Getting lunch at a food truck often involves nice weather to lure people out of the office, a bit of a line, and the loud sound of a motor keeping a portable kitchen running.
The Main Street Food Truck Festival, held Saturday in downtown Little Rock, had all of that on a bigger scale, with more than 40 food trucks, plus thousands of people walking around -- some carrying their dogs through the tight crowds -- looking for a bite.
For many, the festival also meant indulging in as many foods from as many trucks as possible.
Before standing in the long, diagonal line outside of the Pie Hole, John and Betty Houston stopped at Almost Famous -- their favorite food truck -- for boudin balls and the roughneck sandwich. Then they went to Yvette's Sandwiches for barbecue, then to a farm-to-table truck for more food.
Betty Houston, 44, was planning to get a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert, while John Houston, 45, still was deciding.
But after the Pie Hole, they thought they'd probably go home.
"We're going to do some cardio after this," said John Houston, laughing.
Betty Houston said she and her husband do the same thing every year.
"We usually eat at four or five trucks, and then we don't eat the rest of the day," she said.
Sharhonda Kelly, 24, and Jason Wallace, 25, also went from truck to truck with Wallace's 5-year-old daughter, Jakara.
They enjoy Loblolly Creamery and Bash Burger Co. any day of the week, but they had never been to the festival before.
On Saturday, they stopped for tacos, waffles, burgers, barbecue nachos and ice cream at food trucks they'd never seen before.
"They should do this twice a year or more often," Kelly said as they waited outside of Red River Catering.
Kayleigh Fountain, 20, and Zach Goulding, 23, weren't sure how many more food trucks they'd go to after filling up on Banana Leaf, an Indian cuisine truck from Little Rock. After scouring the festival, the pair stopped at the end of the roped off area at 3rd and Main streets and ordered.
Fountain got a samosa with rice bowl, and Goulding settled on a meat sampler of chicken tandoori and chicken tikka masala over rice.
"It's pretty good," Goulding said.
After that, Fountain thought they'd get dessert. She had her eye on an ice pop stand.
Most food trucks appeared to have lines of dozens of people, including local favorites such as the Pie Hole. People lined up to get a slice of what they'd heard they had to try.
"Last year the line was too long," Betty Houston said. "I heard it was amazing."
She had her eye on pumpkin, "because it's October, everything is pumpkin!"
Joyce Cothern, 54, held a box full of sandwiches for her and some friends as she waited in line for a slice of pumpkin pie.
Cothern considers herself more of a country girl and not so much into the crowd at the festival, but she hoped the pie -- pumpkin being her favorite -- would be good. She'd heard good things about the Pie Hole.
"It has a good reputation," she said.
Metro on 10/04/2015