The Emerson Fry Bread truck serves customers at the Street Eats Food Truck Festival at Salt River Fields on Feb. 8, 2015. (Daniel Kwon/ The State Press)Floods of diverse epicureans invaded the Salt River Fields Saturday and Sunday for the Street Eats AZ food truck festival.
The festival, which featured over 50 food trucks from across the valley, attracted an impressively diverse crowd of all ages who flocked to the equally diverse selection of local cuisine.
The nature of food trucks is that they are exciting and innovative, yet annoyingly elusive if one doesn't keep constant tabs on their whereabouts. Street Eats was an excellent concept in that it allowed food truck connoisseurs from across metro Phoenix to sample a handful of wandering trucks all in one convenient location. However, the festival was a bit overwhelming as a whole in terms of both experience and price.
Among the more notable trucks were Phoenix favorites Aioli Burger, Press, Paletas Betty and Maine Lobster Lady as well as a selection of grilled cheese, ice cream and fry bread trucks.
Sampling full plates from every truck would have required sheer boldness, heaps of cash and the stomach of a wild animal, so the average visitor's overall experience was really dependent on luck or prior familiarity with a certain truck.
Each truck certainly had different impacts on different palettes, but there were some that were a bit underwhelming compared to their competitors. For instance, DGP Gourmet Fry Bread didn't compare to Emerson Fry Bread, which offers equally great bread but with more hearty toppings. Frosted Frenzy's menu contains some unique cupcake mixes, but overall they were nothing to write home about.
The Italian panini at Press Italian Street Food at the Street Eats Food Truck Festival at Salt River Fields on Feb. 8, 2015. (Daniel Kwon/ The State Press)However, Press Italian Street Food stood out as one of the trucks that accomplished the classic food truck goal of providing convenient, familiar cuisine with a unique and flavorful twist. Its chicken panini, for instance, featured goat cheese and apple slices, which is a change of pace from the basil-heavy nature of other classic paninis. The truck also offered reasonably cheap snacks such as bruschetta.
As previously stated, the experience of the festival as a whole was different for each person in that it required diverse investments of time, knowledge and resources (money). However, the prices made it difficult to try more than a few full-sized plates (although some trucks offered small $2 sample options). Despite the event's website saying the trucks "tried to keep their prices low" knowing visitors spent at least $12 on general admission alone (unless they vouched for the $50 VIP option), most of the trucks were still exceptionally overpriced. One exception was the Chobani truck, which offered free full-sized samples of its Greek yogurt mixes.
The festival also featured live music, contests and live cooking demonstrations.
As a whole, Street Eats was a quality family-friendly event, and the bustling crowds certainly attested to both the successful marketing and execution of the festival. With a few changes in pricing and truck offerings, this event could be made even better.
For now, check out the list of trucks that were featured in the festival and try to hunt them down for yourself.
Reach the reporter at celina.jimenez@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @lina_lauren.
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