by The Cowl Editor on August 30, 2018
Arts & Entertainment
by Patrick Fuller ’21
A&E Co-Editor
Major cities throughout the United States provide space for corporate skyscrapers and plenty of high-paying, white-collar jobs. Despite the intimidating luxury, the people within are regular human beings. They love to dress up, earn money, and eat.
Taking advantage of the latter desire, restaurants have slowly embraced the food truck movement. Brick-and-mortar locations now build on homegrown popularity by mobilizing to areas of high activity.
And now, Providence College food lovers can join in on the fun thanks to PVD Food Truck Events. Although small, the city of Providence, Rhode Island stands with the rest of the country in its food revolution. PVD Food Truck Events organizes events throughout the state of Rhode Island with locally-sourced trucks, live music, and free admission. The group advertises through FoodTrucksIn.com, a website “…dedicated to serving the food truck community… by providing food truck information, the locations of food trucks who are currently serving, and details about upcoming food truck events.”
The goal of bringing together and supporting local communities has garnered the support of the Providence City Council, the City of Warwick Department of Tourism, Culture, and Development, and the Town of Scituate, among others.
All summer, the traveling food truck bonanza has been posting up in places like Smithfield’s Deerfield Park, Sons of Liberty Beer and Spirits Company, Chase Farm in Lincoln, the North Scituate Gazebo, and Carousel Village in Roger Williams Park.
In fact, Carousel Village has been the location for Food Truck Fridays for the past four seasons. This event returns thanks to the support of Food Trucks In, Trinity Brewhouse, Gooseneck Vineyards, and Motif Magazine. Due to its unique placement in Roger Williams Park, the food trucks come alongside opportunities to ride the carousel, the carousel train, an actual camel, or peddle-driven swan boats.
However, the main attraction at Food Truck Fridays is, obviously, the food. The sun setting through the trees mixes with covers of old rock ‘n’ roll songs as patrons wander around, attempting to choose a meal. For those attending, the options include barbeque from Baby’s Bonetown BBQ, Binge BBQ, Smoke & Squeal BBQ, or GottaQ BBQ. If pulled pork and brisket does not satisfy, Brunch Belly serves up lobster roll sliders and buffalo shrimp po’boys.
Meanwhile, Buddha Belly serves up authentic Chinese cuisine next to the grilled cheeses of Championship Melt. Haven Brothers, a staple of the city of Providence, slings hotdogs and burgers. Poco Loco and Mamita’s Food Truck serve empanadas and traditional Latin American favorites, representing Rhode Island’s large Hispanic population.
Dessert may be a cannoli from Cape Cod Cannolis, an ice cream from Like No Udder, shaved ice from Kona Ice, or a coffee from Presto Strange O Coffee Truck.
Catch all of these treats and more every Friday at Carousel Village in Roger Williams Park until Sep. 28. PVD Food Truck Events will continue to host events until Oct. 25. Beyond the special events held in other Rhode Island towns, the organization has food trucks on Thayer Street on Aug. 30, Sep. 27, and Oct. 25. The schedule, along with further details, can be found on PVD Food Truck Event’s Facebook page or FoodTrucksIn.com.