GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The food truck invasion of Riverside Park is back again for the summer and this time there are some new attractions.
"This year, I'm super excited because we're finally able to encapsulate the entire vision that I had for Food Truck Fridays from when we started eight years ago," said the president of GR8 Food Trucks, Alan Tomlinson.
Food Truck Fridays are returning for another season at the park starting on May 17. The event runs from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.
This year at Food Truck Fridays, the beer tent has gotten an upgrade with some new canned cocktail offerings and each week will feature live music.
"We're just kind of a grassroots operation," said Tomlinson. "It's pretty much me that organizes everything, my wife helps out as much as she can."
Tomlinson and his wife also run Underground Cookie Club. He said between that and Food Truck Fridays they're pretty busy. However, he added that they try to grow and improve little by little each year.
"Just, kind of, making it the best that we can for Grand Rapids," he said. "To see how much the community in Grand Rapids has embraced that and helped that grow is the most rewarding thing."
To kick off the event series this Friday, the band Moonshot will be performing covers of popular songs from the 50s through now.
Some of the proceeds from the beer tent will go to benefit the local nonprofit Creston Neighborhood Association. There will be a rotating list of nonprofits throughout the summer.
The beer tent will be offering domestic and craft beers, cocktails and Red Bull.
Here is a list of the food trucks that will be at Riverside Park on May 17:
Dessert
- Big Mike's Kettle Corn
- Daddy's Dough
- Kona Ice of W. GR
- Kool Breze
- Ohana Hawaiian Ice
- Speciality Cheesecakes Underground Cookie Club
- Waffle Stix
Food
- Airborne Melts
- Around Baking Co.
- Being Cheesy
- Casa de los Abuelos
- Crepes by the Lakes
- Dune Buggy
- El Caribe
- El Jalapeno
- Fire and Rice
- Motor Mouth
- On the Roll
- Pig Out on the Fly
- Pressed Time
- Roll Call
- Saladino Smoke
- Thai Cottage Cuisine
- Two Bones BBQ
The location for the event in Riverside Park is a little different than in years past. The new location is slightly north of last year, situated where the old little league fields used to be.
Parking for the event is illustrated below and event organizers are reminding attendees to not park on the grass at or around the park. An overflow parking lot is also available at Sunshine Community Church on Lamberton St. NE.
Food Truck Fridays run from May 17 through July 26. You can stay up to date with the event throughout the summer on their Facebook page.
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