Gainesville residents and students came together Saturday night to celebrate the first anniversary of the Original Gainesville Food Truck Rally.
The event, which took place in the High Dive parking lot, included food from local and traveling food trucks from around the state.
The event was inspired by Pelican Brothers, a food truck that’s been parked outside High Dive since 2010, said Pat Lavery, a UF alumnus and owner of the concert and event production company Glory Day Presents.
Lavery’s company teamed up with High Dive to put on the first food truck rally in January 2013. Since then, the rally has expanded to 11 trucks and has grown in popularity.
“We just came up with the idea a year ago, and it’s been really, really popular,” he said.
The event catered to all food preferences, from the Filipino cuisine of Baboyz Truck to Northeastern food from Monsta Lobsta. The Earth Pets Treat Truck also offered food for dogs.
Nigel Hamm, owner of Go Go Stuff Yourself, said his truck served a lot of customers during the rally.
The most popular dishes of the night were the barbecue quesadillas, fish tacos and banh meatball sandwich, he said.
“It’s a more diverse crowd than downtown usually gets,” he said. “There are families, UF students, people from all over the place.”
Lavery said the next rally is planned for March 15.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 2/3/2014 under the headline "Food trucks celebrate rally’s first anniversary"]
Customers wait for their orders in front of the Pelican Brothers food truck at the Original Gainesville Food Truck Rally on Saturday, hosted near High Dive. The rally drew 11 food trucks from across the state.
