When a company called Gaumenfreude started organizing Street Food Thursdays in the Karlsplatz this past summer, I was thrilled! I love the variety and portion sizes at food trucks, and although Gaumenfreude's first market started out a bit hit-or-miss, I stuck with it and returned again and again to try the new food trucks that they were able to bring to Stuttgart. Over time, I had some great burgers and pulled pork, and yes, even some halfway decent Mexican food. And so because they came through in the end, I decided to go check out their Großer Foodtruck Weihnachtsmarkt in Zuffenhausen today to see if they could still deliver...
Variety and Quality at the Street Food Festival Böblingen-Sindelfingen
I've been so thrilled to experience the recent boom in street food in Stuttgart. Ever since the first (slightly unfortunate) event back in May, it seems organizers have been trying hard to learn from past mistakes and make these kinds of festivals worthwhile. I've been particularly impressed by the recent Street Food Thursdays in the Karlsplatz. If you follow me on Facebook, you've probably seen my photos from the past couple of Thursdays, which have offered more craft beers, more vegan and vegetarian options, and more international cuisine.
In fact, Facebook is how I first heard about the Street Food Festival in Böblingen-Sindelfingen. They've been posting teaser photos for months, so I knew this weekend's festival was going to be good. Unlike past events, they extended the festival to cover three days, helping to prevent a rush all on one day. They also charged a 3€ entrance fee. Now I know that they can be controversial, but I understand the need when you have to cover costs like trash cans, security, and toilets. And although the festival was a 20-minute ride on the S-bahn from the city center, it was located in the spacious "airfield" right next to the station...
Street Food Thursdays in the Karlsplatz
I was really excited to find out last week that someone recognized the high demand for street food in Stuttgart and decided to organize a weekly location for food trucks. The group called Gaumenfreude seems pretty serious about it, too, though it was only through a casual mention by a friend last week that I learned about it. Though it was too late for me to attend their first Thursday at the Karlsplatz downtown, I made sure to mark my calendar for the second and got my chance last night.
Because it's been so hot in Stuttgart lately, we didn't make our way down there until about 8 pm. I was immediately relieved to see that there weren't huge crowds or long lines (probably helped by the Sommerfest currently going on). I was also amused to see foosball tables, beach chairs, and a live band set up for the evening...
Take Two at the Stuttgart Street Food Market
Even though the last street food market turned into a bit of a fiasco, I entered the dates for their second event in my calendar as I rarely pass up a food-focused event. The second market took place this past weekend at Turlenstraße 2 in the Mitte. Right away the location was much better. Instead of the winding path through the train tracks that I took to get to the first market, this one was located right across the street from the new Milaneo mall. The signage was also much better with large, bright green announcements along the entrance.
The venue was a bit like the bottom level of a parking garage with all of the food trucks and stands set up inside. There was a desk set up at the entrance where they required a 2€ entrance fee. When we arrived on the first night, Friday, we noticed a group of Mexican dancers by the entrance putting on a show. It was a very festive atmosphere, although much quieter than the first market. By comparison, there was hardly anyone there. The lines to most of the food stands were only three or four people long at most, and there were plenty of picnic tables set up around the venue for people to stop and eat. There were about 30 different stands set up in total, and we ended up going to the market on both Friday and Saturday night so that we could sample as much as possible...
Istanbul Comes to Stuttgart at the Marktplatz Istanbul
I've been to the Marktplatz Istanbul for two years in a row now. It's one of those festivals that we first stumbled upon by accident on one of our walks downtown, discovered the food and entertainment were awesome, and then made sure to look out for it every year.
This year, we decided to go on Sunday, the day the festival opened, and met some of my coworkers. We were there at around 12:30 to grab some lunch, but discovered that they were still setting up. No matter -- we grabbed some drinks and waited a bit at the picnic tables until the food stalls were ready for us. It was nice because there was hardly anyone there (unlike our trip last weekend to the Stuttgart Street Food Market), and right when they opened up the food stands, we were the first in line...
Big Demand for the First Ever Stuttgart Street Food Market
I found out about the Stuttgart Street Food Market about a month ago on Facebook. Even though I never grew up in a city around much street food, I've loved eating at food trucks on our trips to places like Amsterdam and at festival stalls around Stuttgart. There wasn't much information about this market leading up to the event, but I was pretty excited to try it nevertheless.
The website details said it would be at the Nordbahnhof from 11:00 until 18:00. While planning for the event, I had every intent on getting there early, but when we left the house around 11:30, it was such a beautiful day that we decided to walk there to work up an appetite. As we passed through the city center, we saw a huge antiques market stretching from the Rathaus (town hall) all the way up to the Altes Schloss (old castle), as well as some kind of bike festival in the Schlossplatz. It's odd for two events, let alone three, to be going on at once on a Sunday, and I wondered if there would be enough people left to attend the Street Food Market...