfredo and tikka masala.
Like me, Crystal Ochoa was a first-time diner at Fresh Millions. In theory, she planned a short drive up Hopyard Road to get a big, healthy salad bowl at the Dublin Blvd. café. “This place looks like Panda Express with a line-up of choices, only cheaper. I saw photos of all the bowls, and it was too hard to decide. So, I ordered a chicken and shrimp panini.”
I targeted the Taste special $10 value menu. The mix-in item for my selection of a chicken bowl with teriyaki sauce was a medley of lightly sautéed zucchini, cabbage, onions, and carrots. Unlike Panda Express where the cooked chicken sits in warming trays, the kitchen prepares hot proteins to order. The substantial portion of my bowl lasted three lunches. For the Taste special menu, there are also chicken sandwiches and a chipotle chicken wrap with the option of paneer or tofu alternatives
The next day I met a fan of Fresh Millions. As a vegetarian, McKenna Harris selects an assortment of fresh mix-ins for her salads or rice bowl. Due to my ongoing craving for All-American comfort food, I spoke to Harris at Zachary’s Chicago Pizza in Pleasanton where she is a server.
The Taste discounts at Zachary’s are threefold including a buy one pizza, get one half off the second. I always buy two pizzas. My healthy husband likes whole wheat, thin crust, well done (crispy) pizzas topped with multiple veggies while I select the same order topped off with pepperoni.
At Zachary’s, you cannot miss signage for Taste Tri-Valley. Flyers are on the outside wall, at the counter and on each table. Harris said about half the customers, especially those ordering takeout, apply the Taste pass to the buy one pizza, and get 50 percent off the second. Though I saved money on two small pizzas, Harris said the average discount on larger sized pizza order is around $15.
The Taste Tri-Valley specials continue through March 2, enough time to find savings at Danville Brewing Co., a Livermore Valley winery, and many other venues.
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