FOOD TRUCK FRENZY, LENEXA: EATING OUT

Who doesn't love fairs or food fests. I know I do. So when my friend Amanda had mentioned on social media that she would be attending a food fest, I went ahead to check what the event was all about. The social media page dedicated to the event was pretty descriptive and it clearly made it easier for me to decide that my weekend plans were made. I passed on the info to my Foodie friends all of whom said Yes. We were all set.

The Food Truck Frenzy - Spring 2015 was organized in conjunction with the ground breaking ceremony of the Lenexa City Center.  There was to be a follow up of the event in October. There were 12 Food Trucks which were parked on a long stretch : 

BEAUTY OF THE BISTRO

THE FUNNEL CAKE TRUCK

KC BBQ TRUCK

SAVANNA SWEETS

CAJUN CABIN

PLANTAIN DISTRICT

JAZZY B'S

MONK'S ROAST BEEF

INDIO'S CARBONSITOS

WILMA'S REAL GOOD FOOD

SWEET CAROLINE'S ICE BOX

STREET WINGS

The lines in front of every truck seemed like big serpents crawling across Lenexa. It was confusing even to understand at first which line was leading to which truck. I had made up my mind, that upon arrival the first thing I would do, was to pick up a fancy cocktail or at least a beer for me and the man, while we browsed over the menus. That didn't quite happen. There was only one alcohol vendor and the line was crazy. The crowd made it seem like a major huge chunk of KC Metro had descended over there. The Food Trucks were trying their best to cater to the huge lines of hungry people, but clearly they were outnumbered. The number of people versus the number of trucks at the event was clearly disproportionate. so the average wait time at every truck was around 1 hour. Pretty bad, as the event was only one from 5 to 9 pm. 

There were tents after every two trucks,which had been equipped with chairs and tables. I ventured around a bit,as the man stood in a line. Most of our friends divided themselves among lines for different trucks. I had the toddler with me, so my movements were pretty restricted. We settled down in the tent close to the truck selling Cuban sandwiches (so most of our pictures are centered round there). 

By the time, we had access to the food, we were all too hungry to wait for me to take decent pics of each. Midway during our meal ,I decided to have a go at taking some food pics. It was a food fest after all,and we had waited enough. 

Fries with Poutine,  Jambalaya from CAJUN CABIN, Cheese Burger from BEAUTY OF THE BISTRO(I had wanted a Banh Mii, but they were sold out), Strawberry Smoothie, Chicken Wings from STREET WINGS, Funnel Cake from THE FUNNEL CAKE TRUCK: We had an eclectic mix of food laid out in front of the make shift table of ours.

 But what blew my brains away and knocked my socks off, was surely the CUBAN SANDWICH from PLANTAIN DISTRICT. That is one Food truck I am surely gonna track in KC. It almost took me back to Little Havana in Miami. Perfection in very bite. I could eat that for breakfast,lunch and dinner. 

The CAJUN WINGS from STREET WINGS were my second favorite. They had the right amount of spice and had  great crispy crust. The meat inside was very juicy and it had me reaching out for more. 

Overall it was an enjoyable evening with friends. The kids had a great time, running around. And although the wait was pretty bad, it was a new experience for us. We learnt of the challenges of going  to fairs and fests with toddlers.The lines and the wait and then the street food, somehow reminded me of the Frenzy we experience in my hometown Kolkata(India) during our major festival, Durga Puja. During Durga Puja, there are pandals housing the images of the Goddess across the city. And near every Pandal, come up a bevy of street food joints.

There is supposed to be a second chapter of this Food Fest in Fall,which will be featuring some new Food Trucks. My two cents to the organizers is that, next time, make sure there are more trucks to the event,which would reduce the wait time for each truck. Maybe even extend the operational hours. We had friends who had to leave despite standing in line, and not getting any food. Please can we have more than one Alcohol Vendor ,so that we don't have to take a pick whether we want to grab a drink with our food, or just run for our food.