5 Things You Need to Know Before You Bring the Kids to What the Truck

The season kickoff for What the Truck is right around the corner. On May 14th, at Northlands between 12-7, you can ditch your dinner plans and try one of the many, many popular local food trucks at the season kickoff!

What the Truck is one of our favorite ways to spend an evening during the summer months, but it’s not always easy to find a sitter for those nice spring and summer evenings. We still like to get out there though, and enjoy everything that the city has to offer, so a lot of the time we bring along the kids.

Here are some of the things that we’ve learned while attending What the Truck, with kids:

Divide and Conquer 
Kids and line ups drive me mad. It drives the kids mad too. What the Truck comes with line ups because let’s face it – everyone wants the delicious, food truck food. So, enlist one parent to sit with the kids and scope out a spot to eat. This makes it easier to wait, as the kids can run around, play with a small toy that you brought along to occupy them or run around Churchill Square. (Get a spot in the shade!)

Skip the Stroller
Events have been packed in the past. You might want to skip the stroller, unless you plan on using it to create a path for you to walk along to get close to the food (;

Bring Snacks
With the line ups comes a bit of waiting, so to avoid the hanger you’re going to want to bring a few snacks for the kids. Don’t bring too many though, because What the Truck is a fantastic way to entice the kids to try something new for dinner.

Plan Ahead 
Look at the menu ahead of time. Go in with a plan. Check out the food trucks that are going to be visiting the event and look at the menu to see what’s on your ‘must eat’ list. I like the proven combination of something that you’ve tried and love before, and something new that you’ve never tasted. For the dishes, we like to go at them like sharing plates and try a bit of everything that we’ve chosen for the night. Since there are 20+ trucks attending the first event, on May 14th, you’re going to want to check out the menus, reviews and do a bit of planning before the event.

Bring Entertainment
Though there is music for the parents, you’re going to want to bring something to entertain the kids. Those classic outdoor things like chalk, or some small outdoor toys to play with are one of the easiest ways to keep them entertained before it’s eating time – but you could always resort to ‘cloud shape spotting’ or finding new friends, if you don’t want to drag along the toys.

Image/ What the truck