Indian food in one corner, Italian in another, with some Cajun in the middle. The options of those attending the second annual Savoring the Taste of Fairfax seemed endless.

"I'm amazed at the variety of different restaurants," said Fairfax resident Paul Brown.

The Taste of Fairfax, which took place on the third floor of the fire station on University Drive on Tuesday, featured food from area restaurants. Hundreds of locals came by during the three-hour event to sample some cake, pad thai or buffalo wings. Sponsored by the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, proceeds from the event went towards the Margaret Kilpatrick Adams Memorial Scholarship Fund.

The event started out as a Chamber mixer last year. This year's event was open to the community.

"This is an amazing turnout," said Jack Rust. "I'm really surprised. When I came here, I was anticipating this would be a Chamber event. This is a community event."

The restaurants offering the food were also surprised by the unexpected influx of people. They had enough food to feed 300 people, but as the evening progressed, some made emergency calls to their restaurants to bring in more food, while others ran out of dishes.

Mohan Baniya of the Indian restaurant The Connaught Place ran out of food within 45 minutes. When he opened his buffet of samples, people crowded around his table.

"It's pretty good," Baniya said of the turnout.

Brown and his wife Kathryn had heard about the Taste of Fairfax on the radio. After having some initial trouble finding more about the event on the Web and locating the fire station, they settled on some cake and Thai food, which they enjoyed.

"It's not so hot and spicy that you can't eat it," Paul Brown said.

Kathryn Brown agreed. "It's very good flavor," she said.

After the success of the evening, the Chamber may explore expanding the event in a few years.

"A lot of the restaurants are very pleased with it," said Doug Derby, vice chair of the Chamber's small business committee and president of sweets shop Home-Style Delights.