CelebrateErie food vendors spread from Perry Square to North Park Row and upper State

Jennie Geisler, Erie Times-News
·3 min read

Gone are the days when all the food at CelebrateErie is jammed into Perry Square. This year, according to Aaron Loncki, the city of Erie's marketing strategist and organizer of CelebrateErie, food trucks and downtown restaurants will be spread from the main stage near Fourth and State streets south to the end of the festival at 14th Street.

He said some of the Flagship City Food Hall vendors also will be serving from the outdoor sidewalk on North Park Row, which will be closed to traffic to provide a space for outdoor seating.

Loncki said there will also be five vendors in Perry Square and five food trucks parked intermittently along State street.

"This way, people can access food in different places throughout the festival," Loncki said, adding that the Food Hall will still be open for people to get other food and take advantage of the air conditioning.

Vendors in Perry Square will include:

  • Brewerie at Union Station

  • Stanganelli’s Italian Foods

  • Three B’s Saloon

  • Outlaw Barbeque Revolution

  • Connie’s Ice Cream

Food trucks will be parked throughout the festival, including:

  • The Big Cheese

  • Mel’s Mobile Dinor

  • Spanglish Skillet

  • Mad Tortilla

  • Happy Camper Snack Shack

Loncki said organizers tried to include diverse vendors offering food from several specialties and cultures.

Festival guide: Chalkwalk, food, Ja Rule and free haircuts as CelebrateErie returns

Multicultural event: CelebrateErie to highlight community's spirit of diversity throughout festival

Jo's Brooklyn Bagel open in Food Hall

Jo's Brooklyn Bagel Too, Flagship City Food Hall, 22 N. Park Row, opened Saturday.

Owner Teresa Sanders, 55, said she learned on the job at the first Jo's Brooklyn Bagel location at 833 W. 38th St., which opened in 2008. She said they serve about 24 kinds of bagels, and the most popular are jalapeno bagels, banana pepper bagels, "Everything" bagels as well as dill pickle and Swiss.

The Food Hall location is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. She said they were looking for another location because they had so many downtown customers and when they heard about the opening in the Food Hall, it seemed like a perfect fit.

The new location has the same bagel and sandwich menu, and she's splitting her time between the two shops for the time being. Sanders said in the fall she plans to be open in the evenings with a completely different menu.

"There's no secret recipe," she said about her popular bagels. "They're just baked fresh every night."

She said day-old bagels are donated to fire stations and food pantrys.

Food Hall changes: New tenant opens Monday in Erie's Flagship City Food Hall

News and notes

Underdog serving outdoors: BBQ at former Perkins, mid-summer specials, cocktails, fundraisers fill Erie's menus

Altered State Distillery, 1535 W. Eighth St., is hosting an outdoor concert Sept. 9 featuring Pittsburgh band Stationary Pebbles, according to its Facebook page. It will go on from 7 to 10 p.m. if weather permits, and it is free with no cover charge. Tariq's Best Philly food truck will serve sandwiches from 5 to 9 p.m.

Annapurna Kitchen, 1315 Parade St., is closed until further notice due to a family wedding, according to its Facebook page.

Black Monk Brewery, 3721 W. 12th St., is having its last two bike-night fundraisers of the season this Thursday and Aug. 25, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. both nights. The events benefit Veterans Miracle Center Erie. The band this Thursday is Gypsy Heart, along with food truck Tariq's Best Philly. Aug. 25 the band will be Ice Cream Socialists and the food truck is The Mad Tortilla. For information, visit facebook.com/BlackMonkBrewery.

Cloud 9, 25 French St., is hosting a pig roast Aug. 31. Tickets are $36.85 and include a buffet-style meal. Visit facebook.com/cloud9erie for information and reservations.

If you have regional restaurant news or questions, please send an email to jgeisler@timesnews.com, or call 814-870-1885

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Celebrate Erie 2022 features Food Hall, Erie restaurants, food trucks