Loaded grilled cheese sandwiches, squid gyros and barbecue eggrolls were among the many meals served Saturday at Gainesville’s first-ever Food Truck Rally.
The free event, hosted by Pelican Brothers Food Truck and Glory Days Presents, featured five other food trucks and four local bands.
Four of the trucks, Pelican Brothers Food Truck, Humble Pie, La Lola Loca and Go Go Stuff Yourself, were local vendors.
The two others, Off the Griddle and Grilled Cheese Wagon, were from Polk County and Williston.
The rally drew about 1,000 hungry attendees who waited in lines that snaked through the parking lot.
Customers cheered when cooks called their names and handed them food.
Kelly Chapman, a first-year UF graduate student, said her Pelican Brothers spicy aioli fries were well worth the roughly 30-minute wait.
“It’s fun to be able to come outside and do something like this,” she said. “It’s unique, it’s different and you can try a bunch of things.”
The variety the rally offered was what made it fun, customer Dave Eckel said.
Vegetarian options were available at all of the trucks, and alcoholic beverages were offered inside High Dive.
“You’re not restricted to one menu like in a restaurant,” he said while eating chicken pad thai. “Here you can just go from truck to truck.”
Pat Lavery, a Glory Days Presents independent promoter, said the event was a hit.
Based off the positive response, he expects the rally will return.
“Street food is non-traditional,” he said. “It’s on the fly, it’s DIY, and it’s kind of different and exciting. Hopefully we’ll keep it going.”
Daniel Gallagher, 25, and Gui Amador, 38, of Go Go Stuff Yourself, prepare food for customers at Gainesville’s first Food Truck Rally on Saturday night.
