Oakland Eat Real Festival: Got $5?
The annual Eat Real Festival was upon us this weekend at Jack London Square in downtown Oakland. If you are a fan of ANYTHING food related, you would be remiss not to experience this festival. With the burgeoning street food trend and plethora of gourmet meals you can eat out of a truck; the movement of all foods organic and local; the deep love of anything fermented, canned, slow-cooked, cupcake formed, or containing hops, kimchee, bacon or sea salt; this is really the place for all of us.
Jack London Square is the perfect location for this festival. It spans blocks, hugs the Oakland Harbor, and has the capacity to hold many bodies, as well as many food trucks. It’s free to enter and everything you could ever want to sample from every truck is $5 or under. The servings are small, but that only allows more room in your belly to sample multiple fares, not just one. For example: today I had a steamed pork belly sandwich smothered with pickled daikon from The Chairman, two korean short rib tacos with spicy kimchee at Seoul on Wheels, half a grilled cheese sandwich with a farm-fresh egg fried to perfection on top and a Big Daddy IPA (which they serve in your own personal mason jar-cup with the Eat Real logo on it – to be reused all weekend and taken home!) for $17. I would have loved to get some exciting treat after with crazy flavor profiles like savory ice cream or frozen custard but I was pretty done with lines at that point. No matter however, I simply headed inside where various food booths were handing out samples of dark chocolate, or toffee with almonds and bacon. I certainly had my fill.
This festival offers everything for everyone. Come spend some time in the sun eating and drinking delicious street foods made with fresh local ingredients and listening to live music. Sample a wide variety of hand crafted beers from your favorite California breweries. Enter any of the food contests, demos, do-it-yourself food projects and hear experts talk about anything from urban homesteading to how you properly butcher a pig.
Either way you are sure to leave happy, and extremely full.
Eat Real Festival 
Jack London Square
65 Webster St.
Oakland, CA 94607
http://eatrealfest.com/event/Oakland/California/2012
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