Local

Trucktoberfest returning after 3-year hiatus

SEATTLE — You’ve probably heard of Oktoberfest, but what about Trucktoberfest? The action kicks off at noon at Discovery Center in South Lake Union on Saturday. There will be food, beer, lawn games, a cover band, and most importantly, they are coming back to the popular food truck celebration after a three-year hiatus.

“During the pandemic, the food trucks really made their living off serving businesses in SLU. And the pandemic, people not coming down to work, working remotely, it really changed the landscape of the food trucks. So a lot of them have changed their formats, some of them are doing breweries or farmers markets or things like that and so it’s really important to realize that these food trucks are looking for opportunities.” said Ryan Reiter from Mobile Food Rodeo.

Trucktoberfest is a hybrid event. It takes some ideas from a traditional Oktoberfest with large beer tastings, and mixes in Pacific Northwest food trucks, serving up a variety of flavors!

“We’ve got everything from Mexican cuisine to Thai food to Where Ya At Matt, who does Louisiana southern comfort food. We wanted to find a nice blend where there’s a little bit for everybody.” Reiter said.

Monica Rodriguez, chef and owner of Tijuana Tacos, is anticipating a large crowd. Her crew has been preparing days ahead of the event and is ready to open their truck up to hundreds of hungry customers, some she hasn’t seen since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s a community, and that community becomes isolated during COVID, so it’s becoming a community again and people are socializing, see what’s out there. We’re still here, we’re still trying to make our business run, it’s supporting each other, small businesses,” Rodriguez said.

$20 gets you in, $35 gets you 10 tasting tokens, and it all benefits the SLU chamber. Stop by SLU discovery center from 12-7 p.m. this Saturday.