Manayunk holds annual food truck festival.
Despite unseasonably cold and rainy weather, Main Street Manayunk was packed on the afternoon of April 15, when patrons flocked downtown for the Manayunk StrEAT Food Festival.
The festival, which takes place twice a year, welcomed more than 50 local food trucks and gourmet vendors for visitors to enjoy.
I braved the inclement weather to attend my first StrEAT Festival, and took my roommate along for the ride. Neither of us had been to the festival before, but both had an idea of what yummy foods to expect thanks to Instagram posts from previous StrEAT fests.
Walking down the closed-off Main Street, we were surrounded by colorful trucks with clever names, like the meatball truck called Mama’s Balls, the Oink and Moo BBQ truck or the bubblegum-pink banana whip truck called the Chilly Banana.
People of all ages, donning rain coats and parkas, walked past holding corn cobs and pulled pork sandwiches, gourmet grilled cheese and “Spurritos,” spring roll burritos. We got food envy immediately, and couldn’t wait to try as many things as possible.
After walking from one end of Main Street to the other, admiring many cute dogs and listening to the live music, it was time for my roommate and I to make the decision of what we should please our taste buds with first.
One truck serving mini crab cake sliders caught our eye, and after dousing them in sriracha, we each dug into the bite-sized goodness. They tasted like summer days at the beach, wrapped up in a perfectly soft potato bread roll.
After that, I couldn’t help but be drawn back to the Mama’s Balls truck, both for the humorous name and the promise of home-cooked Italian meatballs.
The truck offered multiple options, but I went with the original Mama’s Meatballs and received one perfect meatball with sauce and cheese placed inside a miniature roll of bread. One bite took me to my Mom-mom’s house for Sunday dinner.
My roommate passed on the meatballs, because she was in the mood for a good authentic taco.
We walked toward one of the many taco vendors and she ordered a chicken taco with all the fixings. She was not disappointed, and said it was one of the best, most flavorful tacos she’s had in a long time.
After browsing some more and receiving some free giveaways, the freezing rain began to pound, cutting short our day at the festival. We couldn’t leave until we had some dessert, though.
We saw a long line had formed at the green Olde World Cannoli truck, and long lines usually mean good food, so we headed over to where the sweet scent of cannolis lured us in. The truck boasted unique cannoli fillings like Red Raspberry Chocolate Moscato and Pineapple Cheesecake. There was also a hometown connection, since the truck came from my small town in New Jersey.
We waited approximately 10 minutes and ordered the traditional cannolis with chocolate chip filling and ate them on the car ride home. It was a sweet ending to a delicious day.
Despite the poor weather, overall the StrEAT festival was a can’t-miss event.
