Off the Grid: Twilight at the Presidio

After checking a few other OTG locations, I have to say, this one is the best, just try to go on a night when the weather cooperates, or go the Sun afternoon one.

Great truck, got to try the Kimchi Balls and the Chicken KoJa on a Garlic-​Rice-​Bun, and the atmosphere especially during sunset is just extraordinary.

Timing is everything.
OTG Twilight at the Presidio is a perfect example of this.
It’s a truly great concept…
The presidio, for twilight, w the best food trucks in SF…
with cabanas & fire pits to ward off the chill…
live music for your listening/​viewing/​dancing pleasure…
and don’t forget the fabulous surroundings & view.
But…
If you haven’t secured said cabana & fire pit, it’s gonna get chilly & it’s gonna get windy.
It’s THE PRESIDIO.
And then, you’re gonna be struggling to nosh on that awesome Bacon Bacon/​Fins on the Hoof/​KoJa Kitchen/​Mozzeria/​Southern Comfort Kitchen/​The Taco Guys grub…
while you’re covered in goosebumps,
shivering,
& it won’t be pretty.
Here’s the sitch:
Every Thursday during spring & summer from 5:00 to 9:00.
You gotta get there early or forget about it. Otherwise, you’ll just be setting yourself up for long lines, everything (that you want) being sold out, all the cabanas & fire-​pits being taken, & freezing your arse off.
I know I know. This is SF. You’re supposed to layer.
The thing is, having to wear full North Face gear to a picnic is not really my idea of a picnic. Thankfully, we do live in a city that you can actually wear cashmere all year round. But when the SF chill hits, that’s just not enough.
That’s when I have to commandeer my man’s jacket. And then the poor bastard that never did anything but just love me is left in the cold. And now I feel bad because he’s cold, just because he loves me.
How am I supposed to enjoy my Bacon Bacon fries now, for chrisake?!
This year, you can reserve a cabana &/​or a fire pit, but it will cost you.
$ 100.00 for a cabana for 4 peeps.
$ 150.00 for a fire pit for 8 peeps.
$ 225.00 for both.
So…
Go early!
This could be a fantastic night.
Or not.
Just remember, timing is everything.
Unless of course you go the reserve route, forking over 200 bucks to ensure prime seats.
Then I guess you won’t need to care what time it is.
There’s also OTG Picnic At The Presidio on Sundays. Daytime. 11:00 to 4:00.
This twilight thing?
5 stars in theory.
3 stars in reality.

My friends and I went to this event last night, and we had a great time! We’ll definitely be back.
Location/​Atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅. Can’t get any better than this location! What an awesome view of the bay, and the Presidio is adorable with all of it’s «wait, are we still in San Francisco?» charm. The atmosphere is casual and fun; there were people of all ages at this event. We didn’t sit at a cabana or fire pit, but brought our own blankets and chairs to sit on. Although maybe next time, we’ll come early and try for a fire pit.
Service/​Lines/​Parking: ⁵⁄₅. Parking was easy, and free. The lines for the food trucks were moving pretty quickly – no complaints there! The event staff were really nice and helpful. The website says «bring cash» but all the vendors we went to accepted credit and debit cards as well.
Food Trucks: 3.5÷5. Decent selection, but not a lot of vegetarian, vegan, or gf options. I’m surprised, San Francisco! And some of the options that were «vegetarian» weren’t *technically* – e.g. «we fry the okra in the same oil that we fry this chicken in!». Not a huge problem for me, but one of my friends doesn’t eat meat, so we had to look around a bit to find her a good option. Also, we overheard a parent who’s child had some sort of fish allergy saying it was hard for her to find something for him to eat. The beer/​wine/​cocktail tent was great – and had a lot of options. However, the drinks were a bit pricey. $ 11 for a glass of wine – the selections they were offering were probably around $ 13/​a bottle in the store.
Overall: I’d definitely go to this again! Next time, we will BYOB. If you’re going and have any sort of food restrictions: maybe bring something to eat in case none of the food trucks have anything for you. I’d still recommend going, because the atmosphere is quite fun.

I had been meaning to check out OTG Twilight at the Presidio since first hearing about it in April, and finally made it out on a windy Thursday in May.
Arriving at 4:50pm, the field was only sparsely filled. If you wanted to nab a cabana or a fire pit, now until maybe 5:15pm would be a good time to do it, as only a few were claimed with people’s belongings. No one actually sat in the cabanas or fired up their pits until maybe 5:30 or 6:00.
I was disappointed to see that there were only 8 – 10 food trucks present; not the entire lineup that was presented online. Of the few, I decided to get Koja (has never failed me), Kokio (who says no to Korean fried chicken?), and Pagan Fired Pizza (friend is obsessed with analyzing peoples’ pizzas). OTG is a great place to grab tried-​and-​true goodies and check out some new ones too.
The fire pits and the cabanas are a nice touch to the event, but I did not stick around to enjoy either, as it was way too windy. This event is pet friendly, as evidenced by the 5 – 6 dogs I encountered on the field there. Live music started at around 6:00pm.
Overall, the concept is great, but the food truck lineup was paltry and it was just way too windy that day to enjoy the space and the food. May consider revisiting if I have a large group of friends that wants to check it out and the weather decides to warm up.

One of my most favorite productions from OTG. When I heard of the fire pits (I’m a taaaaad bit of a pyro), I about lost my s*!$ in excitement. The vendors and a lovely evening out under the stars, with a group of friends made me nostalgic for childhood camp fires (which I started)… Minus the nasty food inexperienced cooks made in the dark.
It’s like I’m in the city but, not… I just transported all my friends to the camp fire and tents I loved so much from my childhood Girl Scout days AND brought gourmet chefs with me. «Baller» Girl Scout badge –EARNED :p But seriously, go. Wear warm clothes and play «pretend camping» in this amazing city with your friends. Bonus– The pups are welcome too (because, who would leave their dog at home for a camping trip?!) :)

This is for the THURSDAY OTG.
UGH. I wanted to love this so bad — it’s such a cool and unique idea. I should’ve read reviews and gone to the Sunday version, but I thought this Thursday one would be a good relief from work.
I came here around 6 and the lines were already packed… which I suppose wasn’t TOO much of a surprise… except the lines for EVERY SINGLE TRUCK were ridiculously long. They had ONE area for alcohol, with beers running out by thetime we were halfway through the line. Before 7. Fail.
By the time we got our beers, it was around 6:45 (I know), and the lines for the food trucks were just out-​of-​this-​world long. Trucks were out of food and we were in line for 30 – 40 minutes and went maybe 5 steps… there was no way food would last by the time we got to the front.
Look, I’m ok with long lines, but these lines were horrible. Such terrible planning — only 10 trucks for 10k+ people who reserved on Facebook? You’ve got to be kidding me. It was obvious you had to be here by 4 PM to reserve a good spot and actually be in a position to get food. Ridiculous!
I’m hoping they have more trucks/​alcohol areas next time — I was out in the freezing cold for almost 2 hours and only got 2 beers.

The place was great. All the food truck lined up along on one side of the meadow. I thought there may be more than just 8 or so but it was still a good variety. There were mostly food trucks that we had no clue about so it was fun just picking one to line up for. The lines were LONG! at least 40 — 60 minutes wait. Our first stop was a food truck name BobCha. It is this Korean joint that had a mix of the American/​Mexican culture. They had rice bowls, fries, tacos, burritos, etc. My friend ordered the bob burrito while I got the kimchi fries. The burrito was not too bad, not that exciting either though. It was basically the korean bulgogi beef plus rice and lettuce but the kimchi fries was DELICIOUS. It had kimchi, bulgogi, their home made hot sauce and melted cheese. It was savory and sweet. The meat + the sauce + the cheese really kicked the night off well. Great starter. Walking around with this big box of fries… people were all «whoa…that looks good» IT WAS YUMZZZZ.
Today was a bit windy so it started up kind of chilly already. But whoa… as the night went on and the sun started to set, it just started to get freezing cold. Being in such open space, I would expect Off The Grid to have outside heat stands. I’ve been to the OTG in Fort Mason and they have live music and heat stands. I had similar expectations for the Twilight tonight but there was none. No heater, no music, and sadly not enough lightings! This is a disappointment because the banner on their website showed a lot of tents and lights and it felt so warm and bright. Really wish there was some music at least.
Eventually, we got so cold that we had to leave lol. Definitely an interesting area though. Maybe it is just be but I need Music everywhere lmao. So not having music in this OTG made me feel a bit «awwwwwwww» *sad face*

Like what someone said on the Facebook page… 17k attendees but only 10 trucks today??? What…
List of food vendors today:
Doc’s of the Bay (Truck)
Cheese Gone Wild (Truck)
The Crab Lab (Trailer)
El Sur (Truck)
Korean Bobcha (Truck)
Johnny Doughnuts (Truck)
The Boneyard (Truck)
The Chairman (Truck)
SAJJ (Truck)
The Taco Guys (Truck)
Got there around 6PM and had to park away from the main area. Good thing parking signs said 2HR parking 8AM — 6PM! Walked over to the place and saw many cute tents and people! Sooo San Franciscan haha. My friends & I checked out Korean Bobcha. The wait was about 50 minutes –_​_​-​” We got the Kimchi fries ($ 8.75) and Bulgogi Burrito ($ 9.75). The Kimchi fries were DELICIOUS! The Bulgogi Burrito tasted a little funny to me… Maybe because I ate burritos earlier this week that I wasn’t feelin’ this one, but I still ate it though.
Then we waited about and HOUR at the Falafel Shwarma place called SAJJ. We did see how long the line was and it only got longer as we waited in line — so there must be something great about this truck! I ordered the Falafel in Pita brea ($ 8)… The wait was so long that my friends and I immediately left the event around 9PM to go get some boba and eat there. I think the coldest made me not want to eat/​move anymore. But I enjoyed the falafel — just not sure if the hour wait was worth it though.

So it is was SUPER cold on the day i came BUT luckily, everyone was so nice and was more than willing to share their little fire. I like this OTG because they have cabanas and fire pits which was totally cute. The line up for food trucks isn’t as extensive to the one on Fridays at Fort Mason. I don’t remember the two trucks i made purchases at but it was pretty good. I just remember it was Asian fusion — one had steak cubes and the other had pork belly. Hmmmm pork belly… i will definitely come again — with more layers and more friends because this is definitely a neat spot to just kick it.

I love this OTG! Go early to get a seat in the cabana or fire pits. The food selection is great. I had no line at chairman of bao. At fort mason its impossible to have no line. Its a really cool atmosphere but gets chilly at night. Bring warm clothes

One of those things that makes SF, SF. Had some tasty fries at Bacon Bacon and my friend and I sat in a couple chairs (a rarity — gotta snag them when there’s the opportunity!) and chatted overlooking the Bay. Bonus: was one of those rare warm SF nights!

This is by far the best Off the Grid event. It has most of the same food trucks as the others in SF, but the setting is extraordinary! There is a beautiful view of boats on the bay. There are fire pits and cabanas to keep you cozy and warm on chilly evenings. The whole thing is set on a nice big grassy area with lots of space for kids and adults to play, dance, and run around.
We all had the Bao buns from The Chairman’s. They were delicious as usual. My favorite is the crispy tofu on the steamed bun. The pork belly is also quite tasty. There are cocktails available but I didn’t get one this time since I had to work early in the morning. I’ll have to come back to try them out.
The band that was playing was called Wild Couch. Their music was fun and added nicely to the ambiance. My 2 year old had a great time dancing!
I’ll definitely be going back next week to try some cocktails and different foods trucks.

This is a great idea! If only they had more tents and «camp fires»! It’s great for friends and family to gather along around a fire or a couple to cuddle under a tent while enjoying a live band and the company of good people! The trucks all line up and the grass area just gets filled! I suggest you come very early, my friends went 10min before the suggested timeeverything started up and all the tents were filled but luckily they got seats around one of the little camp fire like things. Oh and it gets windy don’t forget it’s SF so when they say bring a light blanket, bring one!!!

Cool event, but I’m not sure the food is worth the trek. The Presidio is so far out of the way. Took us forever to get there, so we only had like 15 minutes of live music and the food trucks started closing around 8:50.
I tried a couple food trucks, and they were solid but not 5-​stars. I liked the vibe of everyone chilling outdoors (even though it was definitely less than 50 degrees in June) to live music, food trucks, and the gorgeous view. They should have a few more bonfires and cabanas for other people, especially those in smaller groups!

I have a long commute to get home from San Francisco after work every day, so I don’t usually stay in the city after work. When I heard about Twilight at the Presidio, I was intrigued. My friend had coincidentally made plans to go as well, so I thought I would check it out.
TIP: get there at 5pm or earlier to get a tent (up for 4 people) or firering (5+ people), the events gets crowded and these get taken first, obviously.
Why does the Presidio have to be so far away from the main lines of transport (Bart/​Caltrain)? It would be so awesome if Bart was closer… wishful thinking. I looked up Muni routes to get from work to the Presidio and it was going to take OVER AN HOUR (from FiDi). WHAT?! I walked to my friend’s office near Embarcadero and requested a Sidecar. He got us there in 30. If you’re a Presidio resident, you can take the PresidiGO shuttle for free.
I loved the truck line up when I went: Bacon Bacon (my friend got a delicious breakfast burrito), Little Red Riding Truck (I got the Bratwurst with potatoes and sauerkraut, delicious!!), Casey’s Pizzaria, Lobsta Truck, and others. We got dessert at Keep Rolling (Chimney Cake, a Hungarian dessert; the cinnamon one is like a churro) and hot spiced apple cider, A MUST! It was gloomy and windy, so the hot drink was perfect. They have other drinks too.
The most important stuff:
Off The Grid at the Presidio + alcohol — DO IT!
MUST: hot spiced apple cider
Don’t drive… parking is a nightmare. Use a ride share service/​Muni/​PresidiGO
Get there early at 5pm if you want a tent or fire ring

About 9 trucks. But they have cabanas & camp fires to keep you warm. so get here early & there’s plenty of parking. $ 1/​hr or $ 6/​all day. Free after 6p.