Friday, Sep. 11, 2009

Have a taste of the Vista

Making weekend plans isn’t always easy. Especially this weekend.

What do you want to do?

Where do you want to eat?

This weekend, those two questions can be answered with a simple phrase: Let’s go to Viva La Vista.

In its second year, the food-sampling event will feature almost 30 restaurants and more than 100 items. Food items range from one to five tokens, and the tokens cost $1 each.

There will be two music stages — one in the Liberty Taproom parking lot and the other at Lincoln and Lady streets — where bands will play a smattering of rock, an appetite whetting precursor to the Free Times Music Crawl which begins at 7 p.m. in the Vista.

If you decide to go to Viva La Vista, another question will indefinitely arise: What do I want to eat?

Here’s a little help to get you started — with the price in tokens.

FOR THE SEAFOOD LOVER

Blue Marlin’s pan-seared scallops with succotash of local vegetables 5

Carolina Ale House’s jumbo peel ’n’ eat shrimp cocktail 1

MacDougall’s crab-stuffed grouper 5

Saki Tumi’s seared tuna with wonton chips 1

FOR THE MEAT EATER

Five Guys’ half-pound hamburger or cheeseburger 5

Flying Saucer’s Reuben on marble rye 4 for the full, 2 for the half

Jillian’s Kahlua pork sliders 4

Vista Grill’s “Vista Ugly Wings” 3

Wild Wing Cafe’s California chicken taco 4

FOR THE SOPHISTICATED DINER

Gervais & Vine’s VealBirds Skewer 4

Motor Supply Company’s French BBQ slider 4

Ovations Catering’s fresh sauerbraten with buttered egg noodles and braised slaw 4

Ristorante Divino’s tortelacci Florentine with pomodoro sauce 3

Ruth’s Chris’ rosemary-crusted tenderloin sliders with creamy horseradish sauce 4

Sheraton Downtown Columbia’s beef tenderloin and portobello mushrooms in gorgonzola sauce over penne 5

Z Pizza’s specialty pizzas such as Thai, Tuscan, Greek or provencal 3

FOR THE MID-AFTERNOON SNACK

300 Senate’s pimento cheese-stuffed sausages with Adluh grits 2

blue.’s roasted red pepper hummus 1

Clarion Hotel Columbia’s bruschetta, a toasted crostini with tomato basil topping 1

FOR THE HEALTH-CONSCIOUS

Blue Martini’s black-eyed pea hummus over warm flatbread 2

Damon’s Clubhouse’s orchardsalad 1

Liberty’s pimento cheese sliders 5

FOR THE PICKY EATER

Mellow Mushroom’s cheese or pepperoni pizza 2

Paul’s Philadelphia Eatery’s chicken Phillies and cheese steaks 5 for 6-inch, 3 for 3-inch

FOR THE SWEET TOOTH

Cupcake’s cupcakes in red velvet, mint chocolate chip and praline 3

Cromer’s cotton candy (3) or candy apple (2)

Longhorn Steahouse’s chocolate stampede 2

Nonnah’s chocolate temptation cake 4

Reach Taylor at (803) 771-8362.

IF YOU GO

Viva La Vista

WHEN: 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: The Vista, at Lincoln and Gervais streets

TICKETS: Free, but you must buy tokens before purchasing food and drink

INFORMATION:www.vivalavistasc.com

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