I thought showing up late to the 10th edition of the Taco Truck Throwdown would mean easy access to lines.

Even at 10 p.m. Saturday night, the party was still going strong. The Fresno Grizzlies (or was it the Fresno Tacos?) organized the event, along with Fresno Street Eats. The team said more than 8,000 people attended.

Lines at the 18 trucks were busy. I chose the trucks with the shortest lines, and the tacos were still awesome.

I missed out on Taco Pinto, which drew the most customers. The truck, operated by the wife-husband team of Martiza Silva and Luciano Morfin, won the judge’s choice for the second year in a row.

The Winners

Other winners included Tacos La Vaporera (people’s choice), and Miche Firme taking the judge’s and people’s choice award for the micheladas.

For me, Tacos El Mandilon and Coculas Taqueria provided my fill of asada and pollo.

Trucks were set up on the baseball field at Chukchansi Park. Even with all the beer and micheladas flowing, it was a chill crowd. People just wanted to eat, drink and listen to music.

The sounds blasted from the stage set up on center field. Ginuwine was the lead act, starting his performance around 11 p.m. At one point, he was joined by Fresno’s favorite violinist, Patrick Contreras.

As I departed, rows of hot dog vendors lined the sidewalk outside the stadium. These were the big juicy sausages, wrapped in aromatic grilled onions. Even with thousands of tacos sold inside, there were takers for the post-taco hot dog snack.

As if you didn’t get your taco fix, there are hot dog vendors outside Chukchansi Park. #tacotruckthrowdown pic.twitter.com/B4Wf6WJQOK

— David Taub (@TaubGVWire) October 24, 2021