On September 20, neighbors and local businesses gathered for Allston Village Main Streets’s (AVMS) Taste of Allston to sample neighborhood restaurants, retail, art, and non-profit programming.

The event featured 12 food vendors, ranging from longtime haunts like Yoma Burmese Food (5 N Beacon St) to newer spots like Sloane’s (197 N Harvard Ave), as well as businesses that had left Allston, like Teamoji. Over ten art vendors sold prints, ceramics, and vintage fashion. Non-profits like Brighton Farmers Market, Allston-Brighton Underground, and Boston Public Living Room shared their services. Music mixed by the local Stamina DJ Collective boomed from the cart built by Genesis Lara and Zach “Zeko” Deshoda for the prior week’s Clean Yo Block event.  

Alex Cornacchini, executive director of AVMS, says that running the event makes getting to know the neighborhood easier for residents.

“One of my friends is actually moving to Allston-Brighton, and he had one of the free foods from Lone Star [Taco Bar (479 Cambridge St #477)]. He was like, ‘It’s the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten,’” recalls Cornacchini. “That’s the reason why we do this event. To get people that probably wouldn’t try food from different places to try it and become paid customers.”

This is AVMS’s 28th time running Taste of Allston. Before the pandemic, it was a ticketed event at Harvard Stadium (79 N Harvard St), but recently, AVMS moved it closer to the heart of the neighborhood at Jackson Mann K-8 School and Community Center Plaza (Cambridge St). “​​It was just out of the way,” says Alex Cornacchini, executive director at AVMS. “In 2021, we wanted to bring it inside Allston Village and have it be free.”

As a non-profit, AVMS works to connect city resources to local businesses which may, for instance, need sign repair or longer hours. Neighbors who have ideas to build community in Allston reach out to AVMS as a source of fiscal or logistical support.

“Everyone’s always talking about needing a third space. Not a restaurant, not a bar, not places where they have to spend money,” says Cornacchini. “This is exactly what we’re trying to do with Taste [of Allston]. To create a third space for people to meet their neighbors, meet other people who enjoy the same things as them, learn about volunteer opportunities, learn about businesses without having to go on and spend a bunch of money.” ■