The minds behind LA Street Food Fest learned a lot from their first event in February. They fixed a ton of the problems and threw a fun, successful event at the Rose Bowl today.
Los Angelenos obviously can’t get enough street food. 5,000 tickets were sold, and those who paid extra for VIP were rewarded.
I knocked out 20 restaurants/trucks before 5pm. By 6:30 the field was full.
The best two dishes of the day were Starry Kitchen’s tofu balls (and their pandan flan was superb as well) and Mariscos Jalisco Truck‘s shrimp tacos. Both had perfect crispy outer layers.
The worst two dishes were Monsieur Egg’s raw steak sandwich (after way too long of a wait) and Taqueria Escuela’s salty taco in a mushy tortilla.
The weather was perfect, the crowd was happy and this little guy was prepping for a career as a UCLA running back.
I want to mention Dry Soda, as I tried it at Galco’s recently (cucumber, lemongrass), and again today (rhubarb, juniper berry) at the event. They are the perfect level of sweet (14g of sugar), and the big soda companies should take note. This is the direction you should be taking your soda- away from the 40g of sugar, diabetes-inducing poison America is addicted to.
I also hung out with a bunch of bloggers, one in particular that you should check out- The Chocolate of Meats. (That’s him in the picture).
Considering how well LA Street Food Fest has progressed in the five short months since its inception, I anticipate great things in the future. This was a fantastic one-stop marathon.
July 26, 2010 at 10:50 am
I respectfully disagree. Sure, I got there at VIP time and knocked out maybe 15 trucks- but if you got there at normal time you’d probably only get maybe 3 or 4 with all the standing in line.
I don’t see how that is fixing the issues they had last time.
July 26, 2010 at 10:56 am
It was made very clear that 5k people would be attending and there were 60 food vendors- mathematically that means an average of about 70-80 people in line at each restaurant during peak hours. General admission ticket holders knew that. They shouldn’t have been surprised when the lines were that long.
July 26, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I was a GA ticket holder and was smart enough to get there early. Lines moved fast, lots to see. I had a blast and would definitely go again. I was there with 3 other people. We laid down our blanket first thing and split up. Between the four of us we were able to grab food from many vendors and share.
July 26, 2010 at 8:39 pm
It was a great time! The first hour did make a big difference. Thanks for the mention – You were a great partner in crime, FM. I finally got my review up as well!
July 26, 2010 at 8:53 pm
I got my ticket from a friend as a surprise gift for my birthday, so I didn’t actually know that there would be 5K attendees until the day of the event. Even though I had a GA ticket, I was still able to make it to about 15 vendors (and we were a little late,) so all in all, not so bad.
July 26, 2010 at 8:55 pm
loads of food and foodies….gotta be strategic…find the short lines first; long lines give your tummy a break later (when you need it!) i heard of someone who systematically went one side and then the other. more power to them! won’t miss next year’s!
July 27, 2010 at 1:52 pm
It was a true Food Marathon indeed! If you’re there to eat and try as many things as possible, then it really is a sport. Our team of 3 did relays and shared. It was very appropriate to have at the Rose Bowl. I thought the early VIP start was definitely key, if you’re there to eat everything…
July 27, 2010 at 5:55 pm
what?!?!??!? I must have missed the pandan flan
very upset. Agreed on Monsieur Egg. Looked promising but under seasoned
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