More than 70 vendors have teamed up for the 3rd Annual San Francisco Street Food Festival, and this fun event is worth a drive even if you’re coming from Santa Cruz or San Jose. Each delicious food item will be priced below $8, with half of the items priced below $3. The festival draws thousands of people and covers several city blocks.
The festival is presented by La Cocina, an innovative non-profit business incubator designed to help low-income food entrepreneurs create successful, sustainable small businesses by providing affordable, shared, commercial kitchen space, technical assistance, and more. La Cocina (which means “The Kitchen” in Spanish) has helped launch many thriving businesses.
Festival attendees can sample food from 30 micro-vendors from La Cocina’s nationally-recognized program, 25 Bay Area restaurants (including James Beard award-nominated Flour+Water and The Slanted Door), and several Bay Area food trucks including famous Nom Nom – originally a truck in L.A., the vendor came in second place on the inaugural season of Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race” and opened a second truck in San Francisco last month.
There will also be six food trucks from cities across the US such as Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and Austin (Along Came a Slider). Beverages will include non-alcoholic choices such as renowned Blue Bottle Coffee, lemonade and fruit sodas, plus beer and liquor. Plan ahead by perusing the event web site that features not only all vendors but SPECIFIC MENU ITEMS (!!) and a map according to block and vendor. Be warned; your mouth may start watering as you read about watermelon gazpacho, Persian lamb tacos, chicken mole croissant, chicken tikka, pumpkin curry with tofu, artisan chocolates, and organic ice cream, just to name a few selections.
“We fully believe that the tacos from Los Cilantros, Azalina’s curry or down-home Mexican food from El Buen Comer are as good or better than the foods made by this food town’s top chefs,” said Caleb Zigas, Executive Director of La Cocina. “The San Francisco Street Food Festival showcases our incredible entrepreneurs, empowering them to serve their dishes alongside some of the country’s best chefs. La Cocina is proud to support the incredible work of more than 30 of the most talented culinary professionals that San Francisco has to offer.”
The Details:
2011 SF Street Food Festival
Saturday, August 20, 11am-7pm
Cost: Free admission, just buy your food.
Location: Folsom Street (from 22nd to 26th streets) and 23rd, 24th and 25th streets (between Shotwell and Treat streets), San Francisco
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