A sure sign of spring: the NYC Food Truck Festival is back this weekend!
Unlike every other weather-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil wasn’t fooled by that freakishly warm week in February. Winter blew back in and seems to be hanging on, but that shouldn’t stop you from coming out for the season’s first food truck festival.
It all goes down on Sunday, March 25, when the NYC Food Truck Festival returns for a second year at the Upper West Side’s long-running Grand Bazaar market. It’s your chance to taste what’s coming to the streets once the snow finally stops, with a dozen of the city’s newest and best mobile kitchens lined up along Columbus Avenue and 77th Street.
If last year is any indication, there will be a lot of you trying to make winter end through the sheer force of will that waiting outside for your food requires, so wear those gloves and scarves. Those willing to brave the elements will be rewarded with sweet crepes by the Crepe Crew, fresh lobster sandwiches from Luke’s Lobster, loaded mac n’ cheeses by Mac Truck and award-winning empanadas from Empanada Sonata. The full list of vendors includes Stuf’d, Neapolitan Express, Carl’s Steaks, Sweet Chili, Gorilla Cheese, Souvlaki GR, Big D’s Grub Truck and Yankee Doodle Dandy’s.
Between bites, you’ll have rows and rows (some even indoors!) of more than 100 vendors to browse. You’ll find everything from vintage jewelry and antiques to furniture and handmade bohemian clothing — hey, it’ll be warm sometime — at the year-round Sunday bazaar, which donates all rental fees to area public schools.
Entry to both the market and the Food Truck Festival is free, while food is pay-as-you-go. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 100 W. 77th St. — we suggest warming up afterward by ducking into the natural history museum’s wacky new Our Senses funhouse exhibit.
