Foodie News
Does the Haute Wheels food truck fest deserve a second chance? More trucks,fewer tickets & new shade promised
Long lines. Scorching heat. Food outages. We weren't joking last year when we dubbed the Haute Wheels food truck festival a "haute mess."
Next weekend (May 12 and 13) marks the second annual Haute Wheels Houston food truck festival. Despite a food truck scene that's still on the rise, will Houstonians be willing to give Haute Wheels a second shot? Organizers say they should.
"We learned so much in 2011 about how to host a great food truck festival and what we know is that food trucks make great food, not fast food."
To address some of the issues that arose in 2011, the festival is limiting admittance to 2,000 ticket-holders per day and doubling the amount of participating trucks. There will be additional shade and seating provided and guests are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs and blankets. Additionally the $16 entrance ticket is now good for either five full-size non-alcoholic drinks or samples of beer and wine from the H-E-B Beer and Wine Garden.
"We learned so much in 2011 about how to host a great food truck festival and what we know is that food trucks make great food, not fast food," explains the Haute Wheels website.
Houston food trucks are certainly on board. Bernie's Burger Bus, Good Dog Hot Dog, Oh My Gogi! and Angie's Cakes are among the trucks returning after participating last year, and popular new trucks including Bare Bowls, Coreanos, Pi Pizza Truck and The Waffle Bus are joining as well. In all 34 trucks will be serving limited menus.
Frankly, that the organizers acknowledge last year's issues and have put measures in place to deal with them gives us some confidence. Are you going to Haute Wheels this year, either on a return trip or for the first time?
Or was last year's mess enough to keep you away?