EVENT PREVIEW
Atlanta Street Food Festival. Noon-8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets available at the festival and online at atlantastreetfoodfestival.com. Tickets in advance include a discount wristband good for $1 off each menu item over $6. $10.50, adult pass; $25, four adult passes at the group rate; free, children under 12. Piedmont Park, 400 Park Drive NE, Atlanta.
In its third year, the Atlanta Street Food Festival returns to Piedmont Park on Saturday with a lineup of more than 40 food trucks.
While food trucks are a way of life in countries around the world, and a roaming culinary phenomenon in cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Atlanta was slower to embrace the trend, as regulations and permitting issues hampered startups.
But the popularity of the Atlanta Food Truck Park, which opened on Howell Mill Road in 2012, and enthusiastic crowds at the Atlanta Street Food Festival, with a United Nations of colorful, flavorful dishes on offer, are signs that things have changed in a big way.
Masala Fresh chef/co-owner Pratik Jani, who has a background in hotels, restaurants and clubs, has been in the food truck business in Atlanta since 2012.
“We’re actually from East Africa and West India,” Jani says. “Street food originates in Asia and on that side of the world. I always wanted to see our food at places here, so I decided to go for it and show the community what Indian food has to offer in a casual way.”
Jani especially likes driving his truck to festivals like the one in Piedmont Park.
“The goal behind our truck was to take it to music and art and community festivals,” Jani says. “But when the community embraces us and throws a festival just for us, and the food trucks are front and center in the nicest park in Atlanta, that’s a rewarding feeling. It says the trucks are here to stay.”
Brett Eanes is a California Culinary Academy grad who started a catering business before jumping in with his wild style, burgers-and-fries Mix’d Up food truck, which he dubbed “A Rockin’ Experience.”
This will be Eanes’ third time at the Atlanta Street Food Festival, and he expects the crowds to be bigger and the trucks to be busier than ever.
“It’s gonna be nuts,” Eanes says. “It’s an opportunity to have all of us in one place for a day. Usually we’re spread around so far and so often that it’s hard to find us unless you really follow us and know where we’re going.
“I’m getting messages on Facebook from people who say they cannot wait to try the truck. It will be hundreds of people in line nonstop the whole day. But we’re ready for it. We are the rockin’ burger truck. We make everything fresh to order on the spot, and we just ask people to be patient and have fun.”
Some proceeds from the event will go to the Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide crisis grants to members of Atlanta’s restaurant community facing unanticipated hardship.
The Atlanta Street Food Festival will feature shopping, rides for children and adults, and music from local bands, including Gritz & Jelly Butter, Latrese Bush, Southland Romeo, Bird City Revolutionaries, Jerry on the Moon, and Secondhand Swagger.
But the heart of the festival can be found in the rows of food trucks lined up around the park. Here are five to follow on Facebook and Twitter:
Bar Meatball
The recently opened casual Virginia-Highland Italian restaurant Bar Meatball now has a food truck of the same name offering a menu of meatball sliders with fries and pasta topped with meatballs. Choose a meatball from the menu, like classic beef, arancini (rice balls) or chicken and rosemary, then add a sauce like tomato, mushroom gravy, or pesto. Look for spumoni ice cream sandwiches scooped to order or Zeppole Joey’s “bag-o-donuts.”
Facebook: facebook.com/Barmeatball. Twitter: @barmeatball.
Bento Bus
The Bento Bus focuses on bringing healthy, locally sourced, organic Japanese cuisine to the streets of Atlanta, while providing customers with eco-friendly wares and utensils. That means sushi burritos and tacos, lotus chips, edamame, and even more creative cross-cultural takes like Asian nachos with fried wonton chips and a choice of chicken, steak or tofu, plus lettuce, roasted corn, green onions, pico, queso, and sweet chili sauce.
Facebook: facebook.com/BentoBus. Twitter: @BentoBusATL.
Masala Fresh
Masala Fresh brings traditional Indian food to the streets with casual takes on classic dishes like palak paneer, chicken tikka masala, and lamb masala, served in a rice bowl or wrapped in naan bread and sauced up with the likes of cucumber cool raita or Kenyan-inspired salsa. Smaller bites include samosas and papdi chaat and more unusual dishes such as loaded masala fries and Indian-spiced lamb or chicken sliders.
Facebook: facebook.com/MasalaFresh. Twitter: @MasalaFresh.
Mix’d Up
Mix’d Up now has a brick-and-mortar location with a drive-thru near Grant Park. But on the truck, you’ll still find rockin’ burgers and fries. Favorites include the lamb burger with tzatziki, spinach, tomatoes and feta cheese on ciabatta, and a blended chorizo-beef burger with shredded cheese, pico de gallo and avocado puree. And look for fries loaded up with chili and cheese or the likes of pulled pork and barbecue sauce.
Facebook: facebook.com/mixdupfoodtruck. Twitter: @CuzineChefs.
Viet-Nomie’s
Think a Southern twist on classic Vietnamese dishes and Asian comfort food. Beyond its cafe on Buford Highway, Viet-Nomie’s delivers traditional pho noodle soup, tofu or five spice roast pork banh mi sandwiches on French bread, soft summer rolls and deep-fried “Jazzi Rolls” and noodle boats. There’s also lemongrass chili chicken served with jasmine rice, and sometimes specials like Vietnamese shaking beef.
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Viet-Nomies-Gourmet-Food-Truck-Cafe/303820012999510. Twitter: @VietNomies.
