The Eat Real Festival just completed its 7th year, and it was more popular than ever. Foodie crowds tightly packed charming Jack London Square marina vying for delicious and inventive artisan food. Each September, food trucks, pop-ups, and familiar local restaurants take over the picturesque marina for three days of lively food festival fun that aims to keep all bites under $8. Anyone who is a food truck fan knows that half the experience is the wait. Cross that with massive crowds and competition for all that good food and drink, and it’s a recipe for chaos. But with Eat Real’s lively atmosphere, entertaining events, and creative grub, it would be a huge missed opportunity to skip it for fear of a little bedlam.
So here’s how to make the most of the Eat Real food festival… and actually enjoy the experience.
Arrive Early on the First Day. Go on Friday, the day the event opens, and arrive as early as possible before the after-work crowd hits. This will give you a chance to get the lay of the land, prioritize your grazing plan, and beat the long lines. Once the crowds begin to fill in every bit of festival space, it will be challenging to even see the food stalls. Big bonus – the Friday night crowd tends to be pretty mellow.
Go at Night. September is probably the nicest time of year in the Bay Area – and the warmest. I’ve learned the hard way not to go to Eat Real during the day when the crowds are intense and the sun is brutal. Arriving in the late afternoon / early evening not only gives you an edge over the crowd, you’ll get to catch the gorgeous sunset over the marina and see the food festival transition to enchanting nighttime ambience. The later hours are a more adult scene, but still family-friendly.
Simplify Transportation:
Public Transit: Take BART and just hop on the free Broadway Shuttle to Jack London. If you’re coming from San Francisco, also consider the Ferry which will add an extra dimension to your adventure – but will probably take longer, so factor-in to your early arrival time.
Driving: If you must drive, just park in one of the convenient parking structures right at Jack London Square. Don’t waste time looking for street parking – remember: you’re on a mission to arrive early and scout before the hordes descend.
Don’t Walk Around Empty-Handed: While you’re scouting or waiting in line, you might as well optimize your food consumption opportunities by grabbing something to munch on or a cool beverage. Early in the evening there are plenty of great food festival vendors that don’t have a huge line. As I began this year’s exploration, I walked right up to Girl Friday Zeppole and ordered both the savory and sweet version of these little fritter gems of lemon ricotta. Perfectly fried, we enjoyed them with dips of Harissa and Blackberry Jam.
Get the Lay-of-the-Land before You Arrive: Do a little pre-research, especially if you’re not familiar with most of the vendors. In the month before the food festival begins, Eat Real’s Instagram will begin to entice with mouth-watering food photos. Additionally, Eat Real’s website will link to all the vendors as well as display a Festival Map. About a week prior, Bay Area food columns will begin to feature food festival previews in such pubs as East Bay Express and SFGate, which will inform your game plan.
Bring A Group of Friends: Face it… you’re going to want to eat – A LOT. The group strategy allows you to share calories, cost, and divide & conquer the food lines.
Go Solo: On the other hand, don’t let the need to go solo deter you from joining food festival fun. The crowd is friendly and these days with electronics, there’s always something to keep you occupied. The vibrant scene and fascinating people-watching are alone enough to keep you entertained. Compensate for your consumption constraints by having a plan of how to take home leftovers, for your own personal Eat Real fest the next day Chez Vous.
View Line-Waiting as a Time to Socialize: Don’t let the lines get you down. Most vendors have their system pretty streamlined, and the lines often move at a good pace. The silver lining is that you get to catch-up with your friends…or make new ones.
Camp-Out on the Grass. Grab a spot on the cool, soft grass and just chill. You’re out of the melee, and you have a spot where you can actually set your culinary booty. Your piece of real estate is a great spot from which to execute your divide and conquer strategy. Proximity to the main stage for entertaining food demos and music is an extra bonus. This year, my strategy involved grabbing food and then returning each time to find a new spot on the grass. Early in the evening we caught a fun food demo by local chef and restaurateur Dominica Rice-Cisneros of Cosecha making Esquite Summer Corn with Epazote.
Enjoy the Scene and Explore. While it’s nice to be able to get away from the crowds, don’t be afraid to jump into the fray and enjoy the assault on your senses. You can always escape again to the grass or a lovely marina-side bench.
Eat Dessert First! Hey – you’re just grazing anyway, so does the order really matter? Be a rebel. The dessert venues are typically line-free in the early part of the evening. Wait and you’ll be in line with hundreds of other people who waited to eat dessert in the “right” order.
Patron The Beer Shed. This year The Beer Shed had a fabulous set-up with two counters back-to-back, offering numerous excellent Craft Beers on-tap. The lines moved fast and the service was friendly and happy to offer recommendations and tastes. How civilized.
Invest in the Eat Real Collectibles Glass. Each year Eat Real offers a new jar glass for your festival imbibing. Hold on to your glass and get it refilled for a discount. Not only are you recycling your glass, but you get to take a little bit of Eat Real home with you. It’s never too late to start collecting.
Just Ask. Coveting someone else’s food finds? Just ask them where to find it. Don’t waste precious time when your fellow festival-goer will be happy to direct you – and maybe even offer additional valuable info. On the hunt for Alamar’s dramatic-looking Tornado Potato Crisp swirling up a long skewer, we learned the wait for the stunning chip sculpture was 40 minutes. Uh, no. Instead I’ll just pop over to the Oakland restaurant another night to check-out its Parmesan Truffle Tornado Crisp in a more timely setting.
Be Adventurous. With so many creative culinary options in one place, it’s a great opportunity to try something new. For instance, you don’t need to be vegan to enjoy Hella Vegan Eat’s yummy comfort food. I grabbed a colorful Mac & “Chorizo” Taco loaded with Roasted Butternut Squash, Cashew Cheese, Housemade Seitan Chorizo, Pickled Red Onions, Avocado & Organic Corn Tortillas.
I’m still not sure what Indian Soul Food is, but I’m glad I tried DUM’s food truck. Admittedly, it was a hit & miss experience, but certainly interesting. The first dish, Dahi Puri, sounded so compelling with its components of Potato, Yogurt, and Tamarindo & Cilantro Chutneys. But I was startled as I bit in to find that it was ice cold, as if it had just been thawing from the freezer. I’m still not sure if this was intentional. The flavors were fine, but I like my savory dishes at least room temp. But the second dish, the Paneer Kati Roll with accents of cilantro and lime was warm and delicious.
Time your Last Food Stall Just Right. Deciding to top the evening off with one of my favorite food trucks, Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos, I found the line was immensely long – and only 15 minutes till the 9pm Festival closing time. Just as we ordered the festival shut down all the power in the food trucks.
Whew – just in the nick of time we end up with two Ice Cream Tacos of Salty Caramel covered in White & Milk Chocolate and Peach-Ginger covered in Dark Chocolate.
If You Must Attend in the Daytime: Go early, take along plenty of sun screen, and wear summertime clothing & comfy shoes. And consider popping into the Artisan Food Hall to take a break from the sun.
Ease Your Wait for Next Year – Create Your Own Food Crawl. I know… Eat Real just closed and it’s a whole year before you can use these tips. The good news is that you can check-out these vendors on their everyday turf, and without the same festival waits. Eat Real has a full list of this year’s vendors that can guide you.
And here’s more about my personal food finds from this year …
Hella Vegan Eats – Food Wagon & Pop-ups.
Oakland: Check them out at Analog in Oakland for Hella Vegan Mondays, and look for them this fall as the in-house food for Classic Cars West in Oakland.
San Francisco: Hella Vegan’s groovy food wagon is at United Nations Plaza on Wednesdays during the Farmers market, and at Mission Mercado on Thursdays.
DUM – Indian Soul Food Truck. Various Off-the-Grid events.
Girl Friday Zeppole. Check their Facebook page to see where they are popping-up.
Rocko’s Ice Cream. Various Off-the Grid events.
The Beer Shed. Brick & Mortar, part of the Dock at Linden St. Great space in an industrial setting with massive beer selection.
Cosecha. Brick & Mortar in upscale food court of Swans Market it Old Oakland.
Check out other Eat Real food reviews to track down even more great eats…
