Moveable Feast

Moveable Feast: Wait, off the grid, just listen!
Off the Grid: No! Do you know what everyone says about you behind your back? Hmm? They say that you’re a homeschooled jungle freak, that’s a less hot version of me!
–mean girls
haha sorry, I was just watching Mean Girls and Moveable Feast reminded me of just that.
MF was just a smaller version of OTG. They had less trucks meaning less food. I’d say there was around 6 when I went. But it really depends what trucks are there that makes it or breaks it. It’s honestly not as great as OTG, but the thing that is cool about MF is that they have a farmer’s market there too. Accompanied by upbeat music, MF can be enjoyable with friends to hang, eat, and experience different cultures of food. The most memorable food trucks were of course KoJa Kitchen and Curry Up now. I believe that MF is there from 4:30 — 8:30pm on Wednesdays, and correct me if I’m wrong.
Parking is amazing. they have a HUGE lot and its FREE! I dont know why some Unilocalers had to pay for parking, but maybe I came around 7:30pm and they stopped the fees? I dont know.
If you dislike the ultra long lines and extreme crowds at OTG, MF will do just fine.

I have been to the San Mateo Moveable Feast over 5 times. There are some likes and dislikes. Here is my breakdown…
The assortment of food trucks is a LIKE. There were between 15 – 20 trucks during my visits. The lines get long so come early and bring friends. Do a quick look around to see who is there or do your homework before hand. The MVBL Feast website is good about updating the truck lists. Figure out which trucks and items you want. Break up into teams and get the assortment of food.
There are benches, tables, and lots of open areas to sit. This a big LIKE since I bring my own chairs to sit in. I also bring a blanket for member in my party who did not bring chairs.
BIG LIKE, since I am crazy dog lady! Dogs are allowed into the fairgrounds for the event. I saw many many dogs. I always bring Chewy with me to food truck events. We sit and eat on the ground outside so why can’t dog come.
My DISLIKE is the $ 10 or $ 15 parking. Yes, there are a variety of prices unfortunately. I was charged $ 15 once. Regardless of the prices, we SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR PARKING. This is the biggest turn off and will probably keep me from venturing back to event in the future. I would rather pay $ 10 for a Ninja banh mi than to park my car. (Shot out to O Mi Ninja!)
My last DISLIKE is the loud music. I liked the variety of music. MVLB Feast might want to rethink the volume when the sound is so loud and the attendant in the truck cannot hear my order. I was shouting it into the window too just like everyone else. Please lower the volume for all MVBL events. Thanks!
Check out my Unilocal list for more dog-​centric spots,

Keep in mind I went to the first ever movable eats in San Mateo, so maybe they’ve improved things somewhat.
The food I got was good, but the wait times and line management were awful (many many people got confused which line was for which truck). It was extremely crowded and hot. It was great to have such a big selection of trucks, but the hours of discomfort wasn’t worth it.

Good eats on the street! That’s the best way to describe the San Mateo Moveable Feast. It was my first time there, so we were all about trying to try as many things are we could from as many trucks as we could. We were able to find street parking nearby and that was a plus! (We spent the $ 10 parking money on even more food!)
They had 21 trucks there total (we actually counted.) We probably had something off of about 5 – 6 trucks, so we’ll definitely be going back soon. The setup was nice, there were picnic tables setup all around and many people brought their own picnic chairs/​blankets and sat in the grass area in between the trucks.
We got there at about 7 PM and had plenty of time to munch our way through the various trucks. If you want the best selection you should definitely try to get there earlier, we noticed a few of the trucks were running out of certain dishes/​items towards the end of the night.
My favorites (of the ones we tried): Toasty Melts, Tikka Bytes, and Treatbot!
We’ll be going back again soon, to sample all of the other trucks we didn’t get to this time around.

Yup, I was there on that hot ass night of July 1. It was hot and the lines were long. The lines were so long that I ended up getting a falafel sandwich from the unknown stand on the side because I was starving and was not in the mood to wait for the other known food trucks.
I will say though that I stood in line for Kara’s since it was short and I went balls out and got one of each flavor. Oh. Yes. Kara’s Cupcakes, I heart thee.
I wasn’t feeling the set-​up of the line of tables in the middle of the grassy area. I think they should have split up the tables. The main grassy area was filled with people so we ended up walking around the side where it was much quieter with less people and we got shade from a nice tree.
I understand it was the first night, but I think it could have been better organized. They should have had people monitoring the lines at least. Hopefully August event will be much better.

From hearsay about past experiences with food truck events of this caliber (i.e. SJ Eats), the first event will always be the subject of trial and error. Yes, people will come here several hours after it starts and expect to get what they want, only to be disappointed that the lines are so long. As highly suggested as early arrival is, not everyone’s schedules can be accommodated. Also, seeing as this is the first event of its kind to be held in San Mateo, crowds were most definitely expected. Luckily for me, I did arrive early and had already planned out which truck I wanted to go to. I only had one place in mind because I had already tried majority of the trucks there during other events.
Don’t expect to get your fill of the different vendors if you attend by yourself. This calls for a group effort. I’ve already mentioned in my OtG reviews that splitting up and going to different trucks will prove useful and (hopefully) time saving, and bring cash. As for parking, $ 10 will get you a spot closer to the event, but there’s a good amount of off site parking that can be utilized as well. They can definitely use up more of the space for next month’s event. If they can hold the County Fair here, they ought to be able to take advantage of it.
The indoor apparel vendors were nice. Although, I kind of wish there were more parts of the area represented besides the South Bay.
There’s plenty of room for improvement with this. Hoping to see some made when the next one rolls around.

Yummy!!!
More trucks at the Moveable Feast than at Off the Grid in SF.
If you got there early lines were not unbearable and there was plenty of food to go around.
The $ 10 parking really sucked!!!
I will be back next month!!!

I attended the grand opening of this event with my sis and bro in law. We parked near a residential area to avoid the $ 10 parking fee. Plus, if we ate a lot we would just walk it off. When we arrived here it was very much alive. The fairgrounds was a good idea for this event but, there were only a few flaws for this event.
The lines were commingling with other food trucks. I found myself asking people what truck they were lined up for. The choices for the dining area were either a table or and open area on the grass. Both choices were out of the question. You would be considered lucky if you did find a place on the grass or table. I just feared for the people sitting on the grass of getting stepped on.
Other than that the truck variety was very diverse. You may want to get to this event early before the trucks run out of food.

I hope they get things sorted out soon, because I thought the first showing of Moveable Feast was a complete and total mess. I appreciate the efforts by the vendors, but I’m pretty sure the folks who organized the event didn’t tell the vendors what to expect.
There’s very little seating anywhere on the fair grounds. Sure, there’s grass. But for a food event a table would be nice.
The lines were also a horrible wreck. How about some organization like events in SJC? It was spaghetti all over the place. The lines were stupidly long as well. It’s not worth it given the cost and size of some of those portions. The whole point of these type of events is being able to sample. If I’m in a line for an hour, I doubt if I’ll get my ass to another truck.
Will I be back? Probably not. There are plenty of other food truck opportunities with way less headaches than this event.

I like the idea that folks are bringing the Off the Grid to San Mateo! You can beat the weather! On the first day the weather was perfect! I think because there was so much antipation, it was super crowded. However, I liked the fact they had clothing and vendors with stuff for sale inside one of the exhibit halls! So that was cool I liked that part. I wanted to check out Kara’s cupcakes but by the time I was done looking at clothes they had already sold out. People I knew left because they lines were way to long. And $ 10 for parking sucks too. So I can’t give the full 5 stars I wanted to, but it’s always fun to experience new things. maybe next time.

Last Thursday, San Mateo brought in thousands of people into the Event Center for food trucks galore and entertainment. My first reaction was: Wow, this is more people than Off the Grid in SF! First of all, it might be because Off the Grid has been around already and this event is new with new trucks from this South/​East side of the Bay. Second, the South/​East Bay has been waiting for something closer!
Man, is this only in America? An attraction is a bunch of food trucks where people wait 1 hour for food… and where other people must try something from each truck and have to unbutton their pants and/​or muffin top it???
Anyway, I like this location. It’s big enough and great on a nice day. The Mobile Feast offered tons of trucks unfamiliar to SF and some familiar. Some trucks there were: Curry Up Now, Armadillo Willy’s, Babaloo, Cabana Daves, Hiya Roll, Iz It, Karas Cupcakes, Mamas Empanadas, MoGo BBQ, Treatbot and much more.
The atmosphere is lovely, with tons of people with the same mission as you as well as live bands playing in the background. Parking in the center costs $ 10 (heck no! that’s a whole meal!) but I went just a 3 minute walk away to the residential area. Saved money + lost 2 calories before I gained 500 more. I’m not sure if the amount of people will die down, but there’s not much sitting area so bring a blanket or some chairs and relax on the lawn!
Why wait ’till Thanksgiving for a feast?

I give the Moveable Feast folks 5 stars for bringing this event to San Mateo.
I give the participating vendors 5 stars just for being there serving up their deliciousness.
I give the San Mateo Events Center 1 star for charging $ 10 for parking which is effing ridiculous, but at the same time, they do that for all events anyway. Way better to park close by: residential areas, caltrain, etc, and walk 5 – 10 minutes for free.
I give the Moveable feast folks 1 star for set up. I mean, the events center is a big place and they could’ve had the trucks a little spread out more because it just got so packed with people and it was hard to figure out what line started for each of the trucks.
Luckily, I was able to get there early enough to be able to get what I wanted to eat before it got über busy.
Because of the huge turnout, the event will be held every first friday of the month for the rest of the summer which is great and hopefully it’ll be a little more organized and less chaotic. I kinda felt bad for the people that showed up later because alot of the trucks ran out of food.
I’ll be back! Definitely better than going all the way into the city.

While I normally go to Off the Grid for all my food truck cravings, I couldn’t resist on checking out the Moveable Feast in San Mateo since this is their first food truck event. After gathering up a few of my friends, we all carpooled down there to go check it out. First thing we noticed was that it cost $ 10 to park at the event which was sort of a bummer seeing as it’s free to park at Fort Mason for the Off the Grid event. But with a full car there, the $ 10 cost seemed rather cheap when split 5 ways.
Fearing that this could become very crowded, we arrived at the Event Center around 6 hoping to beat out the lines, but this was a fail as the lines had already begun. First off, we went to Tante’s since it was right by the entrance and there was no line. Ironically enough, this place ended up having my favorite meal of the event, which was a Spicy Corn dog. The batter was simply amazing and the hot dog was perfectly cooked. I will definitely be trying this place again if I go to this event again. Next, we saw crazy lines at this Garlic Noodle truck that looked like it would be an hour wait so we moved towards Cabana Dave’s. The line seemed to be rather long here too so this is where my friends and I split up in order to divide and conquer. My buddy Allen and I went to the shortest line we could find which was Bill’s Hot Dog stand while my other 3 friends stayed behind at Cabana Dave’s. In the end, I think Allen and I made the right choice as we were able to eat our food before our friends even got to order theirs. The hot dogs here felt standard though the chili added to it was delicious. When we went back to meet them, they were still waiting for their food so we decided to go check out the MoGo BBQ truck. This line was also ridiculously long but we wanted to try it. The wait to order took about 45 mins plus another 15 mins of waiting for the food. The burrito was really good here though the wait allowed the hot dogs from earlier to settle in so I was rather full when eating it. While in line at MoGo, our friends finally got their food from Cabana Dave’s so we got to try a bit of it. The food was delicious but considering the wait, it didn’t feel worth it.
Ultimately, that basically sums up the Moveable Feast to me. There were lots of delicious foods to enjoy but the wait just doesn’t seem worth it. Hopefully as the weeks go by, they find a way to service the crowds better so that the lines go by faster. For now, this is a good alternative to OTG for those who don’t live in SF. Gotta love them food trucks!

This was my first Moveable Feast so I was excited to attend. The area in which all the trucks were located was smaller than I expected so it ended up being very crowded and cramped. Lines snacked into the centre of the area which encroached into the picnic/​eating area.
I first tried to find the shortest line which was Curry Up Now though it was arguably still long. Their chicken tikka burrito was absolutely delicious.
We didn’t end up sitting in the centre area but behind the trucks on some grassy area. So note to self the next time — bring a beach towel to sit on.
Anyway, we moved onto Cabana’s Dave for sweet potato fries, jerk pulled pork sliders and a Jamaican jerk chicken wrap. We waited about 45 minutes to an hour just to order. Once that was done, we waited for about another 45 for it. Sweet potato fries were good (nothing too special about them), loved the pulled pork sliders but didn’t taste much of the jerk sauce… tasted more like regular bbq sauce and the Jamaican chicken wrap just tasted like a chicken wrap with plantains added to them. I expected a bit more of a kick but whatever, I was hungry.
Ordered the vanilla pound cake from Butterscotch on the Go which was fantastic! You can really taste the vanilla, see the specks from the vanilla bean and the vanilla cream & strawberries that topped it off were refreshing.
Overall Moveable Feast was fun but the line ups were a turn off. The food itself wasn’t any cheaper than going to a stand alone fast food joint but perhaps that’s an unreasonable expectation that I have?
Next time I go, it’ll have to be right when it opens or not at all as some trucks ran out of food. (Cabana Dave ran out of their tuna wrap before we got to it).

Torn between 2 and 3 stars.
2 stars b/​c the lines were RIDICULOUSLY long and the worse part is that you could stand there for an hour and then get turned away b/​c they ran out of food (which happened to one of my friends). 2 stars b/​c the food was pretty pricey for something that wasn’t anything to write home about. MoBowl pulled pork bowl was ok, Siam truck pad see ew was not good, Mama’s Empanadas were just ok. 2 stars also b/​c a lot of trucks had already run out of food by the time we got there (7:30 — wasn’t this thing suppose to go til 10?).
3 stars b/​c it was still a fun evening with friends. The Siam truck thai taco and roti bouquet was inventive and yummy.
Since I work in Brisbane and get to see most of these trucks without waiting in line for over an hour, I think I’ll have to pass on the next one.
tips: free parking on 25^th and el camino and it’s a really short walk. also bring a picnic blanket so you can just hang out on the grass and not worry about finding a seat on the crowded table/​benches. we also brought our own water.

Wait around 10 min in car line to pay your $ 10 parking fee. Walk in, about another 5 min. Then wait another 40 to 60 min in line for food. Then another line for something to drink. About 5 – 10 min. I forgot that you can’t see what the truck sells because of the crowds and lines that are blocks long. The music was loud and some of performers terrible.
I won’t be back.

San Mateo had its first Moveable Feast (read: food truck + local vendors) event yesterday and while my friend and I had plenty of fun, it was kind of a mixed bag. It makes little sense to review the actual food here as each food truck has their own Unilocal page, so I’m just going to go over the event itself:
First off, it was clear that the organizers didn’t expect such a turnout, which seems silly to me considering that it was the first MF event, it was the start of a three-​day weekend, and it was highly publicized (on the front page of the local paper, among other places). I think they were hoping the early crowd would leave early and make room for the late folk, but they should have realized with all the long lines and eating/​socializing that it would take even the early folk some time to get to everything. My friend and I got there before 18:00 intending to stay ’til 20:00 but we didn’t get out ’til closing.
Also, $ 10 for parking is ridic. I know some Unilocalers think this is a bogus complaint but other food truck fests where the venue is already charging the vendors a fee don’t charge people a de facto entrance fee to spend their money; it runs absolutely counter to the whole point of a food truck in the first place. This is simply Peninsula Pricing at its finest. We parked a few blocks away and hoofed it in, not just because we’re cheapskates and not just ’cause we knew we could use some exercise to offset the calories we were gonna inhale, but also because it was the principle of the thing. Solidarity!
And while we didn’t have the same security issues as another Unilocaler did, we did at one point realize we were being followed/​watched by the hired security. We weren’t being loud or rude, nor were we dressed provocatively or drinking anything harder than a mango lassi (thanks, Tikka Bytes!), but we were being tailed anyway. It was absolutely not cool. Thankfully they lost interest after we made a concerted effort to move away from them.
Basic tips: Moveable Feast is the first Friday of every month. Avoid the $ 10 fee by taking advantage of the abundance of free parking just a couple blocks away. Wear plenty of sunscreen. Bring lots of cash as most trucks are cash only, and remember to thank the trucks that do take cards effusively. Bring water in a reusable container instead of paying a ridiculous $ 3 for a bottle of PepsiCo Filtered Municipal Water (Aquafina). Work in tandem with your friends so that you have orders being prepared for you at multiple trucks, instead of standing in line for each truck one at a time. Leave the strollers at home: It’s nothing against kids, I just sincerely doubt that either parents or their young children would have a good time with each other at an event this loud, crowded, and hectic.
And SHOW UP EARLY: We got there within the first thirty minutes of starting time and had our arms full of food from at least six trucks within our first hour, and we felt really bad for the people who showed up later and had to stare at our food jealously while they waited ninety minutes for one or two things or got turned away from trucks that had run out of food. The time you arrive will absolutely have a bearing on your experience.

FINALLY… Moveable Eats has come… to San Mateo!
My sister and I came early with knowledge from past experience that if you come early, you’ll have a better chance of getting what you want. We came with a battle plan and decided that we would get some Spammers from IZ IT, the Prawns and Roses from Brass Knuckle, the Sisigsilog from Yumsilog, Garlic Noodles from An The Go, and the Butterscotch from Butterscotch on the Go.
Well…we did manage to get 2 out of 5. Brass Knuckle and Iz It did a last minute switcheroo and went to Off The Grid Fort Mason instead. I don’t know what happened there, but that was really disappointing. No Musubi =(Plus, less trucks on hand means longer lines. The line for An The Go was already super long when we got there and this was at around 5:30pm.
Me being hungry, I went for the shortest line, and I’m glad Whisk On Wheels had one. So while my sister waited in line at Yumsilog, I managed to get my food super fast. And the line for Butterscotch on the Go went pretty fast as well.
Overall, I’d say the event was a success and that there is a huge demand. Some tweaks will have to made maybe for crowd control and the layout, as the lines started clashing with other just like the first SJ EATS which I thought they had learned from. My only really big disappointment were the no-​shows. Hopefully, they can steal some trucks from Off The Grid for the next event.

The group I came with arrived late because we decided to do some drinking before walking over. So we weren’t too surprised when we ran into a friend that said a lot of the trucks ran out of stuff. We split up and hit up the trucks we wanted then met back later.
Sure, I was disappointed that the empanadas truck ran out of food while my BF and friend were standing in line. Even more surprised at how long the Curry Up Now truck line was but figured I wasn’t loosing much since it’s in the city near my job all the time. So, it came down to the Tikka Bytes line, the wait was long but worth it.
When we all met up we all got our desired foods (or not) but either way what we had was delicious. As for what I split with my BF from Tikka Bytes? One chicken tikka masala naanwich and one lamb shahi korma. Oh my goodness, the lamb shahi korma was damn delicious — my Unilocal review for them on that naanwich alone is forthcoming. But yeah…
Beer inside. Get there early, be careful with the lines as it’s hard to distinguish one from the other. Have someone with you to scout or ask ahead if they still have the stuff you want. Be sure that you aren’t standing in line hoping for ONE thing, be prepared and have other options.
And know that Kara’s Cupcakes will run out early and they aren’t allowed to leave when they run out early either, so they just have to sit there, taunting you while being bored. We got there at 7:30 and Kara Cupcakes was closed.
Also the Local Label Faire is happening at the same time inside the building. I got an awesome shirt for my BF from Goodjoe inside.

Event started at 5:30. Arrived at 7pm. We parked near 25^th and El Camino and avoided the parking fee ($ 10.00). The walk is about 5 to 7 minutes, not bad.
Got in line for Naked Chorizo. Waited 15 minutes to pay, then another 50 minutes for my food. Not worth the money nor the wait. Ridiculous. The order take took about 5 orders and we have yet to see one order to be picked up.
I had 4 chorizo tacos, small, very small and an chicken adobo. The chicken was overcooked and for $ 7.00, not worth it at all. The 4 chorizo was $ 6.00.
Others in our group waited not quite as long, but almost as long. Indian place took about 45 minutes. The naan chicken sandwich was pretty good. $ 5.00, not bad. Then another group tried the rice bowl place. @ rice bowl and an appetizer… $ 19.00. Not very filling for the guys.
The music was okay. The crowd was 20 somethings and lots of families.