Monmouth Park hosted the Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars on Sunday. Credit Photo by Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

 Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars is returning to Monmouth Park as a two-day event this weekend.

Thirty two food trucks will be parked in the festival area of the on Saturday May 25 and 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guests will get to vote which truck serves the best food and takes home this year’s People’s Choice Award?

This year’s gourmet trucks include: Ahh! La Cart, Amanda Bananas, Bacon On Wheels, The Burger Box, Cinnamon Snail, The Cow and the Curd, Cupcake Carnivale, El Lechon De Negron, Empanada Guy, Fork in the Road, Four Boys, Freezy Freeze, Gozen Yogurt, Greenlight Food Service, Hibachi Heaven, Jersey Johnny’s Grill, Kona Ice, Max’s Hot Dogs, Molly’s Milk Truck, Morris Grilled Cheese, Pizza Vita Wood Fired Pizza Truck, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Rickshaw Dumplings, Surf and Turf Truck, Thai Elephant Truck, The French Quarter, Tony’s Italian Sausage, Tony Boloney’s, Mustache Mobile, Wafels and Dinges, Wrap Sta and others.

A menu for what each truck is offering can be found by clicking here.

http://littlesilver.patch.com/articles/food-truck-wars-returns-to-monmouth-park-this-weekend

Hungry festival participants line up at one of the food trucks competing at Monmouth Park. / Staff Photo: Mary Frank

Try your luck at the trucks: The Food Truck Wars are back, and this year they’re bigger than ever.

Now in its second year, the food truck festival at Monmouth Park Racetrack has expanded over two days, bringing the mobile cuisine experience back to Oceanport on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 -26.

Last year’s inaugural event attracted nearly 24,000 people in one day. This year’s event, presented by Spark Market Solutions, includes 32 food trucks – that’s 13 more than last year.

“We have an amazing array of food trucks this year from New York, Philadelphia and right here in New Jersey serving every kind of burger and sandwich along every type of ethnic foods you can imagine,’’ said Patti Baxter of Spark Market Solutions in a news release.

Food selections include dumplings, empanadas, pizza, lobster rolls, pad thai, vegan dishes, chicken fried bacon on a stick, fried cheese curds and specialty cupcakes.

Music is also on the menu. Country musicians Craig Campbell and Chris Janson will entertain festival-goers on Saturday, May 25.

Sunday, May 26 is “Family Fun Day” at Monmouth Park Racetrack, with free face painting, bounce houses and clowns for the kids along with live entertainment by New Jersey-based band Pez Hed.

A panel of judges will determine the food truck winners for Best Guilty Pleasure, Best Ethnic, Best Overall Truck and other categories. Visitors may vote for their truck favorite for the People’s Choice Award.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20130523/NJENT/305230038/Fun-on-wheels?nclick_check=1

Back by popular demand, the Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars returns as a two-day culinary throw-down on May 25 and May 26 at Monmouth Park, Oceanport.

Gourmet food trucks will roll into the festival area to wage a food war.

With more than 20 trucks to choose from, who will win the most votes for the People’s Choice Award?

This year’s gourmet trucks include Ahh! La Cart, Amanda Bananas, Bacon On Wheels, The Burger Box, Cinnamon Snail, The Cow and the Curd, Cupcake Carnivale, El Lechon de Negron, Empanada Guy, Fork in the Road, Four Boys, Freezy Freeze, Gozen Yogurt, Greenlight Food Service, Hibachi Heaven, Jersey Johnny’s Grill, Kona Ice, Max’s Hot Dogs, Molly’s Milk Truck, Morris Grilled Cheese, Pizza Vita Wood Fired Pizza Truck, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Rickshaw Dumplings, Surf and Turf Truck, Thai Elephant Truck, The French Quarter, Tony’s Italian Sausage, Tony Boloney’s, Mustache Mobile, Wafels and Dinges, and Wrap Star.

Country stars Craig Campbell and Chris Janson will be playing from noon to 4 p.m.

May 26 is Family Fun Day. A live band will play from noon to 4 p.m. Children can enjoy the bounce houses, face painters, clowns and more.

http://exa.gmnews.com/news/2013-05-23/Front_Page/Jersey_Shore_Food_Truck_Wars_this_weekend.html

The Wagels & Dinges crew celebrate their People’s Choice award at last year’s event. (Peter Genovese/The Star-Ledger)

The Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars at Monmouth Park last year was a runaway success.

This year’s event promises to be better.

The event, to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, features 30-plus gourmet food trucks from New Jersey, New York City and Philadelphia.

They’ll be offering lots of tasty food for sale – and will be vying for Top Truck honors from a panel of judges.

Which one is your favorite? Vote using the poll below!

Trucks at this year’s event include defending champion Red Hook Lobster Pound; heralded vegan truck the Cinnamon Snail; Ahh! La Cart; Amanda Bananas; Bacon on Wheels; the Burger Box; and the Cow and the Curd.

Also, Cupcake Carnivale; El Lechon de Negron; Empanada Guy; Fork in the Road, Gozen Yogurt; Max’s Hot Dogs; Morris Grilled Cheese.

Red Hook Lobster Pound will be back to defend its Top Truck crown.
Peter Genovese/The Star-Ledger

Also, Pizza Vita; Rickshaw Dumplings; the Surf and Turf Truck; the Thai Elephant Truck; The French Quarter; and Tony Baloney’s Mustache Mobile.

And don’t forget Wafels and Dinges, which won the People’s Choice award for best truck last year.

The Munchmobile and Munchmobile driver Pete Genovese will be on hand Sunday; come on over and say hi and register for a chance to win a limited-edition Munchmobile t-shirt!

Before or after eating, you can take in heart-pounding thoroughbred racing at the track.

Admission is $3; children 12 and under are free. Parking is $3. Food is extra.

The Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars is the first of three Star-Ledger-sponsored food events at Monmouth Park. The prestigious Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-Off will be held August 17 and 18, while the BBQ & Craft Beer Fest is Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

For more information on Monmouth Park, visit monmouthpark.com. For a complete listing of the food trucks, visit jerseyshorefoodtruckwars.com.

Monmouth Park is located on Oceanport Avenue, Oceanport, just off Exit 105 of the Garden State Parkway.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2013/05/jersey_shore_food_truck_wars_a.html

One of the 20-plus trucks at last year’s Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars. (Peter Genovese/The Star-Ledger)

Food trucks are hot.

Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars at Monmouth Park over the Memorial Day weekend will be sizzling.

Twenty three trucks have already signed up for this year’s competition, which will be held Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26.

And there’s room for more, if you’re a truck owner and want to get in on the action.

The Wafels & Dinges crew celebrates their big award last year.
(Peter Genovese/The Star-Ledger)

The first Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars last May was a runaway success, and those who attended will be happy to learn there will be more room to move about this year. And unlike last year, the event will be held over two days.

Red Hook Lobster Pound will be back to defend its Top Truck title, and Wafels & Dinges will be there to defend its People’s Choice award.

Gozen Yogurt, which won Most Seductive Sweet, will be there, as will Dellano’s Food Service, which nabbed Absolute Classic honors.

Other participating trucks include Cinnamon Snail, Empanada Man, Morris Grilled Cheese, Wrap Star, El Lecon de Negron, Amanda Bananas, Kona Ice, Four Boys, Max’s Hot Dogs and Cupcake Carnivale.

The trucks will offer all kinds of tasty treats.
(Mike Shanahan)

Wait, there’s more: Rickshaw Dumplings, Mustache Mobile, Ahhlacart, Jersey Johnny’s Grill, Fork in the Road, Thai Elephant Truck, The French Quarter, Burger Box and Chef on Wheels.

Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars is one of three Star-Ledger-sponsored events at Monmouth Park this summer. Our prestigious Shore Chef Crab Cake Cook-Off will be held August 17 and 18, while the BBQ and Craft Beer Festival will be held August 31 and September 1.

Vendors interested in participating in the Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars should contact Patti Baxter at Spark Market Solutions. She can be reached at (732) 747-4449 or info@sparkmybiz.com.

For general questions about the event, email me at pgenovese@starledger.com. I’ll be at the Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars on May 26 with the Munchmobile, everyone’s favorite wiener-on-wheels.

Monmouth Park is located on Oceanport Avenue, Oceanport, just off Exit 105 of the Parkway.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2013/04/jersey_shore_food_truck_wars.html

Rutgers Grease Trucks applied to be vendors on Manasquan Beach this summer.

Beachgoers in Manasquan will not find themselves staring down at a Fat Gigolo this summer.

Rutgers Grease Truck vendors applied to hawk the cheesesteak sandwich and other fat sandwiches this year from May 1 to Oct. 31.

But the trucks so popular for decades at Rutgers just are not right for the beach,according to Patch.

Gourmet food trucks offer everything from cupcakes and homemade ice cream to Asian fusion tacos. The trucks have exploded in popularity since Kogi Korean BBQ rolled out its trucks on the streets of Los Angeles five years ago.

The borough had been seeking a vendor to sell hot dogs, hamburgers, soft pretzels, breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

Rutgers Grease Trucks and similar mobile businesses were rejected, according to the website, which quoted Manasquan business administrator Joe DeIorio.

In fact, none of the applicants were chosen.

According to the report, Manasquan may instead choose to rent a trailer and set up its own food-service operation.

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/04/rutgers_grease_trucks_turned_d.html

NEW SMYRNA BEACH – Gourmet food trucks are an emerging culture, dotting streets in many large U.S. cities during festivals and fairs and an increasingly popular culinary choice for lunchtime work crowds.

While New Smyrna Beach has recently allowed a convoy of the mobile culinary vendors to come in as part of special events, a change that’s being asked for in the city’s land development regulations would allow food trucks to set up shop here permanently.

Mark Rakowski, a local land use planning consultant, said he is asking that city law be amended on behalf of two local restaurants — Cafe Heavenly on Flagler Avenue and Sea Vista Tiki Bar on Atlantic Avenue — who want to add food trucks as part of their businesses.

“It’s something the public is asking for, and they want to provide that service to them,” Rakowski said Friday.

The city’s land development regulations, adopted in 1991, prohibit any businesses from “selling items on street corners not within a building such as hot dog stands, arts sales, ice cream stands, etc., except for a special event.”

Rakowski, who once worked for New Smyrna Beach as its chief planner, is asking the city to change the regulations to allow licensed restaurants in the city to have no more than two “satellite retail vehicles.” Under the proposal, the food trucks would be allowed only on developed or “partially developed” properties and would be prohibited in the city’s Flagler Avenue, Canal Street or East Third Avenue commercial districts.

City Planning Manager Gail Henrikson is recommending the city’s Planning and Zoning Board deny the proposed changes when they consider the matter on Monday. Henrikson said if the law is changed according to Rakowski’s proposal, it could open the door to a proliferation of food trucks around the city.

The city has 99 licensed restaurants, meaning the potential is there for about 200 food trucks in the city if the law is changed under Rakowski’s request.

Henrikson said while that’s not a likely scenario, planners have to look at potential consequences of changing the regulations.

“That’s what we have to look at,” she said. “If you do this, what could people possibly do under the law.”

Also, Henrikson said allowing food trucks in the city with no requirements to improve property could possibly undermine years of “bricks and mortar” investments both from businesses and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

Rakowski said, however, that the restaurants requesting the food trucks have already invested in the community.

“The same people that are making that investment in bricks and mortar are the same ones that are asking for the change,” Rakowski said.

City officials allowed food trucks in March on Flagler Avenue as part of the Food Truck Bazaar, a cavalcade of trucks that roam Central Florida. The mobile vendors were also permitted in Riverside Park during the city’s 125th anniversary celebration held earlier this month.

The ordinances of eight other Volusia County cities were examined by New Smyrna Beach and none allow food trucks as a permanent permitted use.

Henrikson said another potential pitfall with the proposed amendment to the city’s regulations is that it would limit food trucks to only U.S. 1 and State Road 44.

While food trucks may have carried a negative connotation in years past as little more than hot dog stands selling low-quality fare, Rakowski said that perception has changed.

“It’s not the way it is now,” he said. “It’s transformed into a business that is talking about healthy, gourmet food.”

The city’s Planning and Planning and Zoning Board will meet 6:30 p.m. Monday at 210 Sams Ave.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2012/06/30/2-businesses-want-to-change-nsbs-rules-to-allow-food-trucks-permanently.html

A Jersey Shore hot dog icon and a Belford-based mobile food truck captured top honors in the Munchmobile Hot Dog and Burger Showdown at Monmouth Park today.

But there was an interesting twist – Mama Marci’s Gourmet Mobile Kitchen won top hot dog honors and The WindMill top burger honors from the judges’ panel, while the results were reversed in the People’s Choice awards, with Mama Marci’s winning top burger and The WindMill winning best hot dog.

If you had that food showdown daily double, you did good.

Mama Marci’s won the judges’ award for a hot dog with spicy sauerkraut sauteed in garlic and onions.

“It had way flavor,” said judge Michele McBride, morning host at Brookdale Public Radio 90.5 FM, the Night.

It was way good, period.

The WindMill, meanwhile, earned the judges’ top burger award for its cheeseburger, a classic backyard barbecue kind of burger – not fancy, just lots of basic grilled goodness.

Competition was fierce, and there were several unusual hot dog and burger entries, making the judges’ work difficult.

Chop Shop Barbecue of Seaside Heights entered a smoked hot dog wrapped with pig candy and barbecue sauce – yum.

And Southern Smoke Cajun & Caribbean BBQ in Wall created a Southern hot dog with slaw, creole BBQ sauce and a house made pickle, and a smoked Jamaican burger with pineapple, avocado, jack cheese and spicy creole ketchup.

Another competitor, Jersey Johnny’s Grill of Pequannock, entered a jumbo hot dog with pulled pork, cole slaw and pickle.

They weren’t in competition, but Paul’s Gourmet Foods of Ridgefield Park got our attention with its head-spinning array of pickles (cranberry horseradish pickles, blueberry lemon pickles, hot and spicy pickles, among others) and olives (loved the citrus olives and smoked olives).

Other judges included hot dog authority John Fox (hotdoglover on various forums); Michelle Gross; Frank Corrado, about-to-retire principal of Roosevelt Middle School in West Orange; and Deborah Smith of jerseybites.com.

Forty-five beers from 15 brewers, including Erie Brewing, Sea Dog, Cricket Hill, East Coast Brewing, Flying Fish, Ithaca and Tommyknocker attracted suds lovers to the festival beer garden. Check nj.com/beer later in the week for a complete rundown and report on the beers.

Watch for the Munchmobile Crab Cake Festival and Shore Chef Cook-Off at Monmouth Park on August 21-22!

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2011/05/windmill_mama_marcis_win_munch.html

http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/05/monmouth-nj-windmill-mama-marcis-win-munchmobile-hot-dog-burger-showdown-honors/