AHFT Summer Favorites: Food Truck Friday
“Summer in St. Louis is a delight”
#amyshereforthis
Summer is my favorite season. Yes, it’s hot and yes, it’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity. But still. I love summer.
Summer in St. Louis is a delight. People are out and about, enjoying parks and events or just sharing a picnic with friends. Splash pads are spraying, filling the air with the delighted glees of children, while parents like me sit nearby in the shade grateful for free entertainment. Every weekend it seems like something fun is available in the city during summertime and, like so much in our dear city, it’s often free. So much of the fun and festivities were lost last year due to COVID, but as things are returning to some semblance of normal, it feels like we’re all breathing a collective exhale as we lather on our sunscreen.
“So as you can tell, I love Food Truck Friday.”
#amyshereforthis
One of my favorite summer activities in St. Louis is Food Truck Friday at Tower Grove Park. You might think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s proximity was a big selling point to me before we purchased our current home, but it was truly one of my first thoughts. My husband and I have attended nearly every Food Truck Friday we were available for in our eight years of living here, so the return of this event has brought much joy to our home.
In the early years, you could find us rolling up on our bicycles or stopping by with nothing more than a couple of lawn chairs, ready to enjoy an evening with friends. These days you’ll recognize us by our jogging stroller loaded down with lawn chairs, a picnic blanket, and a full cooler, schlepping across the grass to join our friends, whose accessories and family members have increased just the same as ours. We park our belongings and my husband heads off in search of food while I shout safety instructions at my children as they take off across the field with their friends. Then we settle in with our friends for a lovely evening in our favorite park.
So as you can tell, I love Food Truck Friday.
To have an event that has remained equally fun as our family has grown is unique. Food Truck Friday has seen us in each stage of adult life. For this reason, we were delighted to see its return to Friday nights in Tower Grove Park last month. It felt great to be back, surrounded by people and enjoying the park and the great food our city has to offer.
“To have an event that has remained equally fun as our family has grown is unique.”
#amyshereforthis
Today, I’d love to share a few of my family’s favorite ways to enjoy Food Truck Friday.
First, get there early. We usually try to arrive between 4:30 and 5:00 and claim a spot in the shade. The whole grassy area gets more and more shaded as the evening goes on. You can usually stay out of the sun for most of the time, making even the hottest summer nights not so bad.
My husband and I always pack drinks from home and some snacks for our kids. Since we often get food that we might not normally eat, we bring supplementary dinner options for the kids so as not to waste a lot of food and money.
Our favorite trucks for dinner are K-Bop and Buzz’s Hawaiian Grill. K-Bop is my go-to and I think about the food at least once a week.
After dinner, I almost always get a cupcake from The Sweet Divine. The Drunken Pig cupcake is my very favorite. It’s a cupcake flavored with beer, topped with a cream cheese buttercream studded with cheddar cheese and bacon. The salty-sweet combination is, well, divine. Sometimes we’ll get cupcakes for our kids too or popsicles from Poptimism.
Once dinner and treats are done, my family generally hangs around until our kids start getting tired. Then we pack up, schlep home, and look forward to the next Food Truck Friday.
What about you? What are your favorites at Food Truck Friday? I’d love to hear your go-tos!