How to prepare for Columbia’s biggest food truck festival

The second S.C. Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival is rolling into Columbia Saturday, with a larger venue, more food trucks and craft beer.

Organizers underestimated the popularity of last year’s food truck festival, planning for about 5,000 attendees at the S.C. State Farmers Market venue but drawing closer to 14,000, according to Anne-Marie Aigner, founder of Food Truck Festivals of America, which is presenting this year’s event. That led to problems including long lines and a shortage of food.

Related: City of Columbia embraces food trucks

But this year, the event has been moved to the S.C. State Fairgrounds, with more space for attendees and better traffic flow and parking options.

And that’s a good thing, given that there are 38 food trucks signed up – up from roughly 25 last year – making the event among the state’s largest of its kind.

“The Highway Patrol will be there directing traffic, and this year the venue is so much bigger and has more entry and exit points,” said Janet Prensky of Food Truck Festivals of America. Richland County deputies also will be on hand, a State Fairgrounds representative said.

Ticket sales for this year’s event are good and “we expect a last minute rush in the next couple of days,” Prensky said.

“We love the way South Carolina has responded to the festival,” Prensky said. There is a waiting list for trucks and Prensky and her crew try to select the trucks that will bring the greatest variety. “Each truck has been asked to bring at least three items: one small, one medium and one large, like a rack of ribs if you wanted to get dinner for the family.”

There also will be a refrigerated truck on site so that the vendors can bring extra supplies in the hope they don’t run out of food.

The question is: How does a food truck vendor prepare for a crowd of thousands?

“We’re pumped!” said Gerard Lin, owner/operator of The Wurst Wagen. “We are preparing five different sausages, schnitzle and the Doner sandwich.”

This will be Lin’s first time at the festival.

“I’m German, and I hate waiting in lines,” he said. “I don’t like them and I understand that other people don’t like waiting.

“We have a reputation of being the ‘buffet’ of food truck rodeos because we can serve a customer every 30 seconds. We’re basically a restaurant on wheels and we have to make sure everything is properly working.”

Lin is working with the butchers at German Meat Market to prepare homemade sausages, expecting to serve 500 over the course of the day. The menu also will include schnitzle and the popular Doner kebab (shaved beef with lettuce, tomato and cabbage and a garlic-yogurt sauce on a bun). The Wurst Wagen will sell a combination of one sausage and one side for $7; schnitzle with two sides for $8 and Doner kebabs for $8.

“We want the customer to have a pleasant experience. Columbia is growing and has a growing dining scene and we want to be part of the trend,” Lin said.

This also will be the first year for Size Matters BBQ Bus. The operation, run by twin brothers Dusty and Jordin Lindsey, is a tricked out school bus with a smoker on the back that serves pulled pork and the occasional basket of Cajun crawfish. The Lindseys grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and went to school at the University of South Carolina (Jordin was a defensive end on the Gamecock football team from 2004-2009, Dusty was a linebacker). Their father ran a restaurant and taught them about barbecue and they still travel back to Alabama for fresh crawfish.

For Saturday, Jordin said they are preparing 400 pounds of pork. “We’re bringing back the pulled pork fritters for the event because they go so well with beer.”

“We started prepping last week,” he added. “Like the name says, ‘size matters.’ We serve big portions. You can’t leave our truck and still be hungry.”

Speaking of big, if there is such a thing as a “headliner” at a food truck festival, it is 2Fat 2 Fly. Ramone Dickerson’s and Corey Simmons’ stuffed chicken wings are a crowd favorite and you can usually find their truck by looking for the longest lines.

“I have hope ... and I’m terrified,” said Dickerson, about going into an event as one of the more popular food trucks.

“You do what you can, and we give ourselves a hard time about what you can do,” he added, “but it’s an ‘understated’ labor of love.”

At last year’s food truck event at the State Farmers Market, Dickerson estimates that 2Fat 2Fly went through about a half ton of wings. This year, he thinks his crew of four will stuff closer to 3/4 ton.

Wednesday, They will begin making the stuffings – jambalaya and mac-n-cheese – Wednesday and will stay busy right up until they drive the 2Fat 2Fly bus onto the Midway. Dickerson says they are scaling down the choices so that the crew can serve faster — and there may be a limit to the number of orders per customer, just so that everyone has a chance at the wings.

Pacing and patience will be key this Saturday.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 12:27 PM with the headline "How to prepare for Columbia’s biggest food truck festival."