SF Street Food Festival Is This Saturday! Here's a Handy Guide

The interwebs are flooding with information about this weekend's third annual San Francisco Street Food Festival, thrown by local non-profit La Cocina. The day-long gorge always gloriously walks the line between utter chaos and pure, gluttonous bliss. Founder Caleb Zigas says this year will be especially thrilling because of the diversity of the vendors "from El Huarache Loco to Lers Ros to Commonwealth to Beijing." Here's what else you should know.

1) The festival includes almost 70 total vendors, comprised of existing SF street food favorites, local restaurants, and foods you might recognize from the Ferry Building. Here's the full list.

2) For the first time, La Cocina has welcomed 6 food trucks from other cities to join the fun: Austin's The Peached Tortilla, New York's The Arepa Lady, Portland's Big-Ass Sandwiches, Seattle's Skillet Street Food, LA's Global Soul and Ingrid’s Lunch Box from Madison.

3) Food writers are buzzing about the moth larvae tacos from Don Bugito.

4) The bartenders from Rye and 15 Romolo are making booze-drenched sno cones and other cocktails in the appropriately named Cocktail Gardens. Also: Espolón tequila jello shots.

5) No credit cards will be accepted. If you want to avoid messing with cash at your many food stops (there will be many) and get a few discounts along the way, La Cocina is offering passports valued at $50 to $150. Buy them here.

6) Should you need some guidance, SFoodie, Appetite and GrubStreet all offer their picks for what to seek out and eat.

7) If you look at one thing before hitting the stalls, it should be this map. It's an easy-to-use guide to all the vendors, oriented by block.

8) Crowds get thicker as the day gets long. If you can, go early.

9) There's an "official" after party beginning at 7 p.m. at Public Works with more street food (!), Afrolicious, Tormenta Tropical and DJ Quest and some vendors from the festival. Here's the Facebook page and tickets link.

10) A street food conference follows the festival on Sunday and Monday. LA food critic Jonathan Gold, Gilt Taste features editor Francis Lam and other big San Francisco names like Mission Street Food's Karen Leibowitz will lead a panel on writing about street food. SFoodie has more.

11) Because soggy tacos are no fun, here's the weather forecast.

Street food + crowds = crazy. [Photo: KQED]

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