Taste of Downtown hits the streets Saturday

From Carson City's Fifth Street to Caroline and beyond, restaurants were parading their culinary best Saturday for "A Taste of Downtown," an annual event to benefit the Advocates to End Domestic Violence.

A $30 ticket purchased from the Advocates allowed the holder to sample the fare of 21 local restaurants, or hop on the trolleys to restaurants like East Ocean and Red's Old 395 Grill.

Restaurants are judged in four categories including best atmosphere, best overall, best shop and the best discovery .

At perennial winner B'Sghetti's, the fare included Italian marinated skewers, red pepper polenta with red pepper sauce and biscotti.

Carson City resident Dave Messer had sampled the food and drinks prepared by Papa Murphy's, Starbucks and Juicy's, all in the Cal Fed parking lot.

"This event is always great," he said with a smile. "I've been coming for about five years and the food is excellent."

This is the eighth annual celebration and it sells out every year, so ticket sales were expanded from 1,000 to 1,500. Advocates expect to raise about $32,000 during this event, the money to pay for their 51-bed shelter as well as domestic violence and sexual assault prevention programs.

Advocates to End Domestic Violence is a nonprofit organization. Volunteers staff crisis hotlines 24 hours a day. They also operate a thrift shop, support groups, legal aid, children's groups, parenting classes, peer counseling, individual counseling and referrals.