One of the great things about the food landscape in the US that is yet to take hold in Australia is the rise of the food truck. One can only assume the issue is related to the lack of available vehicles since we are as a rule lovers of street food and festival stalls.
San Francisco is run amok with reasonably priced food from a range of vendors. This obviously makes setting up for festivals much faster and cleaner and means a quick start for tasty food from any number of cuisines.
On top of this there's also a great little foodie's paradise in SOMA (South Of MArket because Americans need to nickname every postage stamp of land) "
Streatfood Park" is a strange little blob of bitumen next to a freeway over pass. What was obviously a patch of land even the most hearty of estate agents couldn't sell has become a gathering place for local food vans.
At any time there's about 8 food trucks parked around the space - on the day we're there there's BBQ, Burgers, Japanese, Mexican and more. Being a recent immigrant to the US means that my love affair with pulled pork is still in its hot blooded honeymoon period, so I head to the BBQ stall.
Getting food from a food truck is a pretty simplistic affair; choose your main from the board or list. If you're not there super early make sure you have a back up choice since items frequently sell out during the day.
Make sure you have cash, and hopefully change and order at the window making sure to pick up drinks, sides and cutlery from the front of the truck. Many food trucks in the US offer a snack window like this with drinks in ice and easy to access. Most food trucks don't have a license to sell alcohol however the Streatfood Fair has a dedicated stall where one can buy beer and margaritas.
It's not great weather when we visit so we go sit in the convenient shed, but otherwise there's charming picnic tables and umbrellas at which to eat. Unfortunately I discover too late that there's a baseball game on and everyone inside the shed is watching it.
But who cares really in the face of a spicey sweet pulled pork sandwich loaded with coleslaw?
SoMa StrEatfood Fair
428 11th Street
San Francisco, CA USA
Street food, Casual beyond casual
Go early or have a few choices
View Larger Map
