For those unlucky enough to have missed the first "LA Street Food Fest"well here's your chance to make up for it. On July 24th, LA SFF is having a Summer Tasting Event. The brains at LA SFF stepped up their game with a larger venue so that more food lovers, such as Tanker & myself, have more space to search for food vendors. They're also going to have 2 beer gardens and Tequila tasting all day! Looks like I'm going to be calling in sick the next day! Bring on the food coma! LA SFF ... Holla at your boys!

as seen on LA Street Food Fest

-infamousjj

For those who don't know about Squeeze Inn, it's a very famous burger place in NorCal. Currently they have two locations, Sacramento and Galt, Ca. They're planning on opening one more in Roseville, Ca. The original one, posted above, is sadly no longer there. They moved to a newer and larger location, a few blocks down from the og location. It was even featured on Oprah and the Food Network as a hidden gem in the Sacramento area.

So if you're ever up here (Sac) and are looking for the best burger in town, smothered in a bubbling cheese "Skirt", then you have come to the right place.

The famous "Squeeze With Cheese" burger is a 1/3 pound of beef with almost as much cheese, all on a fresh bun, and all the fixings. Trust me... you will want more than one!

-infamousjj

The Roach Coach Craze in LA began when Kogi's started making waves among the late night crowd, with some unfamiliar truck food. Korean tacos? Who'd have thunk - thus sparking a wave of various food trucks/catering companies mixing the traditional roach coach affair with some ethnic flair. Soon, there was a truck on every corner doling out gobs of upscale truck food that Angelenos willingly follow with a passion. Which leads us into this pinnacle event - the LA Street Food Fest.

The Los Angeles Street Food Festival occurred this past Saturday and brought together a good amount of LA food trucks in one spot for about 6 hours. Located at the LA Studios Center in Downtown LA, there were the familiar Fishlips Sushi Truck and the Grilled Cheese Truck, to the not so familiar India Jones Truck and CoolHaus Truck. Entry was $5 and most food samples ranged between $1-$6, from what we saw, so you could pretty much taste the best of a couple trucks for the amount of a full course meal at a local restaurant. Wonderful concept and for the most part did not disappoint with the amount of options available to the local foodies (30+ food vendors present!!!).

After spending the better portion of our morning here trying to fill up our bellies, we realized that the biggest gripe of the festival were the lines. The line to get in was already wrapping itself through the parking lot before the gates opened at 11am. By the time we left, it was snaking around the entire block and they ended up turning away folks hours before closing time. As if the line to get in wasn't enough, the lines inside became somewhat confusing and unbearable. Even more unbearable than just following a truck to some bar parking lot on a Saturday night. With an estimated attendance hitting far north of 10,000 people, most lines stretched 2-3 trucks past where you wanted to go, with most in line having no clue what they were in line for. Ask the internet - anything that has been posted in reference to this Food Fest will no doubt bring up the situation with the lines.

Next time this event does come around, which is said to be again later on this year, be sure to bring all of your friends and start early (before the doors even open). Each person takes a truck and orders for everyone else. Meet up in the middle and share war stories over Chinese Tacos from Don Chow's, Japanese Hot Dogs from Dogzilla and fried chicken from Ludo's. This is the only way to circumvent missing out on a truck you wanted to check out, it'll cut down your overall wait time, and will not spread out your munching time to every hour or so.

Surprisingly the truck that "started it all," the Kogi Truck, didn't join the festival. Asking around, no one really could tell us why. That, along with the absence of the infamous Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog Carts was a small let down also. Well, hopefully the good folks at the LA Street Food Fest crew can squeeze those guys in the next time around...that'd make me happy enough to go again.

-Tanker

More pics after the JUMP!

from LA Street Foodfest.com

-infamousjj

For the most part its a huge success. In the beginning you only knew where the truck would be based on @kogibbq Twitter updates. Now they post up locations on www.kogibbq.com and if you're really lazy to follow a taco truck around you could always stop by the Alibi Room and pick up some Kogi goodness.

This is pretty much an LA County affair...OC will not let the trucks in without a proper permit (last I heard). So if you happen to be visiting LA, you should check out the Kogi Truck at any of its various stops from mid-day to 1am. You will definetly not be dissapointed!!!

Nom nom nom nom nom....

-Tanker

If you are ever out in Fountain Valley, you might want to check out this ramen place called, Shin-Sen-Gumi. This is exactly what ramen should taste like, not that Maruchan instant ramen! lol. Seriously though, I would say this is probably one of the best places in the Southland that serves tonkotsu ramen outside Japan. It's that good.

Unlike most places, this place allows you to choose the strength of the broth, amount of oil, and the firmness of the noodles. A regular bowl runs about $7 with extra toppings such as chashu, corn, egg, whatever come in at $2 each. The service is quick and in no time you will be slurping down noodles like there is no tomorrow. And if tomorrow comes, you can order extra noodles for 95 cents more. There is also set meals which come with a drink, sides, and a bowl of ramen. Their fried rice and gyoza are pretty delicious too.

I have become such a die-hard fan of Shin-Sen-Gumi that me and my buddy find ourselves there every week slurping down bowls of ramen after a long hard day at work. We're not the only ones, as there's often a crowd waiting for tables to open up. It has received praise through out various food blogs on the internet, in newspapers, and in magazines. So if your out in the OC, and looking for a good place to eat - check out Shin-Sen-Gumi, you won't be disappointed.

Shin Sen Gumi Ramen Restaurant
18315 Brookhurst Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708