Food Truck Rodeo

This a great monthly event that all Rochester residents and guests should experience. We have an ever growing food truck scene in Rochester and the best way to try out the new and classic food trucks is at a Food Truck Rodeo. The public market is the perfect venue with plenty of space for trucks and people. Bring cash and an open mind. Come with friends and share food from various trucks. Always save room for dessert. Tip: if you like to sit while you eat, bring a lawn chair and set up camp in the middle of the market in front of the stage where you can hear live music all night long while you sample and get stuffed.

What a great summer event! Good food, music, and a beer tent with local brews. I was impressed with the quantity and quality of trucks that attended.
My husband and I got there right at 5:00 and made one round to read the menus only before deciding to purchase. Everything looked and smelled great. We ended up sharing food and drinks from eight different vendors.
The highlight of the night for me was the Loaded Potato Macaroni from Macarollin. I’m sure it’s Macarollin right to my hips but it was so worth it. Creamy, not gluey, macaroni topped with bacon, scallions, crispy bread crumbs hash browns and sour cream. The Country sandwich from Marty’s Meats was a delicious fried chicken beginning and a cup of the «always room for ice cream» Abbott’s custard was a fine finish.
«I’ll be back.»

Food selection and quality is great. However, the lines are ridiculously long. There are no tables and chairs to eat at.

If you are going to FTR and you don’t want to wait in lines — stay home. There is no way you can expect to go to an event with Food Trucks (which means there are going to be lines) and then add in the fact that it is a festival where a great number of people are going to be there, and not expect to wait in lines.
If you are a regular you know how to combat this. Either come really early and go to as many as you can before the lines get lone, pick out a couple you really want to try out and wait in those lines, wait until later and hope they aren’t out of what you want when the lines get shorter again, or — and this is the big one — go with a group of people, everyone goes to a different truck (or two different trucks), buys a bunch of food, then you sit together and share everything.
If it is raining lightly (or even if there is the threat of rain) — it is the perfect night to go. I went last year at least once in a light drizzle, brought an umbrella, and was able to wait in lines of 5 or 6 people all night. I think I ate at 15 trucks that night.
This is one of the coolest things that takes place in Rochester if you want to try out some great food. Best part is, it happens once a month so if you miss one, another is coming up very shortly.

I love the variety of food from the food trucks. Some I believe are too expensive.
I had mac ‘n cheese which was Y-​u-​m-​m-​y. Kind of expensive.
My BF had a Roc City Sammich (Pittsburgh-​style, whatever that means) he said it was pretty good.
Not much to choose from regarding beverages overall.
We went on the Country music night and the singing wasn’t that good. I like country music and was a little disappointed.

Rochester’s Food Truck Rodeo is awesome, and even moreso if you go with a bunch of friends! A ton of the local food trucks from all over Rochester and even Buffalo will pop up at the end of each month at the Public Market and cater to everyone’s food needs with all of their different choices.
By far the standouts for me have always been Brick-​n-​Motor, Marty’s Meats, and Duke’s Donuts. The first two have different menus every time based on what’s in season and they always cook everything so well. One time from Brick-​n-​Motor I had lamb and couscous that was really herbaceous and super tender that it still lingers in my memory even now a year later. The meat was just falling apart as I drove my fork into it — simply awesome! As for Duke’s Donuts, well… they make fry cakes on the spot. And let’s face it — it doesn’t get much better than cinnamon sugar apple cider donuts right out of the fryolator.
That all said though, the rodeo is not without it’s flaws — parking can be a bit of a pain around opening time, lines can be similar to Darien Lake lines depending which food truck you’d like to go to, and there’s a lot of standard fare that’s not terribly exciting that you can find practically anywhere.
If you do happen to go, check out the unique trucks — stretch out beyond Tom Wahl’s, Abbott’s, or standard festival foods you can get anytime and support the actual true food truck businesses in Rochester — you’ll be really happy with what they produce!

I went to the food truck rodeo for the first time last night. Who knew there were so many people in Rochester?
This is a pretty cool event — tons of trucks come. Like others have stated, get there early unless you are cool with standing in lines for the more popular trucks! My friend and I got there around 7:15p (goes from 5−9p), and there were still insanely long lines for trucks like Le Petit Poutine, Dukes Donuts, Hello Arepa, Macarolin’, etc. The best strategy is to split up and «divide and conquer», especially if you want to hit up super popular trucks.
I decided on Stingray Sushifusion — I had the Dominican: panko/​battered shrimp, bacon, avocado, ginger mayo, fried queso, and a yummy black sesame and stingray sauce. For $ 7, it was delicious and filling. My friend and I then went to split Poutine (always delicious, and the line thinned by 8:30p), and for dessert we had good old fashioned fried dough. Even at closing time, the line for Dukes Donuts was out of control. Next time… as the smell was divine!
I thought the elevated platform for the music was really good — you could hear it throughout the market, but it wasn’t overwhelming at all. I can see why people bring chairs, tables (!), etc. I don’t mind walking around/​standing up while eating, but if you’re planning to attend all 4 hours of this event and stay to watch the band, head the advice of others and bring a chair. All in all, good times, and I’ll be back for the next one!

I’ve hit up the rodeo twice now. I love the selection of food carts, it’s no Portland, Oregon — but this does showcase some of the best food in Rochester. Must eats: le petite poutine, lobster mac and cheese at mac truck, and someone I was with got a bree and strawberry grilled cheese (don’t remember which truck). Just be prepared to stand in line when the weather is nice. And it should be obvious to those who know food trucks, but bring cash.

I came to the May rodeo and I had many different feelings. At first when I walked in, I was thinking wow this is freaking amazing, I am so excited. Then as my husband and I started to walk around to the different food trucks I was thinking holy cow, this is freaking overwhelming. Then after we looked at what all of the trucks were offering I was thinking wow this is freaking sad, I want everything and I can’t afford it and my tummy won’t allow for it.
After walking around my husband knew what he wanted and he went and stood in line. Once he was in line I walked around a little more to figure out what it is that I want. I picked macarollin’ and I was pleased with my pick. My husband ate at Marty’s Meats and got a sandwich. He enjoyed his and I enjoyed mine. The wait times wound up not being too bad despite the long lines.
Our only issue was with a dessert truck that was there (I can’t remember the name). We got in line which didn’t take too long but then once we ordered our funnel cake we were told the wait was going to be about 20 minutes. That is a long time to wait for some funnel cake. Then the people who were calling out orders were getting angry with each other and they had a poor system of calling food and helping customers. One of the women even gave a deaf person attitude for not hearing her when she called out their number… Of course they can’t hear you, they are deaf!!!
There isn’t much seating so if you don’t want to stand either bring chairs or a blanket to sit on. You can bring in 1 sealed bottle of water which will help save you some money. I wish there were some smaller portions or sampling sizes so this way you can try more things from many trucks. The other thing that bothered me was the fact that the lines were so long for certain trucks. It seemed that some lines crossed each other and you weren’t really sure which line you were in. It also made it difficult to walk truck to truck to see their menu.
Overall, Adam & I will be back for the next. We would like to keep sampling different places. I love the idea of this and that Rochester actually does it.

I loved it! Amazing food and amazing people and just a fun atmosphere! The only complaint I have is about one truck in specific. The street side one (not street meats) that claims to give you more food for your $$. It was really like more wait time for your $$$$$!! I ordered a simple order of fries. Small line. Seemed like a good idea. Until the dude next to me told me he had been waiting there for about 35 minutes and he was just getting his cheesy fries! Turns out he wasn’t the only one. This group of women decided to confront the owner and tell him how they have been there for 40 mins and people that ordered after them were getting there food before them. The owners reaction to that was astonishing. He looked at them in anger and told them that they need to stop yelling and that he was not in the mood for it. I had enough of the waiting so I went up to the women that took my money for my order and explained to her that I wanted my money back. She said if I wanted my money back I would have to talk to him. I told her «I don’t want to talk to anybody who yells at there customers» she told me that the women started it… IT DOESNT MATTER WHO STARTED IT! What matters is that this is the hospitality business. Your customer is unhappy and soo in return you help them. You apologize!!! You do NOT yell back. They also cater… But I wouldn’t be seeing them at any events anytime soon.
I will never ever go to this truck again. However. Alllll the other ones were amazing!!!

We tried Dukes Donuts tonight. Oh Hell yeah! Amazing. Melted in my mouth. Also tried the Macarollin Lobster Mac and Cheese and it was quite bland. Dan Schmidt was the evenings band and he was really good. Next Rodeo have to try Marty’s Meat’s and Reads Ice Cream.

I love the Food Truck Rodeos. I’ve only missed one! Each time I try a couple of new trucks. There’s so much to choose from! You can sample every ethnicity in food. I’ve only been disappointed once. Then there’s the live music to dine to. I even braved the Snodeo! What an amazing idea! I’ll be there tomorrow at 5PM, guaranteed!

I think so far, I’ve been to all but one of the Food Truck Rodeos. I love it because it’s a convenient one-​stop shop to grab a bite from a few different food trucks. Each visit to the rodeo I try a new truck and the number of trucks seems to keep growing. You’ll find anything your heart desires whether it’s a snow cone, a gourmet burger, or sushi. A few of my faves at the rodeo include anything and everything from:
— Brick and Motor
— Roc City Sammich
— lettuce b frank
— Marty’s Meats
— El Latino’s chicken empanadas
— Lloyd’s tacos (from Buffalo)
— Rohrbach’s beers
At the last rodeo in August, the band played on an elevated stage, which was an improvement from the past ones. You could hear the band throughout the market.
I seriously recommend bringing some folding chairs if you want to sit down. The place fills up quickly and the picnic tables are usually snatched up and guarded by trolls.

It’s a blast and great to see the growth of Rochester. Great food and great Beer with live music. Pick what you want so much to choose from when it comes to food. A must!

I love the event, even when sometimes you have to deal with rude old ladies.
The event is quite simple, a group of food trucks are open in the Public market, and you get to go and try the food.
The event has grown quite a bit, and the number of food trucks have grown also.
About the food? Well there is a wide selection of cuisines to choose from, and the quality varies, of course, but it’s chance to try new dishes and new food trucks.
The issues? Well seating is a problem, bring a folding chair, and the lines can be very long for the more popular food trucks.
as for me? I may go to the next one if there are new trucks to try!

The August Rodeo was my first … rodeo. My friends and I arrived right at 5pm. You do not want to go any later than 5:30pm unless you want to wait 30 min at each food truck. We sampled a few new trucks (including the new Meatball Truck… which was delicious) with no wait at all.
Even at 5pm, almost all the benches were taken and people were (ungraciously) protective of them. If you plan to mill around for a while and don’t want to stand the whole time, bring folding chairs. Bring as many friends as you can so you can try a lot of things without getting full fast.
I had a good time but it was mostly because I was chatting with friends. I don’t think I would personally go back to another rodeo (unless there were some new trucks launching). But if you are new to the food truck scene, it is a good way to try a lot of them in one area.
In summary: Go early — right when they open if possible. Bring folding chairs, a bunch of patient friends who will eat anything and cash to make transactions easier.

This wasn’t my first rodeo.
No really, I’ve been to three of them now.
While there are a good number of trucks to feed the crowds that attend these events, there aren’t enough quality options. Many are standard street food fare and nothing special.
My top picks during my last visit were Marty’s Meats, Lloyd’s taco truck, and Hello Arepa.
I really do wish that the trucks offered more sampling sizes/​prices during this event. Most items are around $ 8 which means you should come with friends, split up, and share.
Arrive early to avoid the (very) long lines and to get decent parking.

This rating is for the June rodeo, which was severely hampered by the Jazz Festival. Many of the best trucks are over there including BNM, Petite Poutine and Macarollin. Marty’s and Hello Arepa held it down though! July will be better.