5 tips for slaying the Food Truck Frenzy at the Cherry Blossom Festival
The Food Truck Frenzy has become one of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s most intriguing attractions. Food sells. Especially when it’s good and a little edgy. Food trucks have ridden a popularity wave of gastronomical proportions, and the event that brings these meals on wheels to Third Street (beside the federal courthouse) this weekend has become a local hit that hits the spot. It is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
1. Go hungry
This almost goes without saying, but when it comes to food served out of a truck — or more likely a van — you best have some horsepower behind your appetite. When it’s time to chow down, you need to be on your game.
2. Go with friends
It’s easier to try a variety of goodies when you can share with others. (You can try hitting up a stranger for a free bite, but we wouldn’t advise it. Besides, that might be weird.)
3. Try something new
The idea is to dig into something you don’t get to eat every day. And the Frenzy has plenty of that. Find the bright-yellow van with the mouthful of a name (Brooke Lynn’s Own Sticks & Cones — yeah, they’re ex-New Yorkers) and order the Brooklyn Chicken-N-Waffle, which comes, of course, ON A STICK. It is also tossed in Fruity Pebbles cereal.
4. Eat early — and often
The lines can get long. Last year, a truck selling lobster rolls had a line more than an hour long. This year’s offerings may not be so exotic, but at meal times the place becomes a grub hub. So be prepared to wait.
5. For dessert: Watch people
Watching people eat in public — and eat things they aren’t really sure how to eat — is a spectator sport unto itself. So don’t be surprised if you catch someone staring at you gulping down a monster hotdog.
Joe Kovac Jr.: 478-744-4397, @joekovacjr
This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 11:58 AM with the headline "5 tips for slaying the Food Truck Frenzy at the Cherry Blossom Festival."