Denton hosts Friday Night Bites
Suzy Townsend / Intern
Grilled shiitake mushrooms, pineapple, shredded cabbage and onions covered in jerk sauce.
This dish is called the Caribbean, one of the meals offered at the Shiitake Swerve food truck that will roll into town Friday night for Denton’s first “Friday Night Bites.”
Friday Night Bites is an event in celebration of the return and expansion of the Denton County Transportation Authority’s Friday late-night service.
The free event will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. at the A-train station across from the Denton Police Department on Hickory Street and will play host to 10 food trucks from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as live music.
The man behind the event, city councilman Kevin Roden, threw the idea out to help people become more aware of how important the A-train is to Denton.
“Not only is it an alternative means of transportation, but it really brings people in to experience what Denton has to offer,” Roden said. “As a councilman, I wanted to make sure we’re doing something in the city to help promote the train on Friday nights.”
Having the train run more times and later into the night brings more profit and opportunities for Denton to grow, said Kristina Brevard, DCTA marketing and communications manager.
Brevard said she is excited to get more traffic into Denton with the A-train.
“Now we have service that goes past one in the morning,” she said. “It provides an avenue for folks that want to get to Denton for the great music and eateries. It’s also in such close proximity to the Square, which has a lot of great venues.”
While the event is free to attend, patrons must pay for what they want to eat.
Denton resident Frank Chacon is looking forward to the Shiitake Swerve debut.
“Being vegan, I always look forward to a new place that serves a different take on all vegan foods, especially only using mushrooms as the base,” Chacon said. “I’m going to try one of everything they have.”
Currently, food trucks are only allowed in Denton under limited circumstances, but Roden is working with the city council to create an ordinance to allow more of them.
“If you pay attention to Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth, the food truck culture has really become a hot thing,” Roden said. “This event is really also to promote the food truck culture in town.”
The trucks that will be at the event include Bombay Chopstix, The Butcher’s Son, Crazy Fish, Cup Cakin’, Gandolfo’s Deli, Rock N’ Roll Tacos, Rockstar Bakeshop, Three Lions Truck and two Denton originals, Shiitake Swerve which features mushroom dishes, and The Pickled Carrot which serves Vietnamese food.
The event will include beer and wine as well as music by Jeff Glover, Tim Philips and Dave White, Link Chalon and Dave White, and Bonnie and Nick Norris. All are based in the DFW area.
Because of the event, parking will be limited, and the entire DCTA A-train parking lot will be closed.
DCTA and the City of Denton encourage patrons to park at the MedPark train location and ride the train to the event, which is only $6 for a day pass.
For more information about the event, search “Friday Night Bites Food Truck Event” on Facebook.
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