Enlist in an eating competition with some of Pensacola's top food trucks at 'Hunger Games'

One of the best ways to get to know Pensacola's food scene is by getting a taste of its local food trucks.

The third annual Food Truck Throwdown Hunger Games on Oct. 15 is encouraging Pensacola to sample a few, with nine of Pensacola's most well-known names to choose from.

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The lineup will include 3-D Eats & Tea, Rolling Embers Brick Oven Pizza, Texan B's BBQ, MELT Pensacola, Greek's Catering and Events, Who Dat Po'Boys, Jordan Valley Mediterranean, Cèjo Food Truck and Empanadas N More.

"I wanted to have quality and variety," 3-D Eats & Tea Owner and event organizer Sean DeSmet said. "Some have worked together in the past."

Instead of compiling a "grandiose" list of food trucks for the event, DeSmet said he wanted to identify a strong few for customers to try out.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. and run through 4 p.m. at the Pensacola Harley-Davidson, 6385 Pensacola Blvd., with activities running throughout the day, such as craft vendors, music and family entertainment.

In past years, the event has asked its customers to rank each food truck they taste on a scale from 1 to 5 in various categories, such as food quality, customer service and cost. Hip Pocket Deli was the crowned winner of the event's first year, and 3-D Eats & Tea the winner of the second year.

However, this year DeSmet said the chefs are looking to put some of the competition aside, and instead leave the competition to the customers.

The event will be hosting various challenges, such as eating competitions starting at noon and a karaoke contest at 2 p.m.

"This year, we're more leaning toward just having a good time," he said.

The eating competitions will be time-based, DeSmet said, and will be divided up into a child and adult divisions. The children will be tasked with scarfing down corn dogs and slurping 3-D sweet tea slushies while trying to avoid a brain freeze. Adults will be challenged with consuming a variety of denser foods, such as stuffed empanadas.

DeSmet said each year, the event selects a different organization to benefit from the proceeds from the event. This year, Bagdad Elementary School will be the recipient, in hope of supporting teachers by giving to the school's PTA board.

In the past few years, 3-D Eats has worked to provide for different local organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida, Habitat for Humanity Pensacola, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and local first responders through their "Mason A Difference" meal campaign. The Hunger Games event is just the latest in a lifestyle of habitual giving.

"We just try to do our best, we seek out different causes," DeSmet said. "This is our business model, to give back."

When pulling up the event, customers will be charged a $5 entry fee when parking but will be reimbursed with either a voucher to be used at one of the food trucks or as an entry into a raffle to win $500. The drawing will be held at 3 p.m. All proceeds from the entry fee and the $50 vendor fee from each food truck will go toward the teachers of Bagdad Elementary School.

DeSmet said he is hoping to raise a minimum of $2,000 from the event, but the sky is the limit.

More information on the event can be found on the 3-D Eats & Tea Pensacola Facebook page leading up the event.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 'Hunger Games' food truck event raises funds for Bagdad teachers