Showing posts with label wow silog truck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wow silog truck. Show all posts

Sunday, April 3, 2011

SJMADE + SJEATS

I have never been more proud to be a San Josean. Yesterday the SJMADE and SJEATS events took place and both were completely packed with people coming to support local vendors. SJMADE was entirely comprised of local store owners, artists, and purveyors of San Jose made and inspired goods. The two locations where this took place were entirely filled to capacity throughout the event. To give you an idea of how many people were there, it took me 10 minutes to walk from one side of the old Tied House building to the other. Half way through, all vendors selling food were completely sold out and by the end of the night many of the most popular products were entirely gone.

Going on at the same time was SJEATS. This was the very first event of it's kind in the South Bay and was run by Ryan Sebastian, the proprietor behind San Jose's famous Treatbot Karaoke Ice Cream Truck. It shares some similarities to Off the Grid in SF, featuring multiple gourmet food trucks. The difference was in the number of people. Just about every truck has a 1-2 hour line. Chairman Bao I think hit a 3 hour wait at one point. By the time I got there for lunch, 4 trucks were completely sold out of all food. Dinner was just as crazy with people lining up an hour before the trucks even got there. Despite the long waits, people were smiling, laughing, and having a great time. I went with a pretty large group, so we split up and went to 4 different trucks and then shared everything (and yes, the food was obscenely good). Also, several of the food trucks said this was the busiest they have ever been, period. Some claimed to sell twice as much product as they ever have at any event int the past, including Off the Grid.

What happened to the people tired of waiting for the food trucks? They cleaned house across the San Pedro Square restaurants, which were the busiest I have seen them... ever. By 2pm, The Mmoon was entirely sold out of empanadas. They had to close down for 2 hours and even after reopening they were down to only vegetarian options. La Pinata had a one hour wait. Satori was full, as were Peggie Su's, Los Cubanos, and San Pedro Bistro and Wine Bar.

For those who still fail to see Downtown San Jose's potential, these two events were pretty much proof that the surface hasn't even been scratched on what Downtown can become. One of the highlights for me was getting a glimpse of what San Pedro Square could become after the urban market opens up. When high-quality and unique products and services come together, the people will surely follow.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

San Jose Metblogs: A Moveable Feast

Well, I was going to post about this awesome event coming up in April featuring 20 food trucks (including San Jose favorites such as Treatbot, Mogo, and Wow)... but Jennifer from San Jose Metblogs beat me to it:


from San Jose Metblogs 

Get your appetites ready because it’s time to FEAST.
The people that put together San Jose Made (SJMADE) Vendor Fair and The Usuals have helped launch a food truck extravaganza for San Jose: SJ Eats!

What: SJ Eats: A Moveable Feast
When: Saturday, April 2nd
Where: Fallon House, W. St. John St. and Terraine St.
When: 11am-9pm; lunch & dinner service (there may be a break between these hours)
Free admission

Follow SJ Eats on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date information. (They just announced this today, so give ‘em a bit before that Twitter account kicks in.)

Here are two tips from someone who has gone to a few Off the Grids and Edgewood Eats; bring plenty of cash and hungry friends. When you get to the location, scope out the eats and have your friends stand in different lines. Buy something you’ve never had before, gather with your friends and share!
Then go back for seconds.

They’re planning for 20 trucks – here is a list of some of the trucks involved so far:

Treatbot
MoGo BBQ
The WOW
Sam’s ChowderMobile
CurryUpNow

By the way, the second SJ MADE Vendor Fair is happening in conjunction with SJ Eats. Support your local artists and vendors! (SJ MADE is from 12pm to 8pm, San Pedro Square.)

Monday, January 31, 2011

Downtown San Jose's First Dishcrawl!

A whopping 90 people came to Downtown's very first Discrawl! What a blast we all had. The night started out with empanada tasting over at The Mmoon featuring both savory and sweet empanadas. Then the group walked down Santa Clara Street to the WOW Silog Truck and enjoyed the premier of their latest creation... Filipino Silog Tacos (garlic rice, salsa, an egg, and your choice of protein including sweet sausages). The third stop was a gourmet pizza tasting over at Ruffled Feathers (with a side of their famous pita chips and hummus). Lastly, we capped off the night with a Psycho Donut buffet!

I really had no idea what to expect coming into this event. Despite my constant optimism, I was expecting maybe 12-15 people to show up. Instead we got a massive crowd including people of all ages from all over the Bay Area (even some from SF) and everyone was having a great time! I really got the feeling that the Downtown restaurant scene is starting to come of age and we're going to see much more of this in the future. 

Thankfully, you won't have to wait too long for the next Dishcrawl. The next one is on Feb 24th and is going to feature the exotic cuisines of Downtown San Jose. You can already sign up for it here!  Highly, highly recommended. In the meantime, you can check out some of the photos from the inaugural event down below: