Sunday, May 1, 2011

Sacramento Mobile Food Festival


The Location: 1st Annual Sacramento Mobile Food Festival. Fremont Park.

The Taco: Chando's Tacos & Tacos La Piedad.

The Price: $2/each (Chando's), $1.50/each (La Piedad)

The Verdict: After a long hiatus from writing reviews we ventured out, along with most of the rest of Sacramento, to the 1st Annual Mobile Food Festival in Fremont Park at 16th & Q. The local news stations are reporting that there were close to 10,000 attendees and I can believe it.

We waited about 25 minutes at our first truck stop - Tacos La Piedad, usually found in the vicinity of Northgate and Peralta Ave in Natomas. We sampled the carnitas tacos here which came loaded up with meat, caramelized onion and serve-yourself helpings of salsa, cilantro and lime wedges. The carnitas had a good juicy flavor with just a hint of chewy crunch and the chunks of caramelized onion were a nice touch that added a kick of sweetness. A delicious bargain at $1.50 each.

By the time we hit our next stop at Chando's the festival lines had swelled to immense proportions. I dug in and waited out an almost 2 hour line to sample both the chicken and carne asada tacos at this truck. Chando's restaurant location on Arden Way has been receiving rave reviews so I went in with high hopes. By the end of the line two hours later I probably would have eaten anything put in front of me, but Chando didn't disappoint as both the chicken and steak tacos were excellent with a good spice kick from the generous amount of salsa splashed on top. I look forward to trying their restaurant location soon.

Overall we were very satisfied with the food at the Festival, hopefully the organizers can find a way to control the lines next time (perhaps Sacramento needs a monthly or even weekly food truck event?) because waiting up to two hours for a taco is a little extreme, no matter how good they are.


The Rating: Food - ★★★★ (out of 5). Wait time - ★

Tacos La Piedad:
Tacos la Piedad No 2 on Urbanspoon

Chando's:
Chando's Tacos on Urbanspoon