Joe Betterman and his family were looking to start their weekend off right on Friday evening and thought a visit to the Spring Food Truck Festival in downtown Aurora would fit the bill.
“We’ve been here every year they’ve had this,” Betterman said as he and his Aurora family began to make their way toward rows of food trucks waiting on Benton Street.
The lineup at the fest on Friday featured more than 30 food trucks including popular favorites like The Happy Lobster, Strawberries BBQ and The Hippie Gourmet Grilled Cheese Truck along with new offerings like Taste Greek Street Food, King’s Kuisine and Royal Blue BBQ.
Aurora Community Events Coordinator Christina DiCristofano said the fest is a great way to start the warm weather months.
“I think it’s really important in that people are looking forward to – after winter – getting out there and have outdoor events they can come to with their family and be with their community,” she said. “This has been a staple in the spring and has become kind of a mainstay.”
DiCristofano said the city’s food truck events remain a popular part of Aurora’s festival scene.
“You get to support small businesses and you also can sample different cuisines all at the same time at these fests, which is really amazing. You can go scope out what you’re looking for,” she said. “Having things all together like this is really fun. The trucks are quick and you can get so many different things.”
James Hanson of St. Charles and his girlfriend Halee King from Aurora said the food truck fest is a definite draw.
“I like that there are so many options. There’s such a wide variety and there’s a lot of stuff to try,” King said.
Hanson said this was his first time visiting the food truck fest in Aurora.
“It’s nice being outside and walking and talking,” he said. “I’m not going to try anything new but I’m definitely going to Happy Lobster. It looks so good.”
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Courtney Dahlberg of Batavia said this was also her first visit to the fest and that she and her husband came as they are fans of a particular food truck and “follow them wherever they are.”
“We love Ricobene’s … and we saw that their food truck was going to come and said we have to be there,” Dahlberg explained. “I didn’t look at anything else but we’ll probably try a few things. I’m into trying something new and experimentation.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.