Eat the Streets (Honolulu, HI)

You could make a case that the biggest development in American dining trends in the last few years has been the explosion of food trucks. Literally, an explosion. Maybe the weak economy has been somewhat responsible. For a business, it kind of makes sense because you don’t have huge capital expenses, can “move” your restaurant to suit customer demand, don’t have to hire much help and offer only a handful of specialties. My home town of Seattle is experiencing the national craze and seemingly greets a new truck almost weekly.

A related and more recent development is the food truck jamboree where several trucks gather in one spot to sell their stuff in a festival atmosphere. On the last Friday of every month, downtown Honolulu holds one, called Eat the Streets, in the late afternoon on a large parking lot, corner of South and Halekauwila Streets, just blocks from King Kamehameha’s statue. I counted about 40 trucks, an amazing number by any standard. There were easily a thousand hungry fans here. In my limited experience, the only other food festival to have an equal impact was the Richmond Night Market in British Columbia, just south of Vancouver, where the sheer variety and unique offerings were just as staggering. I went gawking as I walked from one end of the lot to the other and back again in a big loop. With words inadequate to describe the scene, the gallery below does a better job.