By Charly SHELTON

Several weeks ago, Knott’s Berry Farm opened its doors for the first time in months to welcome guests. The Taste of Calico food festival was an outdoor dining experience that was slated for two weekends in July. Due to overwhelming demand it was extended into August. Now, due to overwhelming demand on top of the overwhelming demand, a second food festival has launched. The Taste of Knott’s festival opened last weekend and it is an improvement on what was an already great model.

The Calico festival took place only within the Ghost Town section of the park and afforded views of the rest of the empty park from behind barricades. For the Taste of Knott’s, much more of the park is open. Camp Snoopy is still closed, as is the Roaring ’20s area where the new Beary Tales ride is, but the rest of the park is open and accessible. Guests enter with a tasting card, date specific and available for $30 online, then visit one of 27 tasting locations around the park for delicious vittles.

Not all offerings are created equal, however. Some foods, like the Hatch chile mac ’n’ cheese or the boysenberry breaded chicken tender on a waffle with fire honey, are to die for. The Hatch mac might be a new favorite among all theme park festival foods. But some offerings, like the boysenberry margarita, aren’t even palatable. So with the extreme highs come some extreme lows, but overall there are far more highs than middlings or lows. With 35 different options to choose from, there will be something for everyone.

The aforementioned Hatch mac and the chicken and waffles are sublime, and the boysenberry barbecue meatballs have been an old-standby favorite of the annual Boysenberry Festival since time immemorial. The smoked pork rib over corn salsa is a high-end taster that doesn’t disappoint and the crinkle chips are house-cooked fresh for the fest. But honestly, best in show was anything cold. It is so hot outside right now that walking around a theme park to eat smoked barbecue pork seems redundant when you could just stand still and smell the sizzling of your back baking in the sun. The best flavor comes from the foods, but the best experience you will have is the boysenberry mint agua fresca because it is cold, it is fresh and it is served from a booth near shade. Honorable mention goes to the watermelon lemonade.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the boysenberry pie bites. As hot as it is, deep fried warm pie bites don’t sound appealing but at Knott’s, it’s a big deal. This is the first time they have paid homage to the boysenberry pie in a food fest. There are boysenberry sausages, elotes, lemonades, beers, cornbread, meatballs and even a boysenberry sarsaparilla available in the shop. But never have I seen a boysenberry pie anything at their food festivals. These pie bites are pretty good, not quite the same as having a whole pie to yourself, but a nice addition to the lineup.

For anyone interested in eating a lot of food, and for anyone who can no longer feel heat outside, this festival is for you. If you can still feel heat and would rather wait until it cools off, don’t make my mistake and go right at opening. Wait until the evening. The festival runs until 8 p.m. on select evenings. For more information and to book tickets, which will sell out quickly, visit Knotts.com.

  Charly Shelton, v