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A new weekly food truck market is coming to Uptown Oakland starting next week, on Monday, July 14, from 5 to 9 p.m. It will be the city’s second following the launch in early 2013 of a Lake Merritt market that takes place outside the Oakland Museum of California every Friday evening.
Off the Grid: Uptown Oakland will be located outside The Uptown apartment complex on Williams Street and Telegraph Avenue, near the Fox Theater. Food trucks slated to participate on a rotating basis include Roderick’s BBQ, burger and brunch vendor Doc’s of the Bay, Argentine empanadas specialist El Porteno, sweet treat purveyor Garden Creamery, meat maestros Out of the Cave, sliders and fries guys Whip Out, Japanese crêperie J Shack, Frozen Kuhsterd, Ebbett’s Good to Go, and Mediterranean mavens SAJJ.
Along with food, the new market will focus on music. Aside from the Fox Theatre, the area also boasts the Paramount Theatre, The New Parish and The Uptown Nightclub.
“Off the Grid will strive to bring Oakland music to Uptown, embracing its rich musical history through partnerships with local organizations and an emphasis on youth music,” the San Francisco-based food truck organization said in a statement.
The new market is being organized in partnership with developer Forest City, who are behind The Uptown project, which they describe as “the anchor of the redevelopment of the Oakland Arts and Entertainment District.” Off The Grid says other local partners include the Oakland Museum of California, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, Funky Soul Stop Records, and local schools.
Monday’s inaugural market will see OCMA’s “mobile museum” Rover on hand to promote the museum’s Vinyl exhibit, while the owner of the nearby Funky Soul Stop will be spinning some the store’s records, according to Inside Scoop SF.
Off the Grid now has eight lunch or dinner markets in the East Bay, including in North Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda, Lake Merritt, El Cerrito, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Hayward, and Pleasanton. Berkeley has proved tricky with OTG deciding to pull the plug on two markets — one in the Gourmet Ghetto and the other Southside on Haste and Telegraph.
But East Bayers can expect to see more mobile food destinations. Off The Grid’s director of business development Ben Hamlin told Inside Scoop SF they will be announcing at least one more location in the East Bay before the end of August.
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2014/07/09/off-the-grid-launches-uptown-food-truck-market/
