Dia de los Muertos - Yelp event

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and acknowledged around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey.

- excerpt from Wikipedia

The California Center of the Arts housed a public Yelp party in honor of this holiday. There were memorials throughout the building.

I thought this one in particular was interesting due to the runway aspect. To add to the spirit of things, some Yelp attendees dutifully donned the masks, face painting or attire.

I was happy to find Soo and Maggie from HungryOnes.com (left, middle) at the parking lot. I enjoy a familiar face to start out the evening though I wander at my own pace as the night goes on.

As usual for Yelp events, there was ample food and drink samples available for attendees.

Chocolate churro gelato from Gaia Gelato. I only liked the chocolate portion because the churro was a bit stale. I also tasted the flan, too sweet for my taste. I'm not a "mint" person so I skipped the third flavor completely.

Bluewater Grill served Shrimp Ceviche. A touch of sweet from the mango and minimal juice. No spills tonight!

A sample from Royal India.

That chicken tikka masala was tender and I would eat more of that! The chickpeas had a good flavor mix though I wouldn't mind sweeter.

Hungry Bear Deli. A bear is so California right?

This pastrami sample had a thousand island style sauce on it. The meat to bread ratio is not so good for the sample though. That spinach artichoke on the side was so delicious! Can we put that in a sandwich?

Next was a slider from Pure Burger. So. Good. Toasted bread was perfect and the meat juicy. Senor Grubby's had a pork belly taco with creamy guac sauce. The al pastor taco spit was fun to check out but my pastor sample was a little burnt though... Underneath that sample was Bacon Rice from Mexico City Restaurant.

Kennedy's Karne serves 25 types of carnitas!

That night we sampled chicken, steak and a surprisingly tasty jalapeno cheese! Yum.

The California Center for the Arts caters its own food.

The special of the night was shortrib, which was a little salty though it could also be the wasabi from the potato. I get that confused. I just CAN'T do wasabi.

Sweet Bricks created this cookies and cream toffee. I did like this though would not be able to eat a lot due to the toffee.

HOLY . FRIED . OREO ! Bang Pop Shop got me excited for once about a donut-type item (and I am NOT a donut person). It was unexpectedly amazing. The peanut butter cookie is from Sunny Side Kitchen. Yum with a great amount of chew. I loved the bits of peanut there too.

The Icy Pole Company has a unique looking product. The popsicle molds are rows/columns of cubed treats! The Oreo pop on the right was my favorite. The others were a little too frozen to chew.

There's a cannoli mobile place called I-Scream Cannoli. I loved how they dipped them into a bowl of toppings.

Amazona Acai Cafe had acai bowl samples. I ate TWO samples because, hey, it's healthy!

Clearly kombucha drink.

The best flavor is the strawberry lemonade. Other than that flavor, the kombucha was too strong for me.

There was also a salsa competition going on. I liked this one made by Cook With Jason. A few others were too spicy or not to my taste. I don't know who won though.

Hello friend! It's Darren from San Diego Food Net! This was HIS first yelp event! :)

This was my second public Yelp party... coincidentally only a few days after my first (Yelp Halloween Event). Of course I had fun eating and mingling. Sign me up for the next event! :)