Boston's First Annual Food Truck Festival

On Sunday, Boston had its first annual food truck festival at SOWA Open Market.  This event was organized by Citysearch Boston and I was incredibly excited to check it out.  There is a huge movement for food trucks throughout the country and Boston seems to slowly be catching on.  I think this event is a great way for existing food trucks to demonstrate their presence in our city.

Bret and I knew that there were going to be some huge crowds so we were one of the first to arrive at about 9:45 AM.

Some of the food trucks had not yet arrived and others were still setting up.

We were both starving for breakfast so we decided to have the breakfast of champions - Speed's Hot Dogs. 

Bret and I have both been wanting to try Speed's for quite some time so we decided to split one of their hot dogs.  We got one of their enormous all beef hot dogs covered with barbecue sauce, mustard, onions, and house relish on a toasted bun.  These things were huge and half of one hot dog was the size of your average grocery store hot dog!

Wow, Speed's lives up to its reputation and we were glad to have tried it before the lines got ridiculous later in the day.

After such a crazy breakfast, we decided to browse around.  I got to meet Cyndi of the Best Damn Granola. 

We tried a few different varieties but ended up purchasing the "Mac Daddy", which contains organic apples, cranberries, walnuts and 100% pure maple syrup spiced with crystallized ginger.  I love that BDG uses local ingredients and I can't wait to have some of this granola for breakfast with my cottage cheese!

We wandered around the SOWA Open Market and Bret purchased a really cool refurbished cigar box.

Then we headed back to the food trucks so that Bret could indulge in some ribs from Big Moe's M&M Ribs.  

After Bret purchased his ribs, we heard my name being called and were happy to find that it was Lara (of Good Cook Doris) and her hubby!  They had purchased a sandwich from Big Moe's and we all sat together to eat and chat.  I actually didn't taste any of the ribs as I was still pretty stuffed from my Speed's Dog.  Bret chowed down and his verdict was that the ribs were good but not great.  It was slathered in sauce but didn't have that nice barbecue crispy texture on the outside.

After eating, Lara and I headed over to Food Truck Nation, where we spoke to Todd, one of its proprietors.  Neither Lara nor I had heard about Food Truck Nation and we were both very curious.  I found that this is a fantastic business that is working to not only open up their own food trucks but to also assist restaurants to operate their own.  It is an interesting concept and I think they will be a huge part of the food truck movement in the city!  Rachel Klein of the Boston Seaport Hotel was still setting up when we chatted with Todd but during the meantime, Food Truck Nation was giving out free cones of caramel and chili popcorn.  These were seriously addictive!

Afterwards, Lara and I parted ways to wander around on our own.  I finally got to meet the bubbly Lauren from Pestos with Panache and her wonderful parents! I sampled quite a few of the interesting pesto combinations and ended up purchasing two kinds - Fabulous Fig and Gorgonzola and the Pumpkin Chipotle.  You guys know me - I can't resist anything pumpkin!  I failed to get a picture of her booth but I did get a great photo of my favorite pickles - Grillo's Pickle Cart!

Bret and I walked around with them a bit as we browsed the vintage market at SOWA but with the heat, Lauren's parents graciously let us store the pesto in their coolers until we were leaving.  This was especially a good idea since we ended up in a very long line for Fillbelly's, which arrived late to the festival. 

The line was brutal but I really wanted to try them out since I had heard such great things about them.  Luckily, I got to pass the time with Rob and Laura of the Two Palaverers who were right behind me in line!  Eventually Rob and Laura gave up on the line but Bret and I soldiered on.  When Cupcakory showed up, Bret went to their line and brought back two complimentary mini cupcakes - one was a coconut mix and the other was a raspberry pistachio.  These tasty little treats were welcome relief in the hour-long line.

Finally we put in our order and one for my friend Justin and his wife Leah.  Once the order was in, our food was prepared quickly.  Bret and I decided to split the fried chicken (they ran out of waffles), a chicken bosilito (home-style empanada) and their mac and soul casserole (mac and cheese with shredded sweet potato and collard greens. 

Was it worth the wait?  I'd have to say no.  Don't get me wrong - the food was good but in my mind, very few things are worth an hour plus long wait.  The chicken was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside but lacked a lot of seasoning, especially salt.  The  bosilito was absolutely delightful and I would definitely order it again.  I liked the mac and soul casserole but it was a bit on the cold side. 

I'm sure a lot of people will complain about the lines at the Food Truck Festival but I'd call it a success for the inaugural event.  There were over a thousand people there and less than a dozen food trucks.  Hopefully next year we'll have more trucks that are better prepared, which will definitely help the situation.  For me, I was happy to get my street food fill and couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

Did you go to Boston's first annual Food Truck Festival?  If so, what did you think?