On April 9th, 2016, from 3:00 to 8:00 pm, the lovely city of Winston-Salem will be having its 4th Annual Burke Street Food Truck Festival. Attendees will be able to sample all different types of food from around the world without even leaving Burke Street. According to the Burke Street Food Truck Festival’s Facebook page, these trucks will be serving “culinary masterpieces from across the globe,” and best of all, entrance to the festival is free!
Photo by Andrew Dye
While this is just the fourth year that the festival has occurred, its size and success has been growing at an incredible rate. This year there will be even more food trucks, vendors, and awesome entertainment.
You may want to get there nice and early — last year people started showing up for the 3:00 pm festival as early as 2:15 pm to scout out the trucks and claim their spot in line. These foodies didn’t mess around, they wanted to be lined up at the truck of their choice right at 3:00 pm when it opened.
According to an article in the Winston-Salem Journal, by 4:30 pm last year there were already 2,500 people at the festival and over a thousand remained at the 8:00 pm closing time. This year, there is a new option to purchase a VIP pass for $20, allowing you to enter at 2:00 pm and access all 60 food trucks before the rest of the crowd emerges. All proceeds from the VIP pass sales will go to the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County to help fund more free art events.
While there will be 60 food trucks at the festival this year. Here are some noteworthy ones that you will definitely want to wait in line for:
Camel City Grill
Courtesy of Camel City Grill on Facebook
Not to be confused with Camel City Barbecue, the Camel City Grill Food Truck made its first debut at the 2013 Burke Street Food Truck Festival, and has been an extremely popular, award-winning food truck ever since. This food truck specializes in craft burgers, artisan sandwiches, and wraps, all made from local ingredients at an extremely reasonable price.
(Pro Tip: Ben’s Pimento Burger can be ordered “Ben’s Way,” as pictured above, with two Camel City Grilled Cheese sandwiches as the bun.)
Cousins Maine Lobster
Courtesy of Cousins Maine Lobster on Facebook
Don’t think that because the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck is a franchise means that the food is any less than top-notch: The fresh lobster and shrimp are shipped in directly from Maine. This food truck got its start when owner Deb Keller pitched the idea on ABC Family’s popular television show, Shark Tank, and won over the investors. Ever since, Cousins Maine Lobster has been selling their famous lobster rolls, shrimp tacos, lobster bisque, and New England clam chowder in trucks across the country.
Chirba Chirba Dumpling
Courtesy of Chirba Chirba Dumpling via Facebook
Literally meaning “Eat eat!” in Mandarin Chinese, the big yellow Chirba Chirba food truck brings mouthwatering, authentic dumplings and juicy buns to the streets. Although slightly pricey, these flavor-filled dumplings served with a variety of dipping sauces are totally worth it. You can tell they’re a huge hit, as they have received multiple awards and praise.
Empanadas Borinquen
Photo courtesy of @empanadasborinquen on Instagram
Are you an adventurous eater and looking to try some Puerto Rican cuisine? Look no further than the Empanadas Borinquen food truck. Empanadas Borinquen serves up a mouthwatering Cuban sandwich like no other sandwich you’ve had before. The empanadas are also super popular. All the savory menu items are very reasonably priced, especially for the generous amount of food you get.
Homeslice Pizza
Courtesy of Homeslice Pizza on Facebook
Argued by many to be the absolute best pizza place in Greensboro, the Homeslice Pizza truck will be making an appearance at the Burke Street Food truck festival this year. Homeslice Pizza prides itself in bringing a taste of Buffalo to North Carolina with its authentic Western New York style sheet pizza, Costanzo Sub Rolls, superb Beef on Weck, and blazing Buffalo wings. The truck even serves up their famous pizza balls (pictured above).
Food Freaks of NC
Courtesy of Food Freaks of NC on Facebook
If you’re a burger lover with a huge appetite and willing to try some bizarre-sounding burger combinations, this is definitely the truck for you. Living up to its name, Food Freaks of NC serves massive stuffed burgers with ingredients that you would never think would go together, but somehow it just works.
For example, the fan-favorite “Elvis” consists of fresh ground beef stuffed with apples, bacon and cheese mixed in a sweet bourbon sauce and served with banana-peanut butter chutney. Those brave enough to try these insane combinations are never disappointed, swearing that the burgers were they best they have ever eaten.
… And Let’s Not Forget Dessert
Courtesy of facebook.com/IceQueenIceCream
Make sure you save room for dessert, because there will be food trucks galore at the festival. The sweet lineup includes Gigi’s Cupcakes, Dusty Donuts, Emergensweets, Village Juice Company, Mike & Mike’s Italian Ices, and The Ice Queen, just to name a few. So all of my fellow foodies in Winston-Salem, don’t hesitate to head over to Burke Street on April 9th, because this is an event that you don’t want to miss out on!