Downtown Street Eats arrives in Downtown Detroit Parks

The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) officially brings back Downtown Street Eats beginning tomorrow, Friday, May 7. City-goers can visit Downtown Detroit Parks and public spaces, weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., where some of the region’s best food trucks will be serving up the tastiest delights to satisfy the most particular palates.

Detroit Street Eats will launch with trucks in Cadillac Square and the Woodward Esplanade and gradually expand to other Downtown Detroit parks and public spaces throughout the season.

Managed by the DDP, Downtown Street Eats is Michigan’s largest weekly food truck experience that continues to attract new and mainstay trucks, carts and local restaurant pop-ups, offering hungry Detroiters and visitors an increasing variety of casual, open air dining experiences during lunch hours and special events.

“As we emerge further from the pandemic, the DDP continues to deliver innovative offerings that allow residents, employees, friends and families to come together safely and celebrate summer in Downtown Detroit parks and public spaces,” said Robert F. Gregory, chief planning and public spaces officer for the Downtown Detroit Partnership. “The DDP is proud to provide economic opportunities to Detroit and metro Detroit culinary small businesses and food truck operators, who are working to bounce back from the hard hit the restaurant industry took during the pandemic. We are committed to showcasing and highlighting them in our Downtown Street Eats program and inviting visitors to come out and grab their food to go or eat onsite outdoors in the warm sun or under shaded seating areas in the parks.”

Downtown Street Eats will feature a variety of food trucks daily Monday through Friday, including many minority-based food trucks and Detroit-based participants, with new trucks and schedules each week. Downtown Street Eats also offer residents, employees and visitors all over metro Detroit (and beyond) authentic personal food experiences.

Next week’s Downtown Street Eats season opening week lineup includes the following:

Monday, May 10 – Detroit's Original Seafood Truck + Smoke Ring BBQ

Tuesday, May 11 – Los Dos Amigos + Smoke Ring BBQ

Wednesday, May 12 – Detroit's Original Seafood Truck + Smoke Ring BBQ

Thursday, May 13 – Los Dos Amigos + Smoke Ring BBQ

Friday, May 14 – Detroit's Original Seafood Truck + Smoke Ring BBQ

Downtown Street Eats participant and Detroit’s Original Seafood Truck owner Rashad Torrence has experienced his fair share of hardships. In 2019, he received second-degree burns to his face and hands following a propane explosion in his food truck. His recovery coincided with the pandemic, but he kept the truck motoring, thanks in part to the DDP’s Downtown Street Eats program. He also spent time on the frontlines feeding healthcare workers, along with celebrity chef Nedra Harris of Hell’s Kitchen fame, donating at least 300 meals.

“It’s been an incredibly difficult time for all of us in the food industry, but business is beginning to pick up, which is inspiring to see,” said Torrence. “I am eager to return to Downtown Detroit to feed people. The Downtown Street Eats program offers amazing visibility and exposure for my food truck business, as well as the others. Detroit’s community of food trucks is very supportive of each other, as is the DDP. We’re all looking forward to a COVID comeback.”

Food trucks featured in the coming weeks are Curbside 313, Brass Kitchen, Sonny’s Hamburgers, Impasto, Little Brother’s Burgers and many others, including two new soul food offerings: Tasty Fixin’s Catering Co. and B.L. Ellis Catering, serving comforting soul food, such as lamb chops, steak bites, chicken wings, candied yams, collard greens, mac n’ cheese, desserts and more.

Sheryl Ellis, owner and operator of B.L. Ellis Catering food truck, has been catering for more than 25 years and participating in many metro Detroit festivals and events, but this is her first foray into the food truck scene. “I’m really excited to showcase my cuisine specialties out of my mobile soul food kitchen in Downtown Detroit and tell all my friends and family to come out to support me, as well as introduce my food to new folks. The pandemic definitely set me back, but it didn’t curtail my longtime dream of launching a food truck business.”

To support the Downtown restaurant and small business community, visitors are encouraged to enjoy the many dining options in and around Downtown Detroit Parks, from casual to fine dining and everything in between. They can dine indoors, enjoy beautiful outdoor patio seating at restaurants, like Parc and Lumen, or get a carry-out order to bring to the park to eat while they enjoy the views. Rolling green lawns at Campus Martius Park, Capitol Park, DTE’s Beacon Park and Grand Circus Park also make the perfect picnic spots.

In collaboration with the city of Detroit, the DDP has established itself as a leader in creating a wide array of engaging initiatives, cultural events and programming, as well as managing and operating downtown Detroit’s historic and world-class public spaces and urban parks.

Along with the food trucks, people can explore the parks the DDP cares for while enjoying beach parties, fitness classes, markets, movies, music and other free, family-friendly events.

For a schedule of food trucks and other fun events happening in Detroit parks, visit https://downtowndetroitparks.com/events.

About the Downtown Detroit Partnership

The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) strengthens and supports Downtown Detroit through strategic initiatives and programs. The DDP convenes business, philanthropic and government partners to create a vibrant and resilient urban core for Detroit and the surrounding community. The DDP is responsible for programming, managing and operating several of Downtown Detroit’s parks and public spaces. For more information, visit downtowndetroit.org.