Meals truck fest affords numerous native choices

LIMA – Sixteen native meals vehicles, 16 craft distributors and two musicians gathered Saturday on the Allen County Fairgrounds for the first-ever Fall Meals Truck Competition.

With free admission, attendees have been in a position to go to distributors and select meals from Shafer's Smoked Meats, Circle U Waffle Co., J's Lip Smackin Wings, QT Kay's Kitchen, Double D's Nuts, Solar-E Facet Up, Deutsch Essen, D & D Placing and Amusements Inc., Flavr-Js, Robsagna, Depraved 'Wiches & BBQ, The Brat Wagon, LLC, Flappers Fins & Fries, Taco Movil Lima, Bre's Taco & Such and Fork within the Street. Trevor Howe and Paul Smock additionally carried out.

Kylie Shafer of Shafer Smoked Meats and KRS Occasions hosted the occasion. He mentioned the occasion was free as a result of his enterprise coated the price, and it was vital that it was free as a result of he gave an instance of a earlier comparable occasion that charged $10 per individual, and that may not be possible for a household of 4. she mentioned.

Lima residents BJ and Heather McPheron and their son Brooks made probably the most of all of the meals choices by buying pizza from Robsagna, tacos from Taco Móvil and grilled cheese from Fork within the Street together with sweet, a snow cone and popsicles of cake.

Their aim was to “combine it up, attempt just a little little bit of all the things,” Heather mentioned.

“We noticed it on Fb and he was on his manner residence and he mentioned, 'Let's cease there,'” BJ mentioned of the occasion.

After attempting it for the primary time, they mentioned their favourite meals was Robsagna.

One other Lima resident, Dominic DePalma, additionally preferred Robsagna's lasagna and breadsticks. He additionally tried Deutsch Essen, Solar-E Facet Up and Circle U Waffle Co. He mentioned he attends about three meals truck festivals a yr.

“I really like meals vehicles. They’ve the very best meals,” DePalma mentioned.

Robsagna is owned by Rob and Lynn McKee of Higher Sandusky, and their meals truck is an outdated Tiffin Metropolis Faculties bus they bought at Rush Truck Facilities in Lima. They bought the bus in November 2023 after they ran out of meals at occasions when the trailer ran out.

Rob mentioned they attended the occasion as a result of they’re attempting to develop in Lima and are on the lookout for a spot to settle within the metropolis throughout the winter months.

He mentioned probably the most distinctive menu gadgets they provide are smoked lasagna and so they all the time have distinctive desserts. Saturday's selection was bacon wrapped Oreo cookies. The bus's wood-fired oven could make pizzas in 90 seconds and so they could make two to 3 pizzas at a time. And, as their web site says, “The key is within the sauce!”

“We're trying to get into the sauce enterprise quickly as a result of my sauce has been within the making for about 30 years,” Rob mentioned. “I feel it's properly balanced and has elements that individuals by no means consider placing in lasagna or spaghetti sauce.”

Fork within the Street proprietor Mark Hill, of Kenton, mentioned his distinctive menu gadgets included connoisseur grilled cheese, fresh-cut French fries, fried pickles, pretzel bites and soups comprised of scratch. His favorites are Mac-n-Pork Grilled Cheese, Philly Cheese Steak, and Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese.

Chris Kirkendall, proprietor of Deutsch Essen, which in English means “German meals,” mentioned the most well-liked gadgets on his menu are sausages and cabbage rolls.

“Most of what we’ve got is selfmade meals primarily based on (my) grandmother's recipes,” Kirkendall mentioned. “We do a mixture of what I say is traditional German meals and pub-style favorites.”

“We all know loads of different distributors right here and we simply needed to be part of one thing with them and begin one thing new within the space,” Kirkendall mentioned about why his firm participated within the occasion.

Contact Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.