Hi Flock! This weekend (July 26-28 2024) is the Niagara Falls Italian Festival at Hyde Park, so I thought I’d swing by and sample some of the great food.

I’ve been going to the Italian Festival since it was in front of Saint Joseph’s Church on Pine Avenue, and seeing it thriving at its current location next to the Rose Garden in Hyde Park is a joyfully nostalgic feeling.

I started the tour of Italy at Carmine’s Catering with an order of stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, and eggplant parm:

The peppers had the perfect kick, and were honestly my favorite of the trio. The mushrooms were similar to the peppers, but without the heat. My partner actually stole more than half of my order of eggplant parm, so I’d say that gets thumbs up as well.

Needed to cool off from the pepper, I went over to The Vintage Vine mobile bar to get a fresh squeezed blackberry lemonade.

The $9 lemonade came in, I kid you not, a takeout quart container (the ones you get wonton soup in) that they used an industrial punch on the lid to fit a boba straw. It might be the best lemonade I’ve had anywhere.

Meanwhile, my partner went off to grab some food from Ghada Have It (which is one of those places that I’ve been dozens of times but neglected to write about). Next thing you know, I’m getting called over to help carry two slices of gyro pizza, two slices of falafel pizza, and two orders of Ghada’s homemade rice pudding:

Ghada Have It has previously won awards for their creative pizzas, and I have to admit that their falafel pizza was fantastic. The rice pudding was flavored with rose water (based on the owner’s family recipe), but I personally added a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar on top as well.

The Niagara Falls Italian Festival features many additional vendors, as well as live music all weekend long.

It’s always great to see community events succeed in Niagara Falls, especially when they can take advantage of a great green space like Hyde Park. Now, to walk off that pizza…

-Sheepie ❤