DC Curbside Cookoff

Food was good
Wait was super long
Sweet potato cupcakes were pretty awesome
TaKorean was different
3 ppl fainted
full sized vitamin waters were great

Saw a good deal for this on Groupon, grabbed the tickets hoping that I would be able to go and lo and behold it all worked out!
The event started around 11am. I arrived close to 2pm. There were several food trucks out for you to choose from such as; Dolci Gelati Truck (I got Vanilla Bean with Cookies and Cream Crumble — creamy and mouthwateringly good), Feelin Crabby (had a mini crab cake that was REALLY good — not a lot fluff, all meat, a little lump and some backfin, unfortunately I got there too late and missed the lobster but judging from the taste of the crab AND it was sold out I’m sure I missed something yummy), Chik’s Chik’n (Jerk Chicken Sandwich — it was just ok — my personal opinion is it was lacking in that authentic «jerk» taste. Saw no seasoning and herbs in it at all)
A few others that were there that I didn’t try;
Curbside Cupcakes
Ada’s Kitchen on Wheels
Bonmi
KBBQ Box (Must have been good because they had sold out of ALL chicken by the time I got there)
Saucy Bites DC
Red Hook Lobster Pound DC
Ramen Soup (logo) Unsure of the official name but they specialized in Ramen Noodles and tea — a lot of people were in line for this and they had to shut down a few times and re-​stock.
Healthy Fool
There were a few trucks there selling clothes, jewelry and other things alike.
Space to play games.
It had rained on a off that day so it wasn’t super crowded but a decent amount of people.
I thought the food presentations, cook-off’s, etc. were a little disorganized because they had very little participation and people just in general lacked in interest.
Yes, I will go back next year in hopes of some improvement.
All in all it was a decent event and ALL of the dishes were reasonably priced.

Great idea! The curbside cookoff let me try food trucks I hadn’t tried yet. I am also unencumbered from lunch hour restrictions and a real job type job, so I was able to spend a lot of time here.
I’m not going to bust their chops too much, as this was the 1^st, but the trucks will definitely need more food next year. Having to wait around for ½ hour + while most of the trucks were closed was weak sauce.
Thumbs up to Fojol Bros. (as always), and the Wonky truck!

Going against all logic, I stopped by in the hopes of getting something while running some errands on my lunch break. All the lines from the food trucks seemed to converge in the middle of the parking lot. One look at the queue, and I quickly got back on my bike and headed back to work. Food Trucks are mobile. They come to ME. That’s the entire idea! If I wanted to wait around forever, I’d go to virgin free fest, or look for parking in Adams Morgan.

EXCELLENT IDEA!!! Execution could have been much better. I doubt they (DCRA, Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Brightest Young Things, and the Downtown Business Improvement District)
expected as huge of a turnout as it got… but for the first ever DC Curbside Cookoff, I think it was an INCREDIBLE success. As Julian had mentioned, I hope this is more than just an annual event.
The first thing that needs to be done is reduce the wait time. 20 vendors (all of which weren’t there all the time) for how many thousands of people just ain’t adequate. Waiting 2 hours in line for a $ 15 lobster roll during your 1 hour lunch break just ain’t gonna happen.
Location was perfect. Hours were good too. Weather was gorgeous, and held on a holiday weekend. That’s definitely a recipe for success. The amount of dough these food vendors were raking in was probably akin to fishing with dynamite. Just a sea of people waiting in line with no end in sight.
Can’t wait for the next one.

Great idea and I loved having most of the food trucks in one place. It was a fun atmosphere and a beautiful day. Long long lines though. I really wanted to try Takorean since I never am able to catch them and let’s be honest, nothing can live up to a two hour line. I got sunburnt and eventually my food and had a fine time, but wish the lines moved faster. Many of the trucks ran out of many items early on — they were really not prepared for the crowds. I’m glad this event was free to attend but I lacked the needed patience for the very long lines.

My first food truck expedition. I had to check out the DC Foodtruck cookoff — it wasnt so much of a cookoff, it’s just a showcase really. Almost all the DC foodtrucks were there. It was a spacious venue and there were just lines everywhere especially the popular ones like the Lobster truck and Fojol Bros. Music spinning on the stage and tap dancers tapping to the rthymn. The only thing was almost every food truck was out of supplies like tacos or something by the time the evening crowd built up.

I agree with Ryan in that the execution could have used some… help.
He was not joking about the 45 minute lines. When I got there, the Red Hook truck hadn’t even showed up yet, and somehow there was a line that stretched from where Red Hook was going to be all the way to Takorean. Some people camped out with chairs in hopes of getting Red Hook. Some people waited 90 minutes for the lobster. Since I work near Metro Center, I figured I’d get another chance at Red Hook.
There were tons of other offerings, and despite the crazy wait, I think it was worth it. Fry Captain’s sauces were too good. El Floridano’s sandwiches amazing (albeit the banh mi with turkey meatloaf was a little messy). Yellow Truck is another super solid one. I think that for the money you pay, the food is really good. Even if it’s not super inventive, at least it’s super authentic.
I hope this event is not just annual, but seasonal, or even monthly. Maybe food trucks need to start going to more farmers markets. I know Pleasant Pops does the Mt. Pleasant market.

Hunger is sated in 20 minutes. The vendors have to get the line down to under that so that the masses will manage to stuff themselves before they reach the 20 minute «I’m stuffed like a turducken» feeling sets in!
The idea was excellent. The music was super. The lines were too long. One problem is that food trucks usually don’t have a massive staff, nor room for them in the truck. The Sauca truck had a good system going with one person taking orders and money (so no dirty money on the food!), one making the food, one delivering the food, AND, the owner working the line, easing the pain, by handing out sample ice tea.
SLAM dunk. These vendors had no idea what hit them! They had no idea how much food they needed to prepare. The Sauca truck guy only brought 500 flatbreads for Thursday which meant that he was out of bread by 6 pm. If they had more bread and more willpower to stay standing, they could have continued until close.
We watch eagerly for next year!

First, the weather was beautiful with clear blue sky in the low 70s. I don’t live or work in DC, so it would have been nearly impossible for me to chase after all these food trucks during normal lunch hours.
The one I wanted to try the most was the lobster roll. I strategically planned my arrival between lunch and dinner and snagged a lobster roll when the line had less than 30min wait. It was pricey at $ 15, but the taste didn’t disappoint. There were minimum fillers, no celery or green peppers, just a very light dressing, seasoning, and a few scallions. The rolls were New England style, buttery and soft, bulging with huge chunks of sweet lobster meat. Another awesome thing about the lobster truck is that they have free refill on their homemade soda. Therefore, if you go to the lobster truck first, you’ll have something delicious to drink for the rest of the day. I liked all the flavors except for the black cherry, which tasted like medicine to me.
Next, I did a lap around the square to see what else is available. A couple of the trucks (bulgogi cart, pleasant pop, and fry captain) were already done for the day and not going to be back for dinner. I got into a line for district taco, which was actually at a manageable length at this time. The carnitas taco was only ok. It had too much lettuce and made the whole thing a little too wet. The salsa was flavorful and pretty spicy. One of the worker passed out a huge plate of salsa and chips to the people waiting in line.
By this time, my stomach was getting stuffed, but my brain was telling me to persevere and get something else. It was close to 6:00 PM and all the trucks have long lines now. I picked El Floridano as my last stop and thankfully the line didn’t move like molasses. The $ 5 banh mi turned out to be surprisingly delicious with moist and flavorful turkey meatloaf, peppery arugala, and a tangy sauce. The only regret was that they ran out of pickled green mango, an essential crunchy component of any good banh mi.
Overall, I loved it and I hope they will organize more cookoffs in the future by inviting other food stands.

Ahh, yes. The Red Hook Lobster Pound roll … the gold medal of the DC Curbside Cookoff. Those with the endurance of a champion would reap the rewards of this $ 15 sandwich. Today, I felt no need to stand on this podium and bow. Why?
Because I win at life everyday.
Instead, I settled for satiation. I had not eaten all day after postponing breakfast and lunch to finish a project up, and was ready to eat whatever landed in my hands first. However, I had my eyes set early on District Taco. After all, they were leading in votes and I had heard so much about them for such a long time.
Lucky me that by 4pm, their line had dwindled to about 15 people or so. Very manageable compared to Red Hook or Takorean. Plus, a number of trucks had already sold out for the day by the time I got here.
I’ll save my detailed thoughts on the food for when I review each business, however I must say that everything I had was pretty damn good. District Taco didn’t disappoint, EatWonky surpassed my expectations and the sweet potato cupcake with cream cheese icing from Sweetbites was amazing!
I also love that this event was completely free to attend and two full days. I don’t have the time or patience to track down these trucks most of the time, so I would normally only eat from a food truck if I ran across one. I just wish I could have gone both days.
When I arrived, there wasn’t too much entertainment but I did enjoy the beautiful fall weather and got a little excited when the DJ started playing DJ Kool’s «Let Me Clear My Throat!»
Next year, I will probably have a better game plan. Get there early, grab something small from a truck with a shorter line and then wait in a long line. Or better yet, bring a large crew that can all be responsible for bringing something back to the table for everyone to share.
Overall, grand idea and great first event! I’ve already reached out to someone to see if Unilocal can get involved next year. It just makes sense, right?

Good idea, but the execution was pretty poor. No freakin’ way am I going to wait in a 45 minute line for ONE food cart. Let’s just say I want a lobster roll from the lobster truck AND fries from the Fry Captain. Well, other than about $ 23, I would also need a minimum of 1 hour and 30 minutes. There’s a reason they call it the «lunch hour,» so by definition I couldn’t afford the time to try out one truck, much less two. I did check with people near the front of the line to ask how long they had been waiting, so my 45 minute estimates aren’t BS.
Just so I could give a legit review, I went back around 6PM. Several of the carts had skedaddled, but — SURPRISE — the remaining trucks still had long lines, though not as long as at lunch. So I went to the trucks with the smallest lines — Curbside Cupcakes and DC Slices. I’ll review the trucks separately, but the event sucked. Food trucks are not meant to service people en masse.

Woohoo! What a good idea! I know they are saving the food trucks and all, and I hope this works and this can become a DC tradition!
I like that I had the opportunity to try some trucks that I don’t usually see in the city or had the chance to try already. Luckily I only work about 3 blocks away so I was able to get there early because by the time I was done eating the lines were outta control!
DC Curbside Cookoff, we should do this again sometime. Bravo!