View photos from Trucks on the Beach here.
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Trucks on the Beach closing party proved once and for all that people will wait on line for 45 minutes for food.
Lines were the name of the game at this event, as trucks turned out food as fast as humanly possible, while lines continued to form with people getting off one truck line, to eat their food while waiting on a different line. Jim Heins from Latin Burger did the math and estimated his truck turned out about eight slider-sized versions of his Latin Macho burger per minute. That's one burger every seven-and-a-half seconds for those counting.
This party was a good shot in the arm for the Miami food truck scene, and the truck owners did their part. Decked out in blue chefs' jackets instead of the usual t-shirt and jeans, the truckers basked in the glory of the evening.
For one night, these hard working men and women, who spend their mornings prepping food and evenings driving to every church parking lot and festival in south Florida, were celebrity chefs. It was good to see them stepping out from their trucks for a moment to pose for pictures or say a few words for the various film crews that were covering the event.
As with most festival events, guests were encouraged to vote for their favorite truck by giving a supplied playing card to their favorite truck. By the time the winner was announced by host Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods (who is an avid street food enthusiast), many of the trucks had run out of food and were closed down for the night.
Zimmern announced that voting was extremely close between the top two trucks, with Ms. Cheezious winning by a two-vote margin. Unlike a horse race, placing doesn't count so we never found out which truck ran a close second.
According to Latin Burger's owner, Jim Heins, the truck served 1,763 burgers last night. That's a lot of meat.
Mangia Mia's meatball smasher was a fan favorite. Meatballs smashed between toasted bread with lots of cheese made this a warm, gooey delight.
Dim Ssam a Gogo's Richard Hales serves his chunk'd kalbi cheesy tator tots.
Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn hanging out at the trucks.
David Garcia (The Fish Box), Jim Heins (Latin Burger), and Brett Charivari (BC Tacos) sport their fancy chef jackets, courtesy of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
Jack Garabedian dishes out his Ensenada fish tacos from his truck, Jefe's Original Fish Taco and Burgers.
Mr. Good Stuff's Alfredo Montero wins our vote for best-named dish. Meet the 4 cheezy-my-neezy on roids. That's a mouthful.
The gang from Ms. Cheezious won the fan favorite food truck award for their grilled blue & bacon sandwich.
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