Haute Wheels Festival Rebounds from Last Year

Last weekend saw the return of the Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival to the HCC Southwest campus, a 32 truck festival featuring well-known trucks such as Bernie's Burger Bus and Eatsie Boys and newcomers like Nola2Geaux and L'es-Car-Go. After being plagued by criticism for the last year's event, organizers were determined to make the event a success on its second try. One method the organizers employed to improve upon last year's experience was to limit the number of tickets sold. 2,500 people attended Saturday and 2,000 attended Sunday compared to last year's 3,000.

Were they successful? John Wessling, local comedian and part-time radio host for sports talk station ESPN 97.5, didn't think so. He took to twitter to express his frustration, characterizing Haute Wheels as “a total rip-off! Not at all what was promoted.” His family of four paid $64 just to enter the festival—actual food and drink is extra—and he felt as though the event did not deliver sufficient value.

But he may be one of the few detractors. In all the event provided more shade than last year, was less crowded, and for people who want to sample Houston's food truck scene but lack the free time necessary to hunt the trucks down one-by-one, Haute Wheels was a good opportunity to sample lots of food and experience the last good weather weekend Houston is likely to see until October.

· Haute Wheels Houston Official Site
· Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival Gallery [29-95]
· Second Annual Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival [Houston Press]