‘Food truck Friday’ comes back to Hilton Head this week. Here’s where to find the trucks

Start your engines, street food lovers: a monthly food truck festival comes back to Hilton Head Island this weekend.

The second “Food Truck Friday” is Sept. 13 at the Island Recreation Center parking lot.

The festival, which features six local trucks, runs from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you miss this weekend, the trucks will return on Oct. 11 and Nov. 1.

The monthly event is meant to show off Island Rec’s new $14 million building, which opened in January.

Which trucks will be at Food Truck Friday this week?

Prowl

The truck will visit from Savannah to serve burgers, chicken sandwiches and wings.

The Food Trap

The Ridgeland-based food truck serves wraps, burgers and sandwiches.

Jahmerican Jerk

The food truck based on Hilton Head Island offers Jamaican food.

The Rolling Cow Creamery

The Bluffton-based truck specializes in rolled ice cream.

Taco Brown

Based on Hilton Head Island, Taco Brown offers classic Mexican food such as tacos, burritos and quesadillas.

Palmetto Pops

The Lowcountry stand serves handmade, fruity ice pops.

The festival is offering spots to other vendors for future Fridays, according to the Island Recreation Center’s website.

Food trucks on Hilton Head Island

The monthly festival follows an exciting spring in the food truck world.

In April, the Food Network filmed an episode of the Great Food Truck Race at Shelter Cove Community Park. Eight trucks from around the country set up to compete for local business alongside celebrity host Tyler Florence. Hundreds of people attended.

Later that month, the RBC Heritage PGA Tour golf tournament introduced its own food truck village for the first time. It included four trucks from Savannah and Bluffton.

The show of support for food trucks surprised some on the island who have tried — and sometimes failed — to start rolling kitchens of their own.

Jane Harmon, who owned the food truck Shrimp Loco in Beaufort County from 2013 to 2017, said the most difficult part of the business was getting licensing so they could move the truck to different locations and sell.

“It was the biggest headache,” she said. “We were finally able to open up, but we could only be in so many places. It was a thorn in our side, and it didn’t make it easy for us to make money.”

Now, Town of Hilton Head Island staff say they’re writing language to make permitting and regulating the trucks easier.

Deputy director of community development Teri Lewis told The Island Packet in April that the town hopes by the end of the year to have new wording in the Land Management Ordinance to help approve food trucks on the island.

This story was originally published September 12, 2019 at 11:15 AM with the headline "‘Food truck Friday’ comes back to Hilton Head this week. Here’s where to find the trucks."

Katherine Kokal

The Island Packet

843-560-9158

Katherine Kokal graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and joined The Island Packet newsroom in 2018. Before moving to the Lowcountry, she worked as an interviewer and translator at a nonprofit in Barcelona and at two NPR member stations. At The Island Packet, Katherine covers Hilton Head Island’s government, environment, development, beaches and the all-important Loggerhead Sea Turtle. She has earned South Carolina Press Association Awards for in-depth reporting, government beat reporting, business beat reporting, growth and development reporting, food writing and for her use of social media.