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What You Need To Know About This Year's LA Food Fest

LA Food Fest is set for July 8-10 at Exposition Park. There will be over 100 vendors peddling all manner of tasty eats and drinks, and festival organizers are advising guests wear their stretchiest pants.Apart from a huge list of food trucks and street food options (see below), there will also be a new feature called Gastro Cerveceria. This features chefs from L.A. and Mexico, including Javier Rodriguez (El Imposter, Guadalajara), Paul Bentley (Magno Brasserie & Saint Michel, Guadalajara), Tomas Bermudez (La Docent, Guadalajara), Jair Tellez (Laja, Mero Toro and Amaya, Baja and Mexico City). There will also be a tequila tasting tent.
And that's not all. There will be chef demos, live podcasts and a beer garden with bocce ball. There will be an ice cream social with favorites like Jeni's, Salt & Straw, McConnell's Fine Ice Creams and others. Donutville will be up and running for your fried dough needs, and you can hit up the fest's coffee and kombucha bar. If you're looking to get tipsy, you can get craft cocktails via L.A. mixologists from the likes of Broken Spanish, Gracias Madre, Melrose Umbrella Company and others, or beer and wine from vendors including Eagle Rock Brewery, Golden Road, Pizza Port and more. Should you like to stock up on sundries, the Artisanal LA Farm Shop will be selling food items for your pantry, clothes, jewelry and other items.
If you need a break from the eating and drinking, you may also park yourself at the "Food Porn" cinema, which will be screening upcoming films such as Sausage Party and Lights Out, or enjoy the live music and DJs. You might think those are foodie films, but they're not. Sausage Party is about a sausage that can talk, while Lights Out is a horror flick about an entity that can only move in the dark. And if you have kids, there will be an area with activities for children, too.
When it comes to quick bites, you can choose from all of these vendors, among others: 118 Degrees, Amazebowls, All American Gumbo, All Flavor No Grease, Arroy FoodTruck, Atta Boy Sandwiches, Bahn Mizza, BCN, Beaucoup Crawfish, BEP Kitchen, Bigmista's BBQ, BierBeisl, bling bling dumpling, Birdies, Boba ni Taco, Book Brothers, Cali Fresh, Cento Pasta Bar, Ceviche Stop, Chomp Eatery, Comfort LA, Coni' Seafood, Diablo Tacos / Diablo Pops, Eagle Rock Public House, El Coraloense, Forman's, Fred 62, Free Range LA, Fritzi Dog, Gypsy Eats, Grilled Cheese Truck, HACHÉ LA, Hinoki and the Bird, Huitlacoche, India Jones Chow Truck, Kai Kai Dumplings, KNEAD & Co. pasta bar + market, Knuckle & Claw, Little Ethiopia Restaurant, Lobsterdamus, Lola's Mexicana, Loteria Grill, Luckdish Curry, MeSoHungry, Middle Feast Food Truck, Misky Misky, Pierozhski Truck, Poke 2 Go, POPDUP, Ramen Yeah!, Rahel Ethiopia, Ricebar, Richeeze, Salazar, Same Same Thai, Sandwich Slayer, Seoul Waffle Pizza, Shake Shack, SHAKTI, Shawarma Palace, Son of a Bun, Starry Kitchen x Button Mash, StuffNIt Burgers, Taqueria El Severo, The Brooklyn Pig, The Halal Guys, The Lobos Truck, The Rooster, Todo Verde, Tom’s Urban, Top Round, Tsujita Ramen, Waffle Jack, Yuca’s and Zema.
Tickets start at $15 for access to the festival, with increasing prices for special perks. For instance, $69 will get you early access to the fest for two hours of unlimited tastings. Special brunches or dinners, which will be at at the fest's Rose Garden Pop-Up Restaurant, range from $95 to $150. The fest kicks off with such a dinner on Friday night, while the more robust fest goes down Saturday and Sunday.
LA Food Fest is July 8-10 at Exposition Park, located at 700 Exposition Park Dr. in Los Angeles.
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