food truck round-up

Local brewery, Tin Roof Brewery, recently hosted a food truck round-up. The location has plenty of lawn space and a covered outdoor patio to accommodate everything and everyone. Each food truck offered something different, so there was a variety of food, and the beer was flowing in the tap room. There was even a stand for gourmet frozen pops and ice cream. 

Eric says, "hello"!

Eric prefers darker beer, so he stuck with their Parade Ground Coffee Porter. He enjoyed it enough to have a few, so it must have been good. We parked ourselves on the covered outdoor patio. The fans were humming over-head, but this is South Louisiana. It was still plenty hot. There were a number of picnic tables out on the lawn, but we weren't giving up our shade. 

That is one dark beer. Looks like coffee.

Our Spot on the patio was good and bad news. Good in that were were in the shade. Bad, however, because there was suppose to be live music. The bands usually set up on the patio, so we would have been baking out in the sun if the band was there. Apparently, the planner and band couldn't come to terms in time, so the advertised live music was a no-go. That was a disappointment, but it kept our pale skin from burning, so there's that. 

#priorities

Like I mentioned, the food trucks offered a variety, but there were only three. A couple of more could help make it more of a must-go event. The available options were Rice and Gravy, Rock Paper Taco and Mr. Ronnie's Famous Hot Donuts. The line the Rock Paper Taco truck was evidence of both everyone's (correct) desire for tacos and the need for more options. Like everyone else in line, we wanted tacos. The line was long and Eric wasn't having that. We later heard someone say the wait was an hour even after you ordered. Again, we needed more trucks there.

That is one long taco line.

We opted for the much shorter line at Rice and Gravy. Eric and I both went with the Swamp Hawg:  smoked pulled pork, boudin, pepper jack cheese on garlic toast with a side of pepper jelly. Eric apparently ordered the last ones, because subsequent orders were denied. They were out. Again, need more trucks. The weight of the sandwich felt like we were getting our nine dollar's worth. It was heavy, but really good. The side of pepper jelly was a little odd. It was like a spicy strawberry Jello. I can't say it was bad, but I can't say it was good either. To the sandwich's credit, it made us (mostly) forget about tacos.

The Swamp Hawg

To Tin Roof's credit, there is also a Family Friday event on the first Friday of the month. That is an afternoon/early evening affair. It is similar to the round-up. There are food trucks and musical entertainment, but also inflatable bounce houses and face painting. Still though, summer in Baton Rouge is hot. Even when the sun goes down. But no sun helps.

Stay Classy!

I think the round-up is a good idea. The space at Tin Roof is a good spot for it. If a band had been on the patio and we were out on the lawn then it may have turned into a borderline miserable experience. The humidity is too high here, so even the patio doesn't keep you from sweating through your shirt. It only delays it. The tap room doesn't offer much of a reprieve, since people are constantly going in and out (as well as being a little cramped). If they want to continue and improve on the experience then I think it is best suited for a nighttime affair. At least between May and October. We want to go back...but at night.