Eat REAL at Jack London Square

During the last weekend of August, I volunteered at the 2nd annual (or is it their 1st?) "Eat Real Festival" at Jack London Square (for details, check out eatrealfest.com). It was a very hot day (even though we were riight next to the water) with a huge turnout of people (70k+)! Under One Brick organization, I was assigned to work at the info/merchandise booth. I was a little bummed out because I signed up originally to help serve beer at the beer tasting truck area. The leaders e-mailed us last-minute saying that we'd be doing other things instead. Nonetheless, it turned out great! The booth I worked in had a canopy (cheers for shade), we got to choose 1 free "Eat Real Fest" t-shirt to advertise the $20 shirts, and I learned how to use a credit card machine! Plus, the volunteers I worked with were awesome people. We also sold picnic cloths with the state of California picture and plastic tote bags that twist into a small bag.

At the fest, it was the first time I tried an iced coffee float. Now I've had root beer floats, 7up floats and coke floats... but this is an update. Almost like an upscale update for the grown-ups to enjoy.

And I loved it! The coffee was very rich and unsweetened that rolls down in the right way with a bitter aftertaste, but then you taste the frothifying vanilla icecream that puts you afloat in sugarville. It made my day.

The festival generated great business for vendors. The iced coffee float was in a small plastic cup and costed $4 (thank you my new friend who got it for me). But hey, it was so hot! Literally hot air was blowing in all directions, and the event was outside with barely any shade! So bring on the popsicles and icecream to semi-cool off!

Moreover, there was a huge variety of street food available. It all smelled so wonderful! My friend and I got hooked up with free beer tickets to try out a beer (now I'm not a fan of beer, so I asked for a light beer), and I got one of the lagers. My only complaint is that it wasn't ice cold; ice cold beer would taste pretty sweet on a hot day. Many adults were holding these small beer glasses with the "Eat Real Fest" stamp on them (it costs $25 for 4 beer tickets and the complimentary glass).

Of course, you can't drink beer without eating food (as alcohol tends to lower your blood sugar, even though it's 7 cal/gm...cruel isn't it?)! We walked around to check out the foods available, and I was pretty impressed with the variety available considering that none of the vendors cooked on-site. There were burgers, ribs, corn on the cob, pizza, hot links, Korean BBQ, falafels, cupcakes, goat icecream/froyo, creme brulee, gelato...and I'm sure a lot more than I can't name. And I don't forget Chipotle, as they gave us volunteers free burritos! They're awesome.

If you live in the East Bay area and didn't get to check it out this year, be sure to check it out next year!