Street Food Artistry on Sunday August 14, 2011

[dautcalm]

I bought my ticket, not entirely sure what to expect. Anybody else going??

http://www.streetfoodartistrychicago....

S T R E E T F O O D A R T I S T R Y

is an inaugural festival celebrating the tapestry of street food and art in Chicago. Join us as we spotlight cuisine from Chicago’s eclectic street food scene:

Pop-up restaurants. Street-inspired dishes. Gourmet food trucks. Old school carts.

[Bada Bing]

Rather than start a new, somewhat competing, thread, I'll say here that I've heard Chicago was a city not very friendly (bureaucratically) to food trucks. Has that changed?

The answer is very material to me just now: I live an hour or so away from Chicago, and only get in there once or twice a year for a day trip. But this coming week I'm spending four days there at the Hyatt, with family who are flying in from the West Coast. I'm trying to keep an eye out for good eats that won't take too much time away from the touristy roaming that my family is likely to prioritize.

Is there an area of town where food trucks gather? Is there a centralized information source for what's most Chowish in that scene?

[nsxtasy]

>> Rather than start a new, somewhat competing, thread

Why not? Food trucks seem to be an entirely different topic from the event mentioned above. If someone were searching on Chowhound for a topic about food trucks, they probably wouldn't click on the title of this topic.

>> I'll say here that I've heard Chicago was a city not very friendly (bureaucratically) to food trucks. Has that changed?

Yes. Until last year, food trucks were illegal. They are now permitted. There aren't a lot, but they exist.

>> Is there an area of town where food trucks gather? Is there a centralized information source for what's most Chowish in that scene?

This article lists where they go and what they have, and has links to their twitter feeds: www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/J...

[Siun]

Food trucks are not allowed to cook on the truck so the offerings are limited and often not as since they need to be held for several hours before serving.

It's the only aspect of Chi food that is really disappointing.

[Bada Bing]

Thanks, Siun and nsxtasy.

That's really a considerable problem that no cooking is allowed in the trucks. Leaves the field mostly to sweet treats and pastries, which I rarely find especially interesting.

[nsxtasy]

Gaztrowagon, Meatyballs, and Simple Sandwich sell far more than baked goods. Same for Hummingbird, which is in Evanston where cooking on the truck is allowed. Did you look at all seven pages of the Chicago magazine article?

[Bada Bing]

Yes, I did look through the pages, but perhaps too quickly. The first three pages being Evanston and then two sweets stations, I was probably skimming quickly by page 4. I do recall seeing the Meaty Balls place profiled on TV. For that and the others, I'll keep an eye out to see if they happen to be where we happen to be on a given day. Thanks!