The day didn't start off the best with the poor organization of this festival. VIP ticket holders had the benefit of beginning one hour earlier at 11 a.m., which I'm sure most attendees were aware of and could appreciate. The general ticket holders, however, were not warned that though they stood in line for close to an hour or more, they would be turned away at the check-in table. It would have made more sense to have the volunteer line-runners inform those general ticket holders versus allowing them to get to the front of the line only to be turned away. It was quite bizarre!
Several aggravated, overheated patrons, myself included. voiced their frustrations to no avail. The volunteers at the check-in table informed us that the phone apps would not allow them to check in general admission tickets until noon. We were all very frustrated and I hope the next event runs more smoothly.
Once checked in,we received a ticket book. Each ticket had a single number which corresponded with a number displayed on each truck. Unfortunately, only one item could be ordered per truck and trucks were not allowed to sell additional items for cash. A few of the ticket books were missing numbers 2 through10 due to a printing error. This led to a problem ordering from trucks with the corresponding tickets as they were leery of accepting the extra tickets (as the "Foodie Official" volunteers advised patrons) for fear that they would not get paid for tickets with the wrong number. Here is another instance of the festival folks apparent inability to communicate effectively.
I tried a number of items, but with the lines becoming outrageously long (not surprisingly so), I could not make it to each truck. I definitely recommend purchasing a VIP ticket which were sold out on Travelzoo when we purchased our general admission tickets months ago.
Del's Frozen Lemonade was much needed after waiting in the line for over an hour. I was peering over at the truck for the entire wait so I dashed over there first chance I got!
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| Thai Basil Wings. They were bland and unappealing. |
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| Away Cafe's dumpling...with peas & carrots??? I was SO confused! |
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| Delicious chipotle & wasabi coleslaw topped with Maine Lobster claw meat |
I washed the lobster coleslaw with a cold blueberry soda!
The Chubby Chickpea made great falafel with a spicy hummus!
The pork sandwich at Mei Mei Truck was fantastic as expected. They never disappoint! Served on a flavorful scallion pancakes, it was topped with homemade cranberry sauce which cut the richness as did the brie!
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| The Green Monster Ball by Mei Mei |
The pulled pork sandwich from the Dining Car was a huge disappointment. It lacked flavor and the sauce was watery.
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| Pulled pork sandwich |
However, their signature crispy cauliflower was awesome! It was drizzled with curry aioli! They also served a great, refreshing rosemary lemonade.
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| Crispy cauliflower |
Go Fish! Brother Trucker served a good chowder but the highlight was the seafood fritters! The spicy (horseradish?) was phenomenal!
Though I've tried it before, I had to get a bacon grilled cheese sandwich from Grilled Cheese Nation! Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to stand in the Roxy's line, but GCN got the job done!
After the terribly rocky start, I'd say the festival went well. I can only hope that they become more organized and work on their communication with customers in the future.
