Food trucks and a screening of “Hamilton” drew Evanston families and friends to Ingraham Park for Evanston’s Food Truck Fest Friday evening.
Despite rain just before the 5:30 p.m. event, dozens of community members brought lawn chairs and blankets to gather in the park for food and the movie. The event was part of the city’s Starlight Concerts and Movies in the Park series, which brings free outdoor entertainment to the community during the summer.
Evanston resident Isabella Prignano (Weinberg ’23) said she’s made an effort to attend city events since graduating from Northwestern and moving to the city.
“After I graduated, moved to Evanston, I subscribed to all the email notifications for stuff because I didn’t actually go into Evanston a lot when I lived here,” they said.
She said food trucks on a Friday night seemed like a “pretty good event,” adding that they invited friends from Chicago as well. Prignano said she was especially looking forward to the Soul & Smoke food truck, since they don’t eat there often.
For Evanston resident Michael Tuck (Weinberg Doctorate ’97), the event wasn’t just about a good meal.
“I like to support local businesses,” he said. “We actually did Soul & Smoke when they were over at Northwestern, their truck was there a few weeks ago and really liked it, so I’m like, ‘I’m getting that again.’ And they do good things in the community, too.”
In addition to Soul & Smoke’s barbecue and soul food, other trucks offered comfort food. While Clucker’s Charcoal Chicken’s Cluck Truck dished out chicken entrees, Pinoy Grill Filipino Street Foods served Filipino street food, El Zorro Tacos provided Mexican food and C&W Market and Ice Cream Parlor took care of dessert.
At a table and tent near the food trucks, Evanston residents Richa Cordero and Michelle Farra introduced the community to Pop Shop’s dirty sodas.
The two opened their dirty soda business, which they called a “summer side gig” in the spring, saying they were both excited to bring their dirty sodas to Evanston.
“We wanted to just be a part of the community event, and we wanted everyone to experience dirty sodas,” Farra said.
Cordeo said Pop Shop always includes soda names that match the event’s theme, so for this year’s Food Truck Fest, they offered six sodas with “Hamilton”-inspired names.
Farra came up with the names, including “The Schuyler Sipsters” and “Not Throwing Away My Pop,” saying the theme was especially fun to brainstorm ideas for.
Community members picked their drinks and meals from the variety of vendors before choosing a spot in the grass to sit for the movie. The “Hamilton” screening began at 6:30 p.m.
Evanston resident Anne Beall said she had originally been excited about the Friday night event because of the food options, but she also appreciated seeing community members.
“It’s nice to see everybody come out,” she said. “Even though it’s just been raining, everybody’s kinda out, chilling. It’s just lovely.”
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