For the next five months, Providence locals looking to spice up their Friday night meals will have one more option to consider: Food Truck Friday. An outdoor food truck festival at the Roger Williams Park Carousel Village, the event began this past week and will take place every Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. until September 26.
For the festival, organized by PVD Food Truck Events and the Roger Williams Park Zoo, a rotating lineup of local trucks sells items ranging from açaí bowls to lobster rolls. The event also features live music and, with the purchase of tickets, the opportunity to ride a carousel or a miniature train.
Over 75 locally owned food trucks are featured throughout the summer, and every week brings “a different rotation of food trucks, beverages and music,” said Eric Weiner, the founder of PVD Food Truck Events.
“On any given week you can find 15 different varieties of cuisines,” he added. “Even if you come out every single week, you can have a different unique experience every time.”
Friday’s kickoff event featured five new food trucks: The Burrito Bowl, What’s Up Cupcake, Mía Cane, Good Vibes Beverages and Meat Sweats, according to Weiner.
This year marks the festival’s 11th season, according to the event website. But this season comes amid worsening economic conditions nationwide.
These conditions have made business “particularly difficult” for food truck owners in recent months, Weiner said.
“There’s a concern that other things might continue to get more expensive,” he said. “The margins in the business are very thin, and people are working really hard to keep their businesses going.”
Tommy Tainsh has been participating in Food Truck Friday since the festival was first established. For the first 10 years, Tainsh served drinks with the Trinity Brewhouse truck. Now, he’s opened a new truck called Good Vibes Beverages.
“You have people from all over that you would never see together, hanging out together, becoming a family,” Tainsh said of the festival. His truck will be at Food Truck Friday each week.
The Burrito Bowl made its first-ever appearance at the festival this week. The Mexican-cuisine food truck was brought onto the event after working with Weiner at PVD Fest last year, according to Jessica Medeiros, the Burrito Bowl’s operations manager.
Medeiros is excited to participate in Food Truck Friday “to keep feeding people and seeing smiles on their faces,” she said.
Jillian Borgia, owner of What’s Up Cupcake, attended the festival’s kickoff event after buying her truck last November. “I wanted to do something on my own for a really long time, and this lined up perfectly,” Borgia said. “I'm excited to run with it.”
Even though festival goers may spend similar amounts of money as they would at a restaurant, Weiner emphasized that attendees “can hang out for a full three hours and enjoy lots of different trucks and live music.”
“You'll see people from all neighborhoods and all backgrounds,” Weiner added. “We really pride ourselves on building a community where everyone is welcomed.”
Correction: This article has been corrected to accurately reflect the first name of Eric Weiner, who is the founder of PVD Food Truck Events. The Herald regrets the error.
