Vegas StrEATS Festival

Streets closed permanently in January 2014. Too bad… it was a great concept. Someone should pick up on the idea and try it again. I was told the reason it closed was that the coordinator moved.

First things first. Music. The musician will cuss. ALOT. And the music is very loud and very explicit so therefor bringing kids is a huge NO. I suggest that after 10:00 they can allow artists with explicit music. Also, you should add a list of the musicians and DJs saying what genre and if it is explicit.
Food. The trucks were pretty incredible. I do think you should get more weather appropriate food. The soup truck was not a large hit considering it was 105 degrees outside. Another ice cream truck or cold (non– alcoholic) drinks like tea or red bull.
Other than that, I found all of it pretty good.
Thank you.

Great food great fun. Remember to buy drink tickets and you’re made in the shade!
I ate from the French Bistro tent, shrimp and sausage in all the right spices.
Everyone I went with ate somewhere different, hell my friend the chef ate twice!
Dragon Grille THUMBS UP
Slidin Thru the bf got the western/​BBQ burgers. Wasn’t 100% into the barbecue sauce they used but the meat was excellent and the onions were nice and crispy.
I don’t remember the name of the other truck we ate at but everything was worth it and sharing and wandering was tons of fun.

Great idea El Cortez to host the Vegas Streats food truck get together once a month. Bad idea to charge $ 10 for event parking at the el cortez garage. If you’re in the area prior to the event, sign up for a free Club Cortez card for free event parking. It was a great gathering, but the music was awful and so loud. It was teally hard to hear the foodtrucks describe their dishes. I would have stayed longer and tried more trucks, but my ears were ringing from the loud music.
I tried Melteez, Shrimp n sausage (there isn’t a Unilocal on these guys yet), and Sin city snoball (review on their Unilocal page). Melteez was yummy, and friendly. Shrimp n sausage’s creole dish was awful. No skill or techniqe used to make their dish. The shrimp tasted old with no flavor and the rice was a little soggy. There was also a bunch of oil, where on earth did this come from?

Long time visitor of Vegas StrEATS. Saturday we decided to go earlier rather than later when the lines are long. Good choice! We got carded at entry and purse search as well. First booth on the right Beer and Shots! Haaaaay! $ 4 Jäger shots and not sure about the beer but who cares after the $ 4 shots. At this point total score-​I knew this night was gonna be good. How could it get any better? Walking around, there are so many trucks I haven’t tried and want to but you only have so much room in your belly. LOL
Started with an Asian flavor taco from Dragon Grille. That’s it… I just found my favorite food truck! Hands down it was the best darn taco and I will be hankerin for another till I find them out and about again! We all were completely impressed. The chickie in the front with the totally cute accent was helpful and such a sweetheart.
Headed over to Sauced for the Big Easy Balls with Srirachi sauce. I had been told these are most awesome and I wanted to see for myself. Chicken and Rice formed into a ball and fried. Amazeballs! Talking about forgetting your diet for the night…
Free Vegas StrEATS lanyard with Unilocal checkin. Thanks! The vibe is pretty chill, everyone standing around juggling their drinks and food… BECAUSE there is nowhere to sit other than a gross street ledge which I refused to sit. They definitely need some chairs of some sort but they know what they are doing. I’m sure there is a reason for not having the chairs/​table set up.
I see people complaining in the reviews regarding the downtown parking prices and some of the hotel garages just need your ticket validated inside the hotel before you leave-​free parking peeps. Its not a secret or maybe it is.
Anyways, what is better than cheap eats, flowin drinks, music and art? The whole night as usual with StrEATS was a success! =)

The event was great, the trucks were yummy, the cookie bar was delicious, the music was poppin’, the Unilocal tent was Oh So Fabulous and the wind was blowin’! I will be back for some more Vegas StrEats!

HOLY WIND BATMAN! We decided to finally check this monthly event out… Plus Unilocal had a VIP tent happenin SO that was definitely a PLUS to get our butts downtown!
TOO bad the wind was SO crazy that night that we couldn’t really enjoy ourselves and made it an early night =(
We did get into the tent for a bit though (Hi Molly T.!) and got some good draaanks and yummy food and ran into some other Unilocal friends — Shoutout to Christie L. so that was fun.
And I stopped by the Dragon Grille and got a little rice bowl that wasn’t too bad at all!
Hopefully next time we go the weather will be nicer!

This event has a LOT of potential to be so much fun. Unfortunately, it was SOOOOO windy that night it was simply impossible to enjoy it. Poor Molly T. at the Unilocal Elite tent! We went and hung out for a little bit and were treated to some samples from the Dragon Grille food truck. It was so delicious! They were Asian fusion tacos of some sort. The tent was also serving whipped cream vodka drinks. We said hi to some fellow Elites and then made our way down to the stage, where a band named American Cream (dumbest band name, btw) was playing. They were really good!
My roommie is a vegetarian so she hit up the Grilled Cheese food truck and got this gourmet grilled cheese sandwich with tomato in it and garlic parmesan dip. I tried a bite and it was seriously the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The texas toast was perfectly toasted and had just the right amount of crunch, along with a buttery taste that complimented the multitude of cheeses and tomato slices sitting in between. I was greatly impressed by this sandwich.
I really wanted some wings so even as the wind got worse, I decided to get in line at Sin City Wings. Sadly, they were a bit of a dissapointment. I got the Buffalo Bills wings, not your average buffalo wings. The skin wasn’t crispy on the outside, but instead kind of soft. The taste was good, there was a hint of sweetness alongside the buffalo which did make it unique, but I just felt they lacked something. As I sat there trying to eat my not-​so-​special wings, the wind became unbearable. I decided tryiing to hold my drink and my little tray of wings to keep either from flying away was just becoming too difficult so I tossed the wings, gulped down my drink, and we booked it.
I hope the next event isn’t as windy. I’m really looking forward to go back and be able to just enjoy the music and being outside while stuffing our faces!
One more thing! The fact that you have to pay for parking downtown BLOWS. $ 10?! It’s complete BS. In this mission to revitalize downtown, they might want to start addressing the parking issue!

Local or tourist, you should stop by this fun food truck and local vendor monthly festival. The food trucks vary from month to month, but rest assured that you will find something you like. Not to be missed is the Unilocal!tent. Great fun. Live it up, you are in Las Vegas for cryin’ out loud!

First time attending. A-​OK for sure.
Outside, just about 100×20 yards fenced in, and secured by security to make sure your not a terrorist. ;)
Music was good, just needed to connect more speakers around to hype up more of the area. You can see that the DJ was feeling the music more than the crowd haha.
About 8 food trucks to choose from. Tried out Chi-​Town Hustler’s Bugsy Sliders for $ 7 which where equivalent in size to 2 McDoubles. Quality wise, lets just say they need to soften up their buns and create a sauce to even out all the dryness.
I must also aware you of the wait to purchase alcohol. Must buy ‘correct amount’ of tickets to acquire your beverage. Took 20 minutes to get a $ 6 cup of Bud Light.

I have been coming to Vegas StrEATS off and on since it first started. I am disappointed in how the cost of the food has gone up. I remember when I could try a little something from a few different trucks for $ 3 or $ 5 each and now I noticed a lot of the trucks are charging more. I knew I was going for some «crack tacos» at Tacos El Gordo when we were done with this visit so I decided to just get some funnel cake to split with my peeps. Nothing like unhealthy fried dough before dinner! It was super delicious but not for almost $ 10. They charge a certain price for the funnel cake but then additional for other toppings. The food trucks aren’t always the same at each festival which is something I actually like. It is nice to try something new and an old favorite. It was nice to see Unilocal set up at Vegas StrEATS too! They had some fun games going on and freebies you could win. I got a cool bouncy ball :)
Security checks your ID and purse if you have one before entering so be prepared. Entry is free you just have to pay for whatever you want from the food trucks or other vendors. They have different bands playing each time so check the facebook page for Vegas StrEATS to see who is playing the upcoming festival as well what food trucks and vendors will be there.

Good times were had by all.
Lot’s of families and fun people.
There is an EXCELLENT variety of food available.
Sliders, wings, sandwiches AND FUNNEL CAKE!!!
It costs nothing to get in.
You can have fun for about 2 hours.
Things to be aware of:
There is no place to sit except for the filthy ground.
There is one beer tent, so the line gets long.
Check it out!
(and if you have kids, go early)

We wanted to check this out since we were already in the downtown area and I thought it was OK. It was kinda chilly out so we didn’t stay long. There were clothing vendors and food trucks but we didn’t buy anything. The food smelled really good coming from one of the trucks but I noticed there was no place to sit and eat so we decided to pass. We will probably come out again when the weather is warmer.
BTW, security will check your ID and look in your purse before you can enter in.

give it an hour or so. for people to start showing up. Live Music. there were I think 7 different food vendors. Bu it was soo cold, last time we attempted it was RAINING. pouring. we still tried to support but didn’t last long. Unilocal had a stand there where we got a card stamp. It seems to have been smaller from the last time we had gone. I love that las vegas is starting to have more community events. This is something that we really need.
Its located downtown which is improving vastly and am excited to see what it will all soon be. They have a few different free parking areas, you can get validated @ some of the casinos. El Cortez is the closest. and there are parking meters on the street.

Brr. Besides the cold weather tonight. Its always a ‘TREAT’ being at the sTreats. It was too cold for measures today, but normally draws a pretty good crowd. Definitely an addition to the upcoming rise of Old Vegas Downtown.
They’ve got a DJ. lots of FOOD TRUCKS, artist, retails booths etc.
Free entry btw.
Culture meet Diversity. Vegas welcomes you both.

Vegas StrEATs, which takes place almost monthly in the parking area of the El Cortez Casino and Hotel in downtown East Las Vegas was where I finally got to sample the delightful offerings of food trucks. It’s kind of funny; here in Montréal, there are strictly speaking, no food trucks, but there sort of are a few, but like most things in Montréal, it is complicated. Anyhow, even as a frequent visitor to food truck friendly cities, I have never really explored the phenomena.
We eagerly awaited the start of food services, we had arrived early enough that most of the trucks were still figuring out parking arrangements. In the meantime we browsed the many artists selling their works, with one artist, Juan Muniz, catching my attention for quite some time. We will definitely be on the lookout for him and his works on future visits to Vegas.
Once the trucks were open for business, it didn’t take very long for the lines to fill up and pretty soon I realized how lucky we were to be one of the first people in. While my boyfriend ordered from FukuBurger and I headed over to Tasty Bunz where I was faced with oodles of interesting choices and forced to narrow my selections down to 4 of the offerings. For good measure, we also ordered a poutine from Lola D’s Kitchen; we couldn’t resist, we’re from Montréal!
From FukuBurger we scored a Karai and a Buta Burger, both were delicious but extremely messy! This was our first time approaching food trucks, so like anxious little starstruck girls, we both were too giddy to ask too many questions. So the Buta Burger, from memory, was a fuku patty (marinate beef from my understanding) topped with applewood smoked bacon and a Japanese BBQ sauce. The Karai, also a fuku patty but topped with habanero kabayaki (spicy).
At Tasty Bunz, home of my favorite of the day was the bacon stuffed hotdog I scarfed down in seconds. We also had a selection of 3 smaller bunz including the McCheezy (cheesy macaroni stuffed into a bunz), the Bacon Bird (chicken and bacon) and the Queso-​Diaz (more cheese). They were all really good, but none could scoop my attention away from that hotdog.
Over at Lola D’s Kitchen we were not too impressed with the poutine, but not being even remotely from Montréal, just the effort is worth noting. We did, however, really enjoy their homemade gelato, it was magnificent!
Before heading out, we stopped by to try a cone from SnOw ONO, but I think shaved ice just instead my thing, I couldn’t grasp the value of it, even with a ball of vanilla ice-​cream snuggled in the center. People love the SnOw ONO truck and there was a huge line just to get my order in, I feel like I did when people would (or do) tell me that my mother makes the best cabbage rolls ever, I don’t know, I can’t appreciate it.
If you are visiting Las Vegas, or happen to be lucky enough to live there, definitely check out Vegas StrEATs!
Tasty Bunz, Fukuburger, Lola D’s Kitchen & SnOw ONO can be found in various spots in Las Vegas, follow their tweets to find out where they’ll show up next.

StrEATs is cool because it’s free entry, it’s in the fun downtown area right next to El Cortez, and there is lots of food to be had. Like food trucks? Never been to one and want to try it out? Then follow StrEATs on Facebook or Twitter to find out when the next event is.
StrEATs is *not* cool because if you go early it’s packed and if you go late the trucks are sold out of half their menu. I also find the music irritating but that might be because I’ve gone at the wrong time. Or I’m old.
It’s also not cool because I’ve grown tired of paying outrageous prices for the food. Five bucks for a tiny order of fries that has a little bit of parmesan sprinkled on top? I just got an order of fries at Buldogis for $ 3 and was three times the size. And they are paying for upkeep of a real restaurant, not a truck.
Lastly, if you are a vegetarian, don’t expect to eat anything here other than fries and maybe ice cream. I was at StrEATs last year and got so pissed at it that it took me this long to come back. Why? Other than fries, there was not a single thing I could eat. I went up to a grilled cheese truck (that had only sandwiches with meat on their menu) and asked them if they could just make me a plain grilled cheese. They told me no. WTF.
Feels like a mini-​version of First Friday. Fun to stop at if you’re in the area or if you want to visit your favorite food truck, but if you want to have a more epic food truck experience wait until First Friday.

The admission is free but expect it to be small and have only several food trucks there. It is hard to find a free parking lot, especially you are not from the area and don’t know much just like me. There were some street parking with meters if you go early enough. If not, you probably will end up paying $ 5 for parking.
My girlfriend and I went there basically just for Fuku Burger. It was truly delicious, just like I expected. Other than this food truck, I did not find anything else that attractive. We got there after 7 and there weren’t too many people. Like others say, there are only a few tables so expect to eat standing or just sit on the side of the road.
If you have nothing else to do, I would say go ahead but don’t waste time going if you have other stuff you want to do. I would recommend to check out Fuku Burger and their location changes everyday.

It was the first anniversary of Vegas Streats Festival, we came here last year with Rick’s Dad downtown to come and try some food trucks. But we were terribly disappointed that Fukuburger wasn’t going to attend, (they were off at the Nascar Races). But being that the festival occurs while they’re here, it would have been a shame not to go. And since the whole family has gotten involved with the review process, we were able this time to branch out and try multiple food trucks!
And there were many! To start off, we went early; the lines at the food trucks get WAY TOO LONG if you don’t get there early! Well, I guess that secret was out, because a long line awaited us at the Festival’s gates. There were a couple of Food Trucks we were hoping to get to this year, as well as some mainstays. Everyone was hungry, so I knew the one Food Truck that would deliver: TastyBunz!
Now a little bit on the service delivery of food trucks: you go up to one window, order and pay, get your receipt with number, then wait in an uncomfortable claustrophobic huddle with other annoyed people, crowded around the pick up window waiting for you’re number to be called, hoping that it does before everyone else’s in the most unreasonably shortest amount of time… which never happens…
Okay, back to TastyBunz; We had their buns last year, and they were so good! (omitting the little SNAFU they had with passing up my order and making me wait for over an hour). This year, they only had two selections of buns: Pizza Pizza Buns with Pepperoni and Chicken Swiss Prosciutto in Cream. We got an order of both and an order of Me Tots: Tater Tots topped with Truffle Fried Egg, Bacon, Onion and Ranch Dressing. The Chicken Buns were really creamy and satisfying, the Pizza buns were alright. But the Me Tots took the Prize; these crunchy Tots with the Fried Egg, Bacon and Ranch were exceptionally sinful seeing as they came right out of the fryer and into and oven with the ingredients, (I was intently watching them make it), it was a perfect truck food snack!
Rick went over to wait in line at Sliding Thru, Rick Sr. went to Cheesesteak Truck and Marian secured a table for us to eat. After I got our TastyBunz food, I went to the table and Rick Sr. had already brought the Cheesesteak over, so I got Rick and we gave up on Slidin-​Thru. To be honest, they aren’t the best Sliders I’ve had, and their line is way to long for what they produce…
We all tried the Cheesesteak and it was your typical street food sandwich. What we didn’t like was the price: $ 12!!! That was a major rip off considering the amount of choices there were for alternative fare. We did not give this food truck a passing grade…
I shimmied my way on over to Haulin Balls and stood online like the bread line in war torn communist country… We’re such food victims…
So I’ve been hearing really great things about these guys, and I was getting psyched to try them out! I was intrigued by the Lump Blue Crab Balls ($ 8?) and had to ask how many were in an order… And after picking myself off the ground when she said two… I composed myself and ordered it.
Added an order of the All Thai’d up and the Three Cheese Mac-​n-​Cheese, hobbled off to the pick up line and waited like a dog waits for a treat!
Needless to say, the wait was worth it. As for the $ 8 Crab Balls, they were the best snack of the night! You wrap them in the lettuce, squeeze a little lemon on them and pop in your mouth-​soooo freakin good!!!
I ordered as well the All Thai’d Up –Turkey Balls with Thai Pickles, (Carrot, Daikon) with a Thai Sweet Dipping Sauce. I was blown away to say the least: the flavor of the Turkey with the Thai ingredients blended harmoniously. Last of all, we had the Triple Mac-​n-​Cheese; and it was great-​rich and creamy like you want from this dish and with an added kick, it rounded up the meal!
Rusty Pickle: Rick waited for over an hour at this place, what a mess… This was the worst of all Food Truck experiences. It was clear that the staff at Rusty Pickle were unable to handle the overflowing amount of orders coming in. We ordered the fried pickles and looking at the staff’s actions, we could tell that they were frying to order one by one!!! (I mean, your got several orders coming in-​you can fry batches)! Meanwhile, several staff were huddled around one doing all the work, and there was a mob in front of the truck waiting forever-​it looked hopeless.
The fried pickles were nothing great, especially after that long wait. And the Tri-​Tip Sliders were horrible-​dry and flakey without any condiments or sauces, it had to be the worst thing ever. not worth commenting…
Barring the last Food Truck fiasco, overall it was fun to go and hang out at the festival, but like going to the Carnival every year, it’s ok to skip it just go to the Food Trucks on their own.

The Vegas StrEATs festival, much like First Friday is slowly but surely coming into its own. A festival that started out very unorganized and haphazard has become a regular fixture on my monthly calendar.
I still am not sure how they decide which Saturday they are going to do this event. I’ve been the day after First Friday and I’ve been in the middle of the month.
Part of the reason this gets 5 stars from me is that I live at The Ogden, so I literally walk down stairs from my place and BAM! Food Truck heaven. plus I like the addition of the local vendors selling their hand crafted wares. I’m not gonna buy most of it because its just not my style, but I’m all about small local vendors getting their shot.
There’s always a few regulars and a few change-​ups each month. You can almost always count on Slidin Thru and Grouchy John’s but the rest vary from month to month. And it’s always a good mix of people in attendance. It’s an all ages event so it usually draws that same crowd you see at First Friday, & it’s FREE to get in so if you are in the area there is definitely no good reason to not check it out.
My one main complaint is that there’s around 4 or 5 tables total for the event. Therefore, there is always that awkward time after buying the food of walking around trying to find some place to post up and eat. For an event with as many attendees as this tends to get, and as much extra room as they have in the parking lot, whoever is in charge needs to get on this. It’s a tiny little omission that would make a huge difference in the quality of the event.