Trying the food at Rochesterfest 2022
Jun. 20—ROCHESTER — I've lived in Rochester for about a year and a half now, and while I've gotten to experience plenty so far in Med City, Rochesterfest is something I've never been able to fully take in.
I briefly checked out last year's Rochesterfest at Soldier's Field Memorial Park, but I was more of a spectator walking around for about 20 minutes without trying any of the food, or even getting shave ice.
I wasn't about to make that mistake twice, so for Rochesterfest 2022, I took off the training wheels and dove into all the delicious food that Rochesterfest has to offer. Since I don't have a big enough stomach to grab a bite from every vendor surrounding the track and field, here is a full list of the food vendors offered:
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Now that we've gotten our introductions out of the way, let's dive into the food I had at this year's Rochesterfest.
When I first walked onto the dirt track to start eyeing the vendors, the first thing that stuck out was a large sign advertising a smoked turkey drumstick. Now, with myself being a huge fan of barbeque and any type of food that comes out of a smoker, I naturally wandered in this direction.
What I got was exactly as advertised from J&J Concessions. This large $14 chunk of meat was exactly what I was looking for and tasted delicious between the turkey being extremely tender and having a nice smokey flavor. I couldn't finish it all, though, because there was more food calling my name at Rochesterfest.
I'll always proudly admit that I'm a sucker for street tacos. No matter the circumstances, if you ask me if I want a taco, I'm more than likely going to say yes. That's why when I moved on from my turkey drumstick, my next stop was El Carambas.
I ordered two Asada street tacos for $10 — which comes with sides of chips, rice and refried beans (I held off on the beans) — and cleaned the plate. The tacos had all the flavor you can ask for with being topped off with cilantro, onion, cheese, lime and salsa, and the steak was tender also. These tacos were one of, if not, the highlight of my day at Rochesterfest.
I feel like a staple of any carnival or festival is at least one vendor that's selling off footlong hot dogs, and sure enough, Engler Concessions was doing just that for $7.
I slapped my fair share of mustard on it (looking back I should've put some relish on it too) and enjoyed a classic hot dog that you simply can't go wrong with.
Between the drumstick, the tacos and the hot dog, I could feel the meat sweats coming, so it was time to cool off. The best way I thought to accomplish was walking over to Minne'sno'da Shave Ice to get some cool treat, which is a great way to cool off in the summer.
I got myself a kid-size cup costing $5 since I was getting pretty full already, and I went with the "Darth Vader" flavor (combination of black cherry and blueberry) since I'm a Stars Wars fan.
For my last stop of the day, I was still looking to cool off, and I found that across the field at the Olmsted County American Dairy Association truck selling off $5 milkshakes and malts. My favorite flavor of any form of ice cream is mint chocolate, so I went with that for my milkshake.
It was a perfect way to cap off a full day of eating at Rochesterfest 2022.
