Glendale, fasten your seatbelts and prepare your tastebuds! Starting the end of April and running through the spring and summer, Westsiders will get the chance to sample a ton of food truck fare at a weekly food truck roundup at Glendale Regional Park. Photos by Yusuf Maung.
If you don’t have any plans for this Thursday evening (April 23rd), you do now!
Food Truck League is coming to town and will set up shop at Glendale Regional Park, the former site of Raging Waters (or as the locals knew it, “Aging Waters” — especially if you were a kid like me who would have preferred to have been at home reading a good book instead). Seven food trucks are scheduled to serve up delicious food from 5-8 pm every Thursday through the summer beginning on April 23rd.
Attendees will get a unique opportunity to sample food like pizza cones from the Pizza Cone Zone, Japanese fried chicken from Happy Tummie, and even Dole Soft Serve from Gnarly’s Island and Treats. And the best part is that it’ll all be in one convenient spot.
The League has been setting up shop around the Wasatch Front since 2015. Their first event in Sugarmont was a relatively simple affair with a few trucks. But according to Eliot Steimle, General Manager, the founders “were blown away by the popularity of the event.” They realized that there was an appetite for food truck events and committed to making it a regular thing; it’s been going strong ever since.
Their tagline “Food, Friends, Fun” is at the center of everything they do, but it’s so much more than that — their work also focuses on supporting local businesses as they help aspiring entrepreneurs with opportunities like the roundups and growth strategies. They work to help local businesses build relationships with local organizations and communities, all with the goal of ensuring food trucks have places to consistently set up. The League also helps food truck owners work through potential pain points like getting access to local community spaces.
Steimle and his team have worked with the Salt Lake City government on multiple projects in the past and through those connections, discovered plans for a massive new park on the Westside (Glendale Regional Park) that had the potential to be perfect for their food truck roundups.
“There really aren’t a lot of parks in the city that have food truck access at all,” explained Steimle. As it stands, the only recurring roundup in the city is downtown at the Gallivan Plaza, which sees several trucks rolling up and parking on the plaza every week to serve hungry people looking for lunch.
The Glendale Regional Roundup is scheduled for every Thursday evening through the spring and summer, beginning on April 23rd and eventually closing up shop sometime in August.
Food trucks will rotate through every week, so there will be something new and fresh to try at every event. Organizers with the Food Truck League also plan to make sure the most popular trucks have a space every Thursday, should the owners wish to come back.
“We keep track of data that shows how popular the food trucks are so we can make sure the favorites are brought back,” Steimle said. “6 to 8 trucks is ideal [at every roundup] because space limitations make it hard to have any more trucks.”
Dinner combos will likely set you back around $15-20, but each truck will strive to have a couple options that are more affordable — deals or items under $12. Anyone with dietary restrictions like vegan, gluten-free, etc… are welcome to ask the food truck owners for assistance, as they may be able to make a version of something on their menu that works for you.
The Food Truck League Roundup is the perfect example of what a community event should be: people coming together to enjoy nature in a public park and support local businesses.
Whether you decide to stop by for Japanese fried chicken, tacos, or ice cream, you’re bound to leave with a full stomach and maybe some new friends too.