Tags
burger, busters sea cove, cupcake diner, cupcakes, el gastronomo vagabundo, food truck, food truck eats, ice cream, kettle popcorn, lobster, niagara-on-the-lake, ontario, peanut butter, peller estates winery, roaming buffalo, shriners creek, suresh doss, taco
What do you get when 15 Ontario food trucks ends up in the backyard of one of VQA’s most esteemed wineries? Food Truck Eats at Peller Estates Winery for the BIGGEST gathering of food trucks in Canada. Ever.

{Complimentary glass of Peller Estates Iced Cuvee Rose in a souvenir glass}
My mom and I were lucky to score tickets for this event which was sold out for for both Sunday and Monday. For my American and International readers, this past weekend was a long one with Victoria Day yesterday (Monday) and the weather was incredible. It was like the hottest day in summer each day this weekend…like July in May. The perfect type of day for waiting in line – which I’m starting to realize is the name of the game when it comes to food truck events (which we quickly learned at our first Food Truck Eats event). I should make myself clear though…the food is SO WORTH THE WAIT!

The place was seriously packed with food and wine lovers alike. Some people came really prepared – blankets for the grass, umbrellas to block the sun, sun hats (which we should’ve brought) and sunscreen – and it was interesting to hear about different strategies for how people were going to get to the most trucks. Most came in groups of 2-4 and they would split up into different food truck lineups, or to get drinks and then reconvene relatively at the same time.

My mom and I decided we didn’t want to get full too quickly so our “strategy” was to just wait in line, one at a time, until we a) ate till our bellies were full; or b) ran out of cash. Luckily for us, both happened at the same time.

When I first saw the lineup of trucks, I knew I had to get to El Gastronomo Vagabundo first. Their menu sounded incredible and once I heard about their homemade chocolate and tequila ice cream, I was sold.
{El Gastronomo Vagabundo‘s menu}

{Waiting for our food at El Gastronomo Vagabundo’s food truck}

We didn’t want to share the pollo loco taco so we each had one. When we went to order the drunken monkey, we overheard that they were running out of the ice cream! Thankfully we were the one of the last few orders left. We should’ve ordered two, haha. We also got their home brewed iced tea which I found tasty and refreshing but my mom was missing something sweet. I’m happy I got my own taco- the chicken was crispy and the flavours in the sour cream and hot sauce was really unexpected… fresh but not overpowering. A fantastic taco! But the most special thing was the drunken monkey. That ice cream was seriously incredible. You could taste a hint of tequila. Again, I wish we had ordered two.

{My mom enjoying her Pollo Loco Taco}

{Busters Sea Cove‘s menu}
The lobster rolls at Busters Sea Cove‘s food truck caught my mom’s eye so we ventured into their lineup next. I believe this food truck is one of Ontario’s newest and so I was excited to try it out.

While waiting for our roll, I couldn’t help but take a peek out between the trucks at the beautiful vineyards.
{Roaming Buffalo‘s menu}
It was weird at first because you do get that taste of peanut butter which is really unexpected in a burger. But by the second bite, it ends up blending really well together with the meat which was juicy and had a bit of heat, and the “jam” which was a bit of smokey sweet. I would definitely get it again!
We were debating about hitting up the Gourmet Bitches truck but at this point we were both getting full and running out of cash so we decided to save it for the next event.
We couldn’t leave without taking some stuff to go, so we stopped by the Cupcake Diner’s truck. It was an adorable truck with a good variety of cupcake flavours.
We got red velvet and banana coconut for us, and the chocolate dulce du lece for Vince. You might be wondering why Vince wasn’t here with us, and you might have already guessed the answer….work. I actually felt some serious guilt for going to this event without him. I swear I would’ve kidnapped him from work if he let me!
We had such a fantastic time at the Food Truck Eats at Peller Estates Winery event. What a beautiful combination of street eats and wine, gorgeous weather, a great turn out, and a perfect partnership. We even showed Pellar some love by picking up a few bottles of wine before we left. It was a well-organized event, with a good variety of trucks, and a delicious selection of food! I’m already putting aside my sun hat for the next one
Aside from the cupcake, I couldn’t go home without something else for Vince so I did one last stop at the Shriners Creek truck for some gourmet kettle popcorn.
For someone that normally does not care for popcorn at all, I was totally smitten for this popcorn which Vince almost devoured in one sitting. The popcorn was a great end to the day, and Vince got to enjoy a piece of it, too.






Great to see the range of food as well as the popularity of the roving Food Truck contingent. However does this bring us closer to having a range of food vehicles within our city at relatively fixed locations on a regular basis?
Hi Jerry! Thanks for stopping by. You bring up an interesting question. I think that Toronto has to make a lot of changes in order for food trucks to be able to operate with less restrictions and, as you said, be at fixed locations on a regular basis. The benefit of these type of food truck events, is that it highlights not only the increasing popularity of food trucks in Ontario (which also demonstrates an existing market for trucks in cities like Toronto) but also that there is a need for street eats that goes beyond hot dogs and fries. You might also say that there is movement building across the province for food trucks.
These are just my thoughts and I’m by no means an expert. I think you might also find the article on Suresh Doss that I linked to above also informative (if you haven’t already read it).
Feel free to share more of your thoughts!
Hi there! Thanks for your reply.
The popularity of food trucks overall can only be a good thing from my view point. Unfortunately though, Toronto city council seems to be mute to the idea of more stationary food vendors that will add to the street scape. The A La Carte program was a resounding failure and remains so as long as the majority in council do not recognize and learn from the lessons that were outlined in the Cameron Hawkins & Associates Inc. report.
Anyone interested should go to http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-37419.pdf to check it out.
One can only hope…
Like the concept, taking street vending to a next level
Haha I totally agree! And I think it’s about time too! When I see the menus for these trucks and pop up’s I’m always amazed at the level of creativity in ingredients, methods used, and even sophistication. It’s really inspiring and I haven’t been disappointed in any of the
dishes yet. I’m always curious to see what they’ll come up with next.
Such a cool concept for an event! It must have been so hard to choose where to go next!
Absolutely! With 15 trucks to choose from, and only so much you can really eat (and only so much cash), you really have to pick where you want to go. I definitely missed out on quite a few trucks.
Do you have food trucks where you are?
I’m in Boston, and they’re gaining in popularity here. They are parked on certain streets in touristy spots and I’m seeing more and more of them!
This looks fun!!
SO much fun! Do you have food trucks out in your neck of town?
Thanks for the great post. I was saddened to have missed this event as I hadn’t bought tickets in time.
I was just looking at an Eat St episode yesterday with a Food Truck that puts Peanut Butter in everything. I don’t know if my mind will ever be able to wrap around it being put in a burger.
What set the Kettle Corn apart?
Think of it as peanut satay with beef…just deconstructed on a burger
Once you get past the mental disassociation, you’ll be good to go!
That event was really awesome, but I was talking with Suresh and he has so many more ideas up his sleeve so I’m sure there will be plenty more opportunities this summer. For Canada Day weekend there’s going to be some trucks for the celebrations in your neck of the woods. Did you hear about it?
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