World’s Largest Food Truck Rally

So typically, the only “rallies” I have ever been to involved cheering on your favorite sports team and watching the cheerleading team perform their latest routine (High School Throwback). Well, this weekend, our friend Carlos Eats and friends put together the CRAZIEST food truck rally OF ALL TIME!

Months in the making, the goal of this foodie event was to beat the 62 truck record that was held in April down in Miami. As more and more trucks jumped on the band wagon, organizers knew they had a really strong shot at making this dream a reality. Once the group of trucks was assembled, our bud, Stefan (owner of Tropiccool), chauffeured our very own, Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the rooftop of his double-decker bus to the Florida State Fairgrounds for the event. To read more about Stefan, check out our previous post.

As we made our way into the park, I immediately spotted our all-time favorite Jersey mom, Tasty Stacy. Her food truck is stamped with her signature, pink kisses and if you’ve never had her food, you must give it a try ASAP! It’s as if she wraps each of her dishes with a kiss straight from your mom (no matter where yours may be). Her italian style home cooking is like nothing we have ever had here in Tampa and we can ALWAYS find room for some Tasty Stacy action no matter how full our stomachs are. As we peeked in the window to say hello, the smiles flew across everyone’s faces and her famous cookies came our way! BEST COOKIES EVER! You have to try some.

We continued our surveying of the event and there were trucks upon trucks lined up all around. We eventually passed the Tropiccool bus, where we all agreed we would return before day’s end for a refreshing pop. We eventually decided on El Cactus Azul, a mexican truck. While Allison and Rob waited in line, Ryan and I grabbed some brews and then I went off on a witch hunt to find Bem Bom. Bem Bom is a Portuguese food truck from Orlando that had come HIGHLY recommended from our friends, Carlos Eats and FoodTune Blair.

We ended up ordering  a Loco and a ground beef quesadilla from the mexican truck (which were AWESOME) and from Bem Bom, I ordered the Braised Pork Prego. Although it was a million and one degrees outside and the line was a good 25 minutes long, we felt confident in the recommendation and chose to wait anyways. Once the food made it out, it was absolutely delicious. We DEVOURED our Braised Pork Prego and we dabbled in our friends’ Piri- Piri Chicken Prego, Chicken Poblano Quesadilla and “The Bomb”. This is their version of cheese fries. Everything we had was awesome! We hope that we will have another opportunity to eat their food again because everything from their truck was DEFINITELY worth the wait!

As we finished up eating our first round of foods, Allison and Rob snuck off to grab some hummus and chips and a gyro from Byblos Pitas. The hummus was good and chips real crispy. The pita, Rob commented, was delish as well.

Now that we had finished our dinner (and I ate my Tasty Stacy cookie), we made our way back to Tropiccool for a pop. By the time we got back, STEFAN HAD SOLD OUT! AHHHHH we were so bummed that we couldn’t get a treat, however, it was GREAT for the trucks that sold out during the event. After getting a tour of the bus from Stefan, we called it a day on our adventure and began our trek towards the car.

On our way out, we stopped at Gone Bananas, to grab ourselves a frozen, banana treat. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Really? A frozen banana treat?” Well let just say, it was a great, healthy alternative to having an ice cream after all that crazy food eating we had just done. I decided on a strawberry-banana treat with all natural peanut butter and dark chocolate chips. It was just what I needed to relieve my sweet tooth, so I had no trouble finishing every last morsel.

Overall, the event was MORE than a success! Congrats to everyone who participated and everyone who organized the event. We are looking forward to next year’s! Until then….

-Nicholas