The grand opening of the Lake Elsinore Launch Pointe Food Truck Festival brought dozens of vendors and a steady crowd to Launch Pointe on Thursday.
The new event featured a lineup of food trucks, a wine and beer garden, and activities for kids. Organizers said it’s the start of what they hope becomes a regular community event.
“There’s still a lot of people in the Temecula Valley that have never been to Launch Pointe,” said Adam Gufarotti, the city’s assistant director of Lake and Community Operations. “So we saw a great opportunity with Wanderlust to partner and bring people that wouldn’t normally come to Launch Pointe to come to this great food festival.”
This event is part of the Wanderlust Food Truck Fest, a growing series that started about a year ago and has quickly expanded across Southern California.
“It started with one event and then we just exploded,” said Alexander Yepremian, founder and event director of Wanderlust. “Every week there was another city contacting us. But this is the most beautiful one I think we’ve done. You cannot beat the view here.”
Organizers plan to host the festival every other Thursday for now, with the possibility of making it a weekly event. During the summer, it could also overlap with the city’s concert series at the lakefront.
The crowd of vendors included both newcomers and established trucks with regular event experience.
“This is our first event,” said Cindy, who helps manage Sweetwater Social. “We just got started. We did a trial event last week.”
They were inspired by attending other food truck festivals before deciding to launch their own business. Sweetwater Social’s menu focuses on quality ingredients and local sourcing.
“We have top of the line ingredients. We use fresh sourdough for the crust,” Cindy said.
“We also do our ingredients from local people and farms,” said Darcy, another Sweetwater Social representative. “We try to as much as we can get fresh ingredients.”
When asked what customers should know, Cindy said, “That there’s a lot of love going into it.” She added, “My husband is the one who does all the cooking… it’s his idea. He’s wanted to do this for a long time.”
Another vendor, Deborah, who runs Joshua’s Delight food truck, said she decided to participate after seeing Wanderlust advertise the event.
“It was a new event and we thought it would be a great thing to do,” she said.
Deborah’s menu includes slushies paired with sandwiches, and she participates in various events, including winery stops.
She said people should check out her truck “because we’re different and our sandwiches are really classy.”
Another vendor, Nikko, who runs a food truck called Nikko’s Birrieria, said his business idea came from wanting to try something new. His menu focuses on birria-inspired items, including what he said is the most popular choice.
“My favorite one has to be the birria pizza. That’s actually our customer’s favorite also.” he said.
For attendees Erin and Charlie, who recently moved to Lake Elsinore, the event offered a chance to explore both the food and the community.
“It’s cool, this is really cool,” Charlie said. “ I love the view with the palm trees all around.”
“There’s so many choices,” Erin said. “It’s kind of cool to try different things that we maybe never would have tried before.”
That variety and turnout is what organizers hoped for at this grand opening event.
“It’s important to have community events where people can come out and enjoy the outdoors,” Gufarotti said. “It’s so important for kids to get off screens and families to come out and enjoy a nice meal together.”
