The Greenville Avenue Restaurant Association has set October 23, 2010 as the date for the second Taste of Greenville Avenue event, nicknamed TOGA 2010. Formal planning, including booth fees and entertainment schedules, will begin in earnest after Memorial Day weekend.

The first TOGA event last October drew nearly 4,000 guests who enjoyed affordable food presentations ($2 - $4) from nearly 30 restaurants on Greenville Avenue. After expenses, nearly $3,000 was donated by the Association to Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson Elementary Schools, and the Woodrow Wilson HS Wildcats band.

If your business was an exhibitor at TOGA 2009, you are already on the mailing list for this event. If your restaurant is located on Greenville Avenue or adjacent side streets, you are eligible for GARA membership and participation in the event. A limited number of booths will be set aside for non-restaurant exhibitors. Click here to send a request to get on our TOGA 2010 exhibitors information list.

Despite a slow start and bad economy, Christmas on Greenville Avenue 2009 was still a success. More than 1,400 toys were collected by area restaurants and businesses for Santa's Helpers 2009.

And Santa's Helpers was able exceed its goals, with enough left over to give toys to other local gift programs.

Here's a list of the top collection sites on Greenville Avenue.

The Greenville Avenue Restaurant Association made good on its promise to donate a portion of the funds raised at the first Taste of Greenville Avenue when a check for $1,250 was presented to the Robert E. Lee Elementary School PTA during the school's Fall Festival.

GARA interim president Greg Watson (Snuffer's) made the presentation to PTA president Susan Villanueva and school principal Alicia Zapata during the event. The amount was kept secret until the last minute when the check was unwrapped, and the surprise is obvious in these photos.

Lakewood Dallas Black White Read

The soon-to-be annual Taste of Greenville took place October 24th. Establishments such as Dodie’s Cajun Diner, the Greenville Avenue Pizza Co., and Pietro’s Italian restaurant each occupied a small space of the parking lot behind the Granada Theater for the 2009 Taste of Greenville Avenue.

Two rows of tents lined the parking lot on the east and west sides of the avenue, with the beer coolers in the middle and the music stage along Martel Avenue. Local alt-country bands The King Bucks and Max Stalling provided music.

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by Sarah Crisman, Pegasus News

The parking lot behind the Granada transformed into a family-friendly hootenanny on Saturday for the Taste of Greenville Avenue. My son and I showed up early enough to catch Backside Pick and mill around the tents offering tasty samples from Greenville's neighborhood nosh.

The lot was just the right size for a fun afternoon of catching up with our Dallas friends without exhausting ourselves hoofing it across a giant festival field.

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