Outside Lands Recap: What the World Ate

It was a good year for eating and drinking

by Ellen Fort@ellenfork Aug 14, 2017, 4:11pm PDT

Outside Lands has come and gone for the tenth year in a row, leaving behind a fog-frozen swatch of San Franciscans and what is likely a lot of food and drink hangovers. As always, Eater editors were in attendance, eating and drinking through the festival to confirm that it is, in fact, the country’s premier musical feast.

This year’s party included food trucks, vendors from some of San Franciscos best restaurants, doughnuts, mixed cocktails from pros at WhiteChapel, and Pacific Cocktail Haven, and wine from cult-favorites like Scribe. To be fair, funnel cakes, corn dogs, and other typical festival food was on hand, ensuring that there was something for every level of eater.

The fog definitely influenced crowd favorites, with ramen, mulled cider, and other warm items bringing the crowds on Saturday and Sunday. To wrap up this year’s event, here are a few crucial tidbits of information, including what the bands ate, and what the world ate:

What the world ate

At its two stands, Itani Ramen served 3,000 bowls of ramen — that’s over ten miles of noodles, with each bowl containing 18 feet — plus 18,000 pieces of gyoza, 24 gallons of mayonnaise, and 683 chickens worth of stock.

Tartine Manufactory, which was serving griddled mortadella sandwiches, went through 500 pounds of mortadella, and over 500 gigantic loaves of bread.

Wise Sons Deli served over 4,000 pounds of pastrami, 1,600 pounds of fries, and used 50 gallons of Russian dressing.

4505 Burgers and BBQ served up their best year yet, according to owner Ryan Farr, with over 5,000 cheeseburgers and 5,000 chimichurri fries making it to hungry festival-feasters.

Tartine’s griddled mortadella sandwich

What the bands were eating

The performers didn’t go hungry either. According to sources, Gorillaz chowed down on chicken and waffles from Little Skillet, plus hummus wraps from Dabba. Alt-J and Empire of the Sun reportedly ate Little Star pizzas.

Marlowe Burgers were popular as well, with owner and Outside Lands food curator Anna Weinburg hand-delivering them to the Avett Brothers, and comedian Nick Kroll. Elsewhere Tartine Manufactory poured coffee for The Shes, an all-female garage band from SF.

No word on what Metallica ate to fuel them up for their epic two and a half hour set. UPDATE: A tipster reports that Little Star pizzas were “hand-delivered to Metallica” after their set; no word on whether the aging rockers ate them, or opted for green juice instead.

I ❤️Nick Kroll. He killed it yesterday @outsidelands. Taking a @marlowesf break

A post shared by anna weinberg (@annaweinbergmarlowe) on Aug 13, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT

Meanwhile, at GastroMagic

Chris Cosentino’s set with Jarobi White of A Tribe Called Quest was pushed an hour, as White had issues getting into the city. They only had ten minutes to cook onstage but made the most of it, though Tribe’s set was rescheduled that night, and ultimately canceled on Saturday. No explanation was given, but fans weren’t pleased.
Big Freedia and Brenda Buenviaje of Brenda’s French Soul Food created a cloud of powdered sugar, passing out beignets to twerkers from the crowd. At one point Ranger Dave (the costumed mascot of the festival) came onstage for a little dance and may have gotten more than he bargained for.

ranger dave had to show his friend @bigfreedia that he's always down for beignets on the GastroMagic stage. ( : @justjash)

A post shared by ranger dave (@outsidelands) on Aug 11, 2017 at 6:29pm PDT

During his set, Action Bronson hurled lamb and chicken sandwiches that had been lovingly cooked by Souvla’s Tony Cervone and Charles Bililies into the crowd, along with cups of Greek fro-yo, a chicken parmesan sandwich, and eventually an entire shopping bag full of weed and edibles. He finished the set by saying it was "his favorite performance ever," and dropping the mic. He also consumed Souvla backstage, and shaved truffles (which he travels with apparently) onto his chicken.

LIVE FROM THE OUTSIDE LANDS FESTIVAL GASTRO-STAGE. I DROPPED A 40 YARD BOMB CHICKEN PARM IN THE CHEST OF A KID THAT CLIMBED A TREE 20ft UP. SOUNDS CRAZY. IT WAS FUCKING NUTS ACTUALLY. #fuckthatsdelicious @joshuamellin

A post shared by Action Bronson (@bambambaklava) on Aug 13, 2017 at 8:01pm PDT

One of the highlights caught Del the Funky Homosapien with Roy Choi and Dan the Automator making kimchi onstage, which drew a large crowd. Choi later stopped by Namu Stonepot for some late night eats before heading to see Action Bronson at the Independent, according to his Instagram.

A post shared by Roy Choi (@ridingshotgunla) on Aug 13, 2017 at 10:34am PDT

Beerlands, Winelands and Cocktail Magic also got plenty of action

Lines moved quickly thanks to this year’s integration of Apple Pay and ability to upload money to wristbands, ensuring plenty of local beers were had. Almanac, Magnolia, and more were on hand with classics and new offerings just for the festival.

Over at Cocktail Magic, strong and creative cocktails were on tap, including a shiso-heavy Thrilla in Manila cocktail from PCH, that was so popular they ran out.