ELBRIDGE — At first glance Elbridge might seem like a small community and in many ways that is part of its charm and appeal.

But it is also a community burgeoning with businesses.

Taking a cue from Onondaga County neighbor Syracuse, the Elbridge Chamber of Commerce five years ago began to take time to showcase its businesses and especially its foods.

This idea led to the creation of Taste of Elbridge, modeled on Syracuse’s Taste of Syracuse.

“We did this to showcase what is in our community,” said Dick Platten, a member of the chamber of commerce’s board of directors. “The whole idea of it is to show off our local merchants. It is all about local people and local businesses.”

For a relatively small community, Elbridge has a lot of diversity as everything from pizza and subs to barbecue, cookies, cakes, wines and other fare such as Chinese, was offered.

Dennis Pelmear, chamber president, said participation from local vendors and community organizations has grown, creating a strong community festival and celebration.

“We have over 25 vendors,” Pelmear said. “We also have a great group of volunteers and community groups that have joined in to make this possible and make everything happen this year.”

Throughout the evening, there were numerous live music acts, but it was the food that was center stage.

With samples available for just $1, it is hard to argue with the festival’s value.

New businesses, such as Angelo’s were there to promote themselves. Anthony Bartolotta, co-owner, said the new shop opened about a month ago in Elbridge.

Angelo’s was offering $1 samples of lasagna, chicken parmesan and meatball parmesan.

“We didn’t really know what this was going to be about,” Bartolotta said. “But we thought that it would be a great community event and a great way to get out here and let people know that we are open and let them see what we have to offer.”

Other businesses, such as the Elbridge Liquor Store, Inc., have been a staple of the business community for more than 40 years.

Jeannine Goodrich, store manager, said the store has participated in the festival for the past five years with great results.

This year with the summer sun finally coming out, the store offered strawberry daiquiris to cool things off.

“This has always been a great event,” Goodrich said. “We have always been really busy and we are really busy again this year. With the warm weather daiquiris are the perfect thing. We are always busy and this is always fun.”