Taste of the Bay Area - What to Eat at Outside Lands

Since this blog has me expanding into the food world as well, I really wanted to comment on all of the awesome things to eat at Outside Lands. As much as the festival is about music, it's also a celebration of the Bay Area and in no way is that more obvious than all of the local restaurants and food trucks that set up shop in Golden Gate Park for the weekend. The list of food vendors is absolutely huge, and it was tough to narrow down my picks to the (still pretty long) list below. Since this blog was initially about exploring the bay area, I've already written full blog posts on some of the places below. Most of those were written several years ago and it says a lot that a food vendor can still be doing so well after so much time.

4505 Meats

4505 Meats has long claimed to have the Best Damn Cheeseburger in the City and even though I mostly eat paleo, I love me a good burger sometimes and I can attest to their claims. A lot of burgers in SF try to be something really fancy and crazy. 4505 goes a different route though and just gives you good juicy meat on a quality bun. You can spice up your burger with bacon or an egg which are both great options. I do have to say though, this burger is not for the clean eater - especially if you add the egg.

They are also bringing their famous chicharonnes to the festival. These golden crispy nuggets of fried pork fat are what I like to call "paleo chips" and they're awesome. These ones in particular have a lovely sweet and spicy seasoning to them that will have you licking your fingers.

Blue Bottle Coffee

In the early days of this blog, I was trying to find a way to explore the city while studying for the worst exam I've ever taken. I found the best way to kill two birds with one stone was to study in a different coffee shop each week and of course, the infamous Blue Bottle was my first stop. Blue Bottle coffee is amazing and it's strong. This will be the perfect pick-me-up when the long and crazy days at the festival are wearing you down.

Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen

Pica Pica is one of the places I've written about before. When I first visited this place, I was brand new to arepas and the texture was a little foreign to me. I've since become a much bigger fan of them and have even tried making them at home. This one is high on my list as a great lunch option for Outside Lands. It's also very helpful that the arepas are easy to hold and eat. In a festival situation, that can be super handy.

Tacolicious

My first experience with Tacolicious was at their stands on Thursday at the Ferry Building. My favorite lunch time escape would be to get a bunch of different tacos with the amazing mild green salsa and sit on the water enjoying them. That was heaven for me. Tacos are high on my list of favorite foods and Tacolicious is high on my list of taco joints so that says a lot. They are bringing fish tacos, chicken tacos, and veggie tacos so try them all!

TBD/AQ

These two restaurants share an owner and a street in SoMa and one night I accidentally had the pleasure of going to both. That's a whole different story that you can read about but the point was that the food was great and the customer service was even better. Bad service will turn me away from a place so quickly even if the food is amazing but these guys really know how to treat customers and they made a really memorable impression on me.

Little Chihuahua

Little Chihuahua brings together the best of two things I love - Mexican food and eating fresh, healthy ingredients. The restaurant has grass fed beef, organic veggies, and gets all of its meat and produce sustainably. It's definitely a great compromise between delicious food and healthy eating. Guilt free burritos all the way!

Woodhouse Fish Co.

This is the stop for all of the seafood lovers. I'm clearly an oyster lover so I'm really happy that Woodhouse is bringing some to the festival this year. However, I'm a little more happy that they are also bringing their amazing lobster rolls. I've never met a lobster roll I didn't love but Woodhouse really knows how to overflow their buttery rolls with tons of amazing lobster.

Food Trucks

Bacon Bacon Truck

The Bacon Bacon Truck in no way needs my endorsement. Everything they sell has bacon in it and the only time I've seen it without a line is when I've spotted it driving down the street. Whenever this happens, I need to restraining myself from running after it with a handful of cash like it's an ice cream truck. The Bacon Bacon truck is simply amazing. I've been fortunate enough to try several of their offerings and it's all great. I personally recommend the pork belly friesb ut really - you can't go wrong with bacon anything and everything here delivers.

Curry Up Now

This is a little bit of a bittersweet one for me - Curry Up Now is one of my favorite trucks and they are not at my local Soma Streat Food Park nearly enough (I maybe dash over there whenever I see the tweet that they're there), but they aren't bringing my favorite dish to the festival - Chicken Tikka Masala Fries. Few things make me happier than the mildly spiced chicken over waffle cut sweet potato fries. What they are bringing though are Samosas and Kathi rolls and if they're half as good as my treasured fries, they will be amazing.

Señor Sisig

Señor is Filipino Mexican fusion. While this might sound like a terrible idea, it's done perfectly. Chicken adobo tacos will change you. I also just love how many options they have. The full truck offers tacos, burritos, taco salads, and more. For the healthy eater - the salad does an amazing job of letting you enjoy awesome flavors without any of the guilt that comes along with the tortilla. I always appreciate a food truck that has those kinds of options because it is pretty rare.

Sharona's Chocolate Shop

Three words - Chocolate Covered Smores. As we all know, I try to eat paleo. However, I tend to cheat or make exceptions when I'm at fun events. Chocolate Lands at Outside Lands was definitely one of those times. Sharona's Chocolate Shop had these giant chocolate covered smores and they were full of chocolately marshmallowy goodness. They were super rich and since I don't normally eat sweets, I had to save half of mine. However, after a little time in the microwave it was the perfect post-show snack to have before bed that night.


So I honestly have to say this was one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write. Thinking of the words to describe some of my favorite restaurants - so easy. However, reliving some of my favorite food experiences has my mouth absolutely watering. I'm pretty sure they are going to have to roll me out of the festival because no person should have lobster rolls, pork fries, chocolate covered smores, a million tacos, and a cheeseburger all at once (plus the wine!) but I'm going to try.

And then I'm going to look like this...