Twice a year, the Philadelphia neighborhood of Manayunk holds the food truck festival strEAT. Thousands of locals, college students and families flood Main Street to taste a variety of specialty items from food trucks that line the street. The event, held this past Sunday April 10th, kicked off Manayunk’s restaurant week. 

The Spring strEAT 2016 festival featured 55 food trucks, a beer garden and multiple retail merchants. Different food options include: fried cheese curds, tacos, pizza cones, fresh pie, gourmet mac and cheese, waffles, ice cream sandwiches, dumplings and burgers. Foodies who came out to enjoy the festival had a wide variety of options.

A trip to strEAT requires slight planning and preparation—aside from an empty stomach. First, Manayunk is known for it’s difficult parking. With over 30,000 visitors, parking is hard to come by, so the event requires ample arrival flexibility or perhaps the consideration of an UBER ride. Secondly, the golden rule of all food festivals, consider all of your options. No matter how big of a foodie you are, your stomach—and probably your wallet—only has room for so much. At strEAT, it is essential that all visitors walk all of  Main Street in order to sample the best food trucks. If this step is overlooked, it is very likely that the best trucks will be missed.     

It is tempting to eat at the first food trucks you see, but while there are a lot of appealing trucks, not all of them are of equal status. It is more than likely that the food at one truck will be similar to the food choices at an even better truck half a block away. Additionally, the best trucks will always have lines. Luckily, this helps identify which trucks are worth your time. The worst mistake to make at a food festival is to skip a great truck because there are other people on line. Instead, take the line as a sign that the food is worth the wait. This is especially true at strEAT because the Philadelphia based trucks have a reputation not only at strEAT—most trucks return for the fall festival—but throughout the area. Returning cliental help the food trucks do well, but also help newcomers find the best trucks, too.

If you missed out on the Spring strEAT, there is still time to indulge in Manayunk’s restaurant week that will take place now until April 22nd, 2016. 15 of Manayunk’s best restaurants are offering prefixed menus ranging in cost at either $15, $25 or $35. Reservations can be made in advanced. StrEAT is a can’t miss event, mark your calendar for  the Fall 2016 edition, that will be driving out to Manayunk September 18th.