Hopefully, this won’t come as news to University of Connecticut students, but this past weekend on April 20, 2024, at 5 p.m., SUBOG hosted its annual Food Truck Festival, inviting 12 food trucks to provide free and delicious food to students. The trucks ranged from Brazilian Gula Grill to Meriano’s Cannoli, with a wide variety of allergen-friendly options. As a lover of long lines and free food, I decided to review some of the trucks I went to. I ended up being able to hit six out of 12 trucks while trying some of the more popular items!
Meriano’s Cannoli: 8/10
At 4:45 p.m. I approached the shortest line I could find, which was Meriano’s Cannoli with only 30 people in front of me. I waited only a short seven minutes in this line before I was given a chocolate-dipped cannoli. The filling was perfect, with the right ratio of ricotta and chocolate chips. I really enjoyed it because who doesn’t love cannolis? However, the entire shell was chocolate dipped, not just one side like I predicted. So it was way more chocolate than I expected. I definitely loved it but I could’ve done with a half dip so it falls to an 8/10.
Brazilian Gula Grill: 7/10
After the cannoli, I visited some friends in the Brazilian Gula Grill line. The menu looked fantastic, but after a solid 20-minute wait, I went for the chicken croquette. For those who don’t know, a croquette is a deep-fried roll often shaped into a triangle, with a filling. The chicken filling was very soft and mushy. There wasn’t an extreme flavor and it was weird because I was expecting more. It was yummy and I could eat a lot, but I wasn’t sure what flavor it was meant to be. For that, it gets a 7/10.
Luann’s Bakery Cupcake: 8/10
This was my second and final sweet treat of the day. The cupcake line moved insanely fast and I probably waited a total of five to eight minutes. Luann’s did wonderfully at keeping a fast line and had the cutest stand. For the actual cupcake, I got funfetti! It was amazing, no joke. My only issue was that the frosting was heavy and thick. I could only eat the actual cupcake, not the frosting. I have to note, that I am not a frosting girl, so I definitely wasn’t going to love it either way. The funfetti got an 8/10 for me!
Crave: 0/10
I was most excited for Crave because they had elote on their menu. In devastating news, it ran out before I got to try it. I heard it was the best thing most people had all day. But, this isn’t why Crave got a 0/10. I got a chili cheese dog as a second choice. It was the worst hot dog I ever had. The hot dog was cold while the chili was burning hot. The bun fell apart immediately and I couldn’t put it back together. After two bites, it had to be thrown out. Crave lost me on this, receiving a 0/10.
Uncle D’s Blazin BBQ: 10/10
I was a lucky girl, and before I went to the festival, received a one-time use skip-the-line pass. (SUBOG held a little contest the Friday before the festival). The entire festival, I kept thinking about how I would use it. I decided before everything sold out, I wanted to visit the most popular truck, without waiting in the line! Uncle D’s had the worst line. It took an hour for most people to get their food. The line went from Rowe to Koons Hall at one point. I was extremely lucky to walk up at the height of the festival and grab my food within minutes. I got the smoked barbecue wings. This stole the show for me. It was delicious and I could taste the smoked flavor immediately. Their house barbecue had a tangy flavor but was incredibly sweet paired with smoked flavor. I got four wings somehow, which is a huge portion for a food festival like this! Next time, I would start with this line 100%. Uncle D’s got a 10/10 for the perfect wings.
Lizzie’s Curbside: 8/10
Lastly, I wanted to hit the UConn classic, Lizzie’s Curbside. This was toward the end of the festival and sadly, they ran out of everything but egg and cheese sandwiches. So I ended my night at 6:30 p.m. with an egg and cheese. The sandwich was perfect, just missing the bacon sadly. But it was a great way to end such a big festival and with something I am so familiar with. The egg and cheese got an 8/10!
Conclusion
Overall, this was my favorite food truck event so far. I had a wonderful time in each line with friends and got excited about so many items. Even though I only went to half of the trucks, I feel like I got a great sense of the festival. I am happy to have gotten the big ticket items and will definitely come back next year!