Markeshia Ricks Photo
Fernando Mateo was handing piña coladas and taking cash through the back window of the La Unica truck while two of his family members took orders from two other windows of the truck.
Customers steadily lined up for the Puerto Rican fare they were dishing out as quickly as their hands would allow during the first New Haven Food Truck Festival Saturday. (The festival continues on Sunday, starting at 11 a.m.)
The festival was organized by the city’s new Small Business Service Center, the Economic Development Corporation and small business owner and barbecue food trucker Ricky Evans (pictured) of Ricky D’s Rib Shack. Evans’ truck was popular boasting lines that rarely abated throughout the day.
Evans’ truck, which can usually be found near Yale’s art gallery, was one of the many trucks that lined Long Wharf Drive Saturday drawing hundreds of people for food, live music, an open craft market and carnival rides. Official estimates had the daylong attendance above 10,000.
Trucks like La Unica are regulars at the park. They occupied their regular spaces along the street closest to the highway. The visiting trucks lined up closest to the waterfront.
Mateo (pictured at the top of this story) said his family has had a truck at the park for nearly 10 years, and didn’t mind sharing a day and customers with the new kids on their block. He said there are trucks that have been dishing up quick and tasty food at the park for about a decade, and at least two that have been doing it for almost 20 years, serving up Puerto Rican or Mexican food almost every day.
“This,” he said of the food truck festival, “this is one of a kind.” His only complaint was that it started an hour too late. La Unica tends to open up at around 10 a.m., and that’s what it’s customers expect. The festival started at 11 a.m. and went until 7 p.m. But other than that his take on the festival: “Two thumbs up.”
The food festival brought a number of food trucks to the park that you don’t see there every day. Food truckers, many from greater New Haven, served up everything from pizza and fried dough to barbecue and lobster rolls.
Many trucks were being worked by people like Marianne and Monica Arrigone, two of the three chicks of 3 Chicks Grille (Sister Danielle is the other chick. They also have a “rooster,” better known as Marianne’s husband and Monica and Danielle’s dad, but he wasn’t feeling well Saturday.)
The family-run outfit, which operates out of Hamden, has been bringing their authentic Italian cooking to fairs and carnivals for about 6 years, Monica said. You might recognize them from the St. Andrew Society’s annual “festa.”
Why do they do it? “We get to meet a lot of really nice people and we get a lot of repeat business,” Marianne said. “We’re in this business for family,” Monica added.
While the Arrigones were cooking up their sausage and pepper, and steak and cheese bombs, the folks over at La Ixtapa were satisfying tastebuds with their signature Mexican cuisine including burritos, tequitos and tacos. The truck, which is an outpost of the Ixtapa Grill in Hamden, is at the park seven days a week, according to Aniceto Lopez. The truck is usually feeding people from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Seven people work the truck so it allows them to work shifts that allow everyone to have at least two days off.
Lopez (pictured) described himself as a bit of an everyman on the truck, filling in wherever the owner needs him. He said the truck has been serving people for about 13 years. The food truck festival meant that Ixtapa had to share it’s customers. But Lopez took it in stride. “A lot of people are trying the other food,” he said. “But it’s fine. Now more people know about this and can keep coming.”
The city’s first two-day festival highlighted the diversity of the food-truck industry, in which more than an estimated 1,000 people work. It also raised money for a micro-loan and micro-grant program that the small business center plans to launch for local entrepreneurs. The program is aimed at providing funding for start-ups, which often have trouble obtaining crucial financing in their first 12 months of operation.
And if the crowds of people who showed up Saturday is an indication, the program could be well on its way to handing out its first loans.
Jackie James (pictured), who heads up the city Small Business Service Center, described the turnout as “amazing.” She organized the festival.
“I didn’t expect this turnout,” she said. “I’m excited. We definitely plan to do this next year.”