{"id":197081,"date":"2026-02-27T21:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197081\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:45:10","slug":"6-best-things-to-eat-at-knotts-boysenberry-festival-san-gabriel-valley-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/197081\/","title":{"rendered":"6 best things to eat at Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival \u2013 San Gabriel Valley Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival is really the only place on Earth where you\u2019ll find more than 100 dishes drizzled, dipped and drenched in the signature fruit that started it all more than 100 years ago on the Knott\u2019s family farm.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Fest will run daily from March 13 through April 12 at the Buena Park theme park.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival 2026 tasting card and a la carte menus \u2014 See the list<\/a><\/p>\n

I spoke with Knott\u2019s Berry Farm Vice President of Food & Beverage Laura Brubaker about the six best things I ate during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival media preview event on Thursday, Feb. 26.<\/p>\n

\"BoysenberryBoysenberry Beef Brisket over Mac and Cheese available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n1) Boysenberry Beef Brisket over Mac and Cheese<\/p>\n

Gold Mine Trail Booth and Calico Railroad Bar<\/p>\n

Mac and Cheese is one of my four basic food groups \u2014 so this was naturally the first thing I wanted to try.<\/p>\n

The Mac and Cheese booth had the longest line during the media preview, and it was worth the wait.<\/p>\n

The creamy pasta and tender brisket bathed in tangy boysenberry barbecue sauce were everything I was hoping for.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: Knott\u2019s Berry Farm to open new chicken and boysenberry restaurant<\/a><\/p>\n

Mac and Cheese topped with some sort of meat has become a staple during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year, we always want to lean into a couple of meats,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cWe try to switch it out every year. We did beef tips last year and pulled pork the year before. We haven\u2019t done brisket in ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SweetSweet Boysenberry Tamale available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n2) Sweet Boysenberry Tamale<\/p>\n

Chow House Booth<\/p>\n

The Sweet Boysenberry Tamale confused me because it was served alongside all the savory items during the media event.<\/p>\n

The more I looked at the tamale, the more confused I got. Nothing looked like it should.<\/p>\n

The boysenberry blended into the masa gave the tamale a grey tint. The deep purple filling looked like jam. The lavender cream cheese zig zagged on top gave the whole thing an otherworldly appearance.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, my mouth and my stomach didn\u2019t care what it looked like. As long as it was good \u2014 and it sure was.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: Knott\u2019s Berry Farm closes 7 attractions heading into Boysenberry Festival<\/a><\/p>\n

The unique flavor twist was unlike anything I\u2019d ever had before.<\/p>\n

The Knott\u2019s culinary team wasn\u2019t sure what to use for the sweet tamale filling: Boysenberry syrup, turnover filling or pie filling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried them all and the turnover filling was just the perfect one,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cThe boysenberry cream cheese goes really nicely with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ReubenReuben Ball with a Spicy Boysenberry Thousand Island Dressing available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n3) Reuben Ball with a Spicy Boysenberry Thousand Island Dressing<\/p>\n

Silver Bullet Booth and Wilderness Dance Hall<\/p>\n

I spent a long time staring at the lightly breaded ball trying to figure out what was inside based on the description.<\/p>\n

One bite and I knew immediately it was a Reuben sandwich stuffed inside a panko breaded ball about the size of a tennis ball.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: Six Flags regional season pass bundles together Knott\u2019s and Magic Mountain<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a big surprise and fun to eat \u2014 two key components of any Boysenberry Festival. Unexpected mashups are what keep me coming back to food festivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite sandwiches is a Reuben,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cAnd every year, the Turkey Ball is our No. 1 seller.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Reuben sandwich twist on the traditional Turkey Ball is filled with corned beef, cheese, sauerkraut and rye bread with a boysenberry dipping sauce on the side.<\/p>\n

\"BoysenberryBoysenberry Cajun Shrimp with Vegetarian Creamy Orzo available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n4) Boysenberry Cajun Shrimp with Vegetarian Creamy Orzo<\/p>\n

Wilderness Dance Hall<\/p>\n

The large tailless shrimp were drowned in a boysenberry broth and served atop a delicate and buttery orzo pasta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done grits. I\u2019ve done polenta,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cSo this year I said to myself, \u2018I haven\u2019t done orzo in a long time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The shrimp was tasty and the orzo was addictive. I could have eaten this all day.<\/p>\n

\"BoysenberryBoysenberry Shortcake Sushi Roll available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n5) Boysenberry Shortcake Sushi Roll<\/p>\n

Ghost Town Bakery<\/p>\n

I eyed the sushi roll for a long time trying to figure out if it was actually sushi. It certainly looked like sushi, but it tasted like cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to think it\u2019s sushi,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cWe did a little buttercream that looks like wasabi.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shortcake layers meant the tasty dessert changed with each bite.<\/p>\n

\"No-BakeNo-Bake Lemon and Boysenberry Cheesecake available during the Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register\/SCNG)
\n6) No-Bake Lemon and Boysenberry Cheesecake<\/p>\n

Miner\u2019s Mac and Spuds<\/p>\n

This cheesecake was the best thing I ate during the Boysenberry Festival media preview.<\/p>\n

It was light, creamy and dreamy with just a hint of lemon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love lemon and boysenberry together,\u201d Brubaker said. \u201cIt\u2019s just delicious. So that one was a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival is really the only place on Earth where you\u2019ll find more than 100 dishes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2223,163,165,164,1311,7,8311,611,420],"class_list":{"0":"post-197081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-amusement-parks","9":"tag-anaheim","10":"tag-anaheim-headlines","11":"tag-anaheim-news","12":"tag-buena-park","13":"tag-california","14":"tag-knotts-berry-farm","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}