By Adam Musgrave
On August 31, the Florida State Fairgrounds will be the site of an attempt to write Tampa into the Guinness Book of World Records.
The goal? To have the largest number of food trucks rallying at one place in history.
But Jeremy Gomez, who runs Generation Food Truck and started the race for this mobile culinary bonanza, wants more than simply a world record. His goal is to bring together no fewer than 100 trucks and their incredibly eclectic menus in order to highlight to all of Tampa Bay the impressive level of cuisine that can come out of the back of a truck.
Gomez didn’t set out to break any records.
“My goal in the long run was just to show people that great food exists in Tampa,” he said.
Not only does great food exist, but in this town, it can come to you.
In the case of August’s ‘World’s Largest Food Truck Rally EVER!’ much of it is traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles to get here. In addition to trucks from all over Florida, owners are traveling from all over the Southeast United States – as far away as Texas and North Carolina – to be part of the festivities.
“We want to make it the biggest event in the southeast period,” said Gomez. He is doing everything possible to deliver, first partnering with the Fairgrounds before obtaining sponsors like Truckspotting, Carlos Eats and Yelp as well as Tampa powerhouses like the Tampa Tribune and 98 Rock.
As with all events where food trucks are involved, the day will be all about the cuisine.
Far from the deep-fried carnival faire that most people might expect from a mobile kitchen, today’s food trucks can create gourmet food as polished as many brick-and-mortar establishments for a fraction of the price. Attendees can expect everything from gourmet burgers and hot dogs international cuisine to delicacies that are hard to find in even the most high-priced restaurants in Tampa. Gomez’s own truck regularly serves up such delicacies as escargot and foie gras as well as even rarer items like antelope, kangaroo and ostrich.
With a month remaining until the event it already looks like the previous record of 62 trucks, set in Miami, will easily fall. All that’s left now is for truck aficionados to figure out how to try a little something from every truck there.
For more information about the World’s Largest Food Truck Rally EVER!, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/100TruckRally.
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