Though Oversold, Most Seemed To Enjoy The Food Truck Derby

The dreadful weather (there was even a tornado warning issued for Suffolk County) Friday afternoon was probably a blessing in disguise for the organizers behind The Great East Food Truck Derby. Otherwise, the turnout would have been even bigger and the problems associated with an oversold event would have been insurmountable. As it stands, the issues were more annoying than shitshowtastic. To wit:

· Upon arrival, we were directed through the parking lot and right back out onto the street. All the spots were full.
· They ran out of the punch cards used to get food from the trucks and were forced to draw them by hand.
· The lines came dangerously close to unbearable?we timed two of them at 30+ minutes. Being slightly drunk helped. It always does.
· They ran out of beer about an hour and a half before the end of the event. The wine was gone with about 30 minutes left.

· Unrelated to the overselling: Escola de Samba BOOM (pictured above) was the lowlight for us. Their drum-heavy performance was unrelenting and inescapable and seemed to go on forever.Even with those seemingly dealbreaking issues, from what we overheard and read on Twitter, most people seemed to enjoy the derby. A few folks even told us that it was their favorite food-tasting event of the season. That's not to say a good time was has by all. From the Curbed comments:

"One word for the Derby. Shitshow! It was hugely oversold and long lines yielded a bite sized (one) taste if the truck even had food. We were there early! Really, really poorly run.

The oompa loompas called - they want their tiny snacks back."

Since it was Edible East End's first year throwing the event, we're most likely grading on a curve. You might recall that Dan's Taste of Two Forks ran into similar problems during its debut in 2011, but this year's soiree was easily one of our favorites. Hopefully, if the Food Truck Derby returns next year?and we have no reason to believe it won't?the organizers have a better idea of what to expect and things run a little smoother. · All previous coverage of the Food Truck Derby [Curbed Hamptons]