H&8th Night Market

This is my favorite OKC event! The wholeCity comes alive in midtown and I swear everyone is there. To me, it's not about the food trucks, it's about feeling a part of the community and making this a priority at the end of each month. The food trucks are great too, of course. After years of going, I wish more trucks would come around, but I guess there are only so many you can have in the city. I love the added component of a flea market this past year. I would love to see more local stores take part in that too.

I suppose if it was warmer this would have been a terrific happening. I liked Pie On the Fly's peanut butter banana cream pie and Roxy's salted carmel ice cream. The Pagoda Pizza place was unusual, unexpected even.It would have been 15% better if I had pedestrian right of way on a sidewalk with a baby stroller. I get the fact that folks who were standing there first win the right of way battle, but the Bob Harper doppelganger with a beer in hand who walks up from the street just to stand there.. no sir.That and the weather are my only true qualms.If we had gotten the H&8th early experience it maybe have been more family friendly. Definitely going to give them a second change to redeem the adventure with gumbo and a Oklahoma cheesesteak with bbq.. there is already a plan in place!

Great way to meet new people, people watch, try local foods, and hang out with friends and family! Very dog friendly. Parking can be hard to come by so arrive early or be prepared to walk! So many great food trucks. Never had a bad experience. Most accept credit cards and all accept cash. So have one or both. Be patient and be prepared for large crowds. Lots of dogs. There was even a cyclist race tonight! We ended the night with ice cream from Roxy's. Highly recommend it. Had a great night. :).

The event was a little smaller than I expected it to be. The narrow street made it for quite a crowded and 'intimate' setting. I think the food trucks rotate or something at each market, but for March 29th, there were Taste of Soul (Eggrolls and generally fast food Asian), Urban Agrarian (A natural foods truck with some produce, bread, treats, and cheese), Off the Hook (seafood), Roxy's (icecream), Heo's Kitchen (Asian), a COOP beer truck, and if there was anything else it's slipping my mind!I also didn't realize that it was such a popular event! So many people were there and it looked as if most were actually playing the consumer role instead of simply loitering. I'm sure all of the food trucks made out quite well.The line for beer was overwhelming and Ludivine was very full so my friends and I trekked to McNellie's for some drinks before going back around 10pm to a less crowded, but still busy, night market. With events like these it's almost impossible to understand the lyrics of the stage bands, but I really enjoyed the beat and sound of it. I'm usually not a fan of local bands, but OK does have some real talent, ya know!I wanted to try Off the Hook but I had eaten earlier before the market and was still pretty full. I hope they're there next time! I did go to Roxy's for icecream though. They take Keep It Local which earns you an extra punch on the punch card they give you -10 punches=a free cone! I only got vanilla this time around but if I catch them sometime, I'll try out one of their many other yummy looking flavors.

Oklahoma City is growing rapidly and the establishment of events like H&8th show that people are taking an interest in food that is both yummy and local.There is a good variety of food trucks, but after seeing what's available on the West Coast (for example Berkeley and San Francisco's "Off the Grid" events), I realized that this event still caters heavily to the meat lovers of the South/Southwest/Midwest/Central regions. There were several art-related activities: live music from local bands, poetry organizations, photo gallery hosted by The Nature Conservancy, etc. It's cool to see more community-building events, but the event is young and could be made a lot more inclusive through more detailed planning catered to the needs of vendors and customers. TL;DRGreat for families, dogs, friends! Scary port-a-potties. Average food and variety of food. Chill and artsy. Would like to see more thoughtful planning for vendors and customers.

H&8th, occurring the last Friday of every month April to October (I think), on Hudson Street (originally *at* NW 8th St, now stretching from NW 6th to NW 10th, plus along 7th between Hudson and Walker) is a 5 star street festival/market. Whatever room for improvement -within the control of the organizers- has been recognized and made as the market continues to evolve.Complainers consider: the fault may lie within you. Yes, it can be blasted hot (this is Oklahoma) and the lines can be long (people come to the festival! Food trucks are not fast food restaurants!) and sounds can be loud (trucks mostly require generators) and food can be expensive-ish (there's that bizarre living wage idea, again. SMH). Barring these things, the organization of the market, you must admit, is pretty fine.First, the trucks. They're vetted. Did you know that? Some of my favorites (Kaiteki, Loaded Bowl, the Halls, Huey's, Roxy's, etc., and God rest their souls, Moto Chef and Heo's) hang out month after month. This is no accident; each truck must 1) exist (a novel idea, but I've heard of people requesting a spot at H & 8th before the truck and biz are running. Still SMH) and 2) offer something unique. As in, fried Oreos and corn dogs (unless they're capital 'S' Special- hand battered, with a homemade sauce) likely need not apply. Organizers want variety and quality. Come to think of it, so do I. Second, the booths. Not the food, but the charitable groups, such as the intrepid "BeThe Match" tent. Did you know Swab Squad (look out for the gigantic q-tips on the blue tent outside Elemental Coffee) can get you on the National Bone Marrow Registry in minutes (less than the time it takes to decide which truck you want!). See, go find dinner and potentially save a life! Ha! Open your eyes and you'll see plenty of other booths worth stopping at. (I love the poets, who will create and type up a poem for you, if only given an idea) (or the art booths, where my kids can paint constellations on a black canvas) (or Urban Agrarian, where I can buy farm fresh produce).Third, the music, which kind of is the crowd, too, if you think about it. As far as I can tell, there is official music (bands on stage) and unofficial music (drummers, guitar players, jazz blasting out food truck speakers). It's loud. Has to be, 'cause the generators (and we need those, mostly) are loud, too. However much I want to think the spirit of H&8th is in the trucks, the energy is sustained by the music. It's why you're there, introverts and extroverts alike: to eat, people watch /mingle and ahem, party. On the block.Bring a blanket if you want to chill on the green east of Hudson. Arrive early (6:30) if you want to beat the crowds in line. Take water and cash (some trucks accept credit, but it slows down the lines). Expect it to be crowded, in the best way, with color and dogs and children, a palpable sense of pride in OKC and where she's going. Enjoy!

My feelings are kind of torn. Still on the fence about how to review it. Food trucks + music = awesomeness. Fighting your way through hoards of people and trying to find parking = not fun. I was also under the impression that there would be more things to chose from -food wise and activities wise- but it was still a good time.I think this event is great for the community because it brought together so many people. Free events are great for people watching (by free, I mean no entry fee to attend.) I had a blast hanging out with my Yelpy friends that's for sure :)

Who doesn't love food trucks, coffee, drinks, live music, DJs and a community filled with Oklahoma love?H&8 is one of the best events that could've started in Oklahoma to bring the community together with the simplest thing: food trucks. Every last Friday of the month, this event closes down Hudson in front of Elemental Coffee Roasters to host a block party. Every time, there's a new group of food trucks that wheel out to feed our hungry tummies. Every time I go, I realize how much better the event gets. The streets become more filled with people, newcomers are in awe at the event and wonder how long it's been around and people come back every time. I love getting to meet all the different kinds of people that come out for these events too. College students, families, urban crawlers, business owners, everyone!Now that the event has expanded to more than just food trucks, I cannot wait to see the transformation and what the event will be capable of. Hours of live music and even more hours of DJs from the Spy are in attendance to make sure this event is as memorable as ever.It's the end of the month. Rent is due, but housing food in my stomach is a little too important to me right now! This is the one event where no one is going to judge me for eating food from 3-7 different food trucks, so don't mind if I run around with excitement at just the thought of it!

My first experience with H&8th was this past June's event. I think my expectations were too high possibly because I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. I love the idea and if it were executed better, I'd really enjoy it, but I couldn't enjoy it because there were simply too many people for the space. Every food truck line was at least 75 people deep except the gumbo truck I believe. And there was only one alcohol booth! What the hell is up with that?! You'd essentially be spending the whole time in lines which I only do if I'm riding a roller-coaster at the end. I'd be willing to give it another try and come a little earlier perhaps? I went about 9 so that was probably the bulk of the crowd, but still, just not too impressed.

Grab a beer from COOP and taste one (or more!) of the 30 food trucks (all from Oklahoma - no chains) on the closed down blocks of Hudson at 7th & 8th. Explore the outdoor night market set up on tables in the street and stop by the stage to listen to some great live music. This event is free and falls on the last Friday of each month from March to September and is open from 7pm - 11pm. Elemental Coffee and Ludivine are both open as well. What's not to love about walking the streets beer and bowl of fried goodness in toe? My only complaint is that there need to be more food trucks because the lines were way too long. I really wanted to try a few different trucks but we ended up just finding the shortest line and only going to one truck because we were hungry and the lines were out of control. All in all, it's a really great event, just wish they'd double the amount of food trucks!See map and list of food trucks here: www.h8thokc.com