Food Trucks Back at Santa Anita Park Saturday

After the massive success of two prior Food Truck Festivals, will look to strike gold a third time Saturday when more than 70 food trucks hit the infield of the “great race place.”

According to Santa Anita officials, attendance won’t match the first two events, which were both held during live-racing days. Nevertheless, the track expects a large bump from the usual crowd on non-live racing days.

“Normally on a non-live racing Saturday when there is not a big simulcast like last week's Kentucky Derby we will get about 2,000–2,500 patrons," John Niedzwiedz, promotions manager at Santa Anita Park, told Patch. “This Saturday we are optimistically hoping to attract 8,000.”

The at the approximately 20 trucks who participated. Santa Anita, for the most part, solved this problem at the

"[W]e feel like the number of trucks we increased to last time worked out great," Niedzwiedz said. "One of our goals is to create an environment that works for the trucks also so that they know that when Santa Anita hosts a Food Truck event, it’s something they want to be a part of."

The Grilled Cheese Truck, Lobsta Truck & Nom Nom Truck will be among the many food trucks returning to Santa Anita Saturday.

The racetrack is banking that these food truck events can become one of the signature attraction strategies to introduce new people to horse racing. If the results of the first two Food Truck Festivals are any indication, it looks like Santa Anita is well on its way to achieving that goal, providing a much-needed revenue boost for the track and, in effect, the City of Arcadia.

Santa Anita Park's Food Truck Festival takes place Saturday, May 14 from noon to 7 p.m. Admission is $5.