Summertime is made for festival foods.
The combination of warm weather and fun-filled family events makes it fitting to step up to a food truck and order some barbecue or savory deep-fried morsels or a sweet treat.
At this year’s Daily Journal Franklin Fest, hungry festival-goers can find a little bit of everything to eat.
Franklin Fest has become an annual summertime tradition in Johnson County, a street party put together to celebrate the community we all share together. Now in its fifth year, people will pack the courthouse square to hear music from Jambox, one of the region’s top classic rock party bands, enjoy a beverage in the special beer garden and check out the diverse shops and attractions downtown Franklin has to offer.
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But on top of that, this year’s festival offers a chance to sample diverse and eclectic food from nine specialty food trucks. From southern barbecue to New Orleans style sno-balls, people can take a culinary journey without leaving Johnson County.
Brozinni Pizzeria will bring their 26-foot-long truck, complete with a pizza oven installed in it, to serve up cheesy, foldable New York-style pizza. The pulled pork nachos and other slow-smoked goodies are always popular at Jivy’s BBQ. Chomp’z Truck offers sandwiches, tacos, nachos and other handheld fare.
Perfectly sweetened kettlecorn and lemon shake-ups are the cornerstone of Jones Kettlecorn.
Ritter’s Frozen Custard and Mrs. Curl — serving out of an authentic 1959 Mr. Softee truck — will keep people cool with frozen snacks.
Johnson’s BBQ Shack has become a go-to place for sweet, smoky barbecued comfort food. Either from their home-base location in Bargersville or from their bright-orange truck, the Johnson family serves up favorites such as pulled pork, brisket and pulled chicken, as well as its famous baked mac ‘n’ cheese, throughout central Indiana.
The key to their success is freshness, said co-owner Nate Johnson.
“We don’t cut corners; we use our smokers 24 hours, 7 days a week to always serve the most fresh barbecue,” he said.
While pork products are featured prominently in the form of pulled pork, hot dogs and bratwurst at most food trucks, John Walters took a different approach with his business.
I Found Bacon specializes in the famed breakfast meat that has taken over the culinary world. Walters, a former law enforcement officer in Marion County, had become the go-to cook for large family events.
“I was cooking for 20 to 40 people at a time, and my family is raving about the food. So I started doing other little functions with friends,” he said.
So he founded his food truck earlier this year. His specialty is his BLT, his son’s favorite food. He uses thick slabs of bacon, arranged crisscross in a lattice, with diced tomatoes and lettuce all on hearty sourdough bread.
His bacon grilled cheese starts with a base of mozzarella, American and Swiss cheese then adds slices of bacon to the mix. A pulled pork sandwich has bacon jam added to it, doubling the pork effect to it.
“I sell a lot of barbecue, and I don’t know if it’s just because it has bacon, but we stand up pretty well against the barbecue guys,” Walters said.
With so many savory options, finding something sweet will be a must at this year’s Franklin Fest.
The cool, icy treats served up by Franklin-based Aw’sum Snoballs may look familiar to people. But don’t call them snow cones, said co-owner Melonie Collings.
New Orleans-style sno-balls are a treat made from finely shaved ice and flavored sugar syrup. Where snow cones are made with crunchy, coarse ice, sno-balls are more fine and fluffy, Collings said.
Sno-balls are immensely popular in the South, but finding them in Indiana is more of a challenge, Collings said.
“Down in New Orleans, there is one every corner, like a Starbucks,” she said. “But here in Indy, there are few of us around, but we have more flavors than everyone else.”
She and her husband, Mark, shave their own ice in the truck, then use 107 flavors of syrup that they make themselves to create unique concoctions — everything from standard flavors like cherry, lime and orange to pumpkin pie, peanut butter and candy apple.
Aw’sum Snoballs also sets itself apart by offering soft-serve ice cream in the middle of the ice.
The Collings started their food truck in 2015, buying the storefront-based business from a previous owner. They wanted to have greater mobility and visibility. Mark Collings went online and found an Alabama company that specialized in making trailers for sno-ball operations, and purchased their customized truck.
Since then, the Collings have been serving sno-balls at community events, nonprofit activities and in high-traffic locations in the afternoons and whenever other times they can to reach more customers.
“We do everything and anything,” Mark Collings said. “We love doing stuff around here, because this is our community and we like helping to give back.”
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Daily Journal Franklin Fest
What: The Daily Journal invites the community to celebrate the summer season with the paper’s third annual street party, featuring food vendors, beer and live music.
When: 6 to 10 p.m. Friday
Where: East Court and Monroe streets, downtown Franklin
Highlights
- Jambox, an Indianapolis classic rock cover band, will perform from 7 to 10 p.m.
- Food trucks offering everything from barbecue to tacos to New Orleans-style sno-balls will be set up on East Court Street.
- A beer garden will be set up by the Elks Club
Admission: Free and open to the public
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