on the street

The Bay Area is obsessed with street food right now, and that point was smashed home on Saturday when the SF Street Food Festival set up shop on one block in the deepish Mission and every foodie within a 25-mile radius proceeded to converge on the row of booths.  I arrived in mid-afternoon and did a quick round to assess the situation, but with lines 30-deep in some places and many items sold out I decided to cut my losses and head to Humphry Slocombe for a sundae instead.  Friends who were there right when the gate opened had better luck and reported gorging themselves on the delicious offerings, so that's how I'll roll next time.  I couldn't really be grumpy with all the proceeds going to awesome local non-profit La Cocina, and I was also pleased that the organizers wanted to use the fest to call attention to San Francisco's crazy regulations regarding street food that only serve to hinder creative food entrepreneurs.  I remember being blown away in Bangkok with every conceivable inch of city sidewalk lined with vendors selling everything from fresh cut fruit to soups and noodles and tasty snacks.  That's real street food, and San Francisco should be so lucky.