Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

 @JeffHouck
 The Stew
 Table Conversations
 StewVision
 Foodspotting
 Email Jeff Houck

Most Recent Entries

• All Hail The Cuban Sandwich! [Festival Celebrates Tampa’s Iconic Food This Weekend In Ybor City]
• Universities board begins daunting task of creating new university
• USF marketing students finalists in gas promo contest
• USF website pulls together research, services for veterans
• USF Poly budget director Bresler says he’ll fight efforts to fire him
• Incoming Speaker Weatherford speaks at USF conference on college access
• USF St. Pete forms alumni society
• Goodbye Michael Kovac; nanotechnologist, roller coaster lover
• USF Poly administrator resigns; report recommended dismissal
• Anyone For Road Snapper? [Chef Ben Sargent Visits In Key West On “Hook, Line & Dinner.”]
• Universities eye cuts; USF remains quiet
• Banana Bourbon Caramel Cheesecake, Boiled Crawfish, Mussels & Clams [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
• Last USF Poly class graduates; Dockery lays in to “leaders” behind split
• Get your skin checked for free at USF
• Finally the scissors are out for the revamped USF Sun Dome

More

• The Stew
• The Dirt
• Hot Pursuits
• HOMEwork
• Inside USF
• L Archive
  • Green Lite
  • Bring It!

Monthly Archives

• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011

Tampa Has Its First Food Truck Rally [And Lives To Tell The Tale]

Posted Sep 26, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Sep 26, 2011 at 05:08 PM

So, Tampa. You all pleased with yourself?

You should be. You had a food truck rally of your very own.

Stand up and take a bow.

I dropped in on Saturday at Hyde Park Presbyterian’s makeshift outdoor food festival. Technically, this was a church event “with catering.” (Thank you, obtuse zoning and permitting regulations for that little gem.)

Officially, it was a way for food blogger Todd Sturtz to promote his new blog Tasting Tampa and for he and his friends to drag Tampa into the latest culinary street food trend alongside places like Orlando and Miami.

How did it go?

They planned for 500, and hoped for 1,000.

They got close to 5,000 hungry mouths instead.

Tribune reporter Kevin Wiatrowski did a great job capturing the energy at the rally:

Lines were long and the sun was hot. But for Corey Wolloff, the food was worth the wait.

Wolloff and his wife, Andrea, drove from Port Richey on Saturday morning to join thousands of foodies for lunch at Tampa’s first food truck rally.

The rally — 10 delivery truck-sized vehicles outfitted with kitchens — filled the parking lot of Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.

“I’m a huge fan of food trucks,” said Corey Wolloff, who waited half an hour for gourmet sandwiches. “It’s a good variety. I can always have something I’ve never tried before.”

Today that meant a turducken sandwich (made by combining a turkey, duck and chicken) and a monte cristo. The Wolloffs took the divide-and-conquer approach: while Corey waited for lunch, Andrea stood in another line for dessert.

I got through exactly one line, Stephanie Barr‘s Sinful Pleasure Dessert Co. trailer. The pecan pie and whoopie pies she made were incredible.

But then, quite honestly, it got too hot. I love me some Michelle Faedo devil crab. I love me some bunny chow from Wicked ‘Wiches. I had hoped to sample from trucks I hadn’t tasted from yet.

But it all got a bit overwhelming for me.

Great atmosphere, though. Lots of families and kids. Lots of people who love unique food and don’t mind waiting around for it to be cooked correctly. Hyde Park’s twin four-story parking garages were choked full.

A saleswoman at Williams-Sonoma was shocked.

“I’ve never seen that many people around here on a Saturday,” she said.

Mission accomplished.

Next up is the second rally, scheduled for Oct. 22 at Christ Fellowship of Tampa. It will be fun to see what changes get made for Round 2.

If you couldn’t make it out, here’s a gallery of pics I shot at the rally:

RELATED: Cooking Channel’s Frozen Treat Truck comes to Ybor City’s Centennial Park.