It was a beautiful September afternoon when my husband, Bobby, suggested we visit downtown Wooster for the 36th Annual Wooster Fest. Having spent most of the day in an office, I was ready to get out and enjoy the mild temperatures. Plus, I knew there would be plenty of food options available, which was another reason to head out for an impromptu date night.
I love living in a community that has a vibrant downtown with different things to do throughout the year. Not only is it fun to enjoy the festivities, it is also a great chance to see people you haven’t seen in a while. Bobby and I stopped to talk to several people as we walked the streets that were lined with food trucks and other vendors. We got to catch with people we haven’t seen in a long time, maybe even years all with Woosterfest activities going on in the background. Activities like the live band, New Wave Nation and the beer stein races, where relay teams ran through a series of obstacles with 6 full beer steins (I believe they were filled with water) to reach the end to see which team could fill the tube with the water the quickest.
Yet, the reason we went was for the food. While I’m sure there was plenty of different beers to try, since both Bobby and I don’t drink, we were much more interested in what food trucks would be there to tempt our taste buds. Bobby told me that if Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sausage Haus was there, we would be trying their Jumbo Cream Puff.
While, I’m not much for cream puffs, I was willing to give it a shot. For me it was what I expected in a cream puff. Bobby, who has had cream puffs done by Castiello’s in Revere, Massachusetts, told me that Schmidt’s was even better. You’ll have to watch his video for the full review. Spoiler alert — I’m pretty sure we’ll be making a trip to Schmidt’s restaurant in German Village down in Columbus some time in the future.
Next it was to BG’s Main Event BBQ food truck. We were on the fence of whether to try the PigMac, which is pulled pork and macaroni and cheese. We ended up getting a pulled pork sandwich and the MooMac, which is beef brisket and macaroni and cheese. We have had BG’s BBQ at the Orrville Ribfest a few years ago and really enjoyed it. We felt the same this time. Bobby really loved the Southern Spicy Sauce, while I enjoyed the Boss bbq sauce.
The brisket had a good flavor and the macaroni and cheese was creamy and cheesey. Bobby reminded me that usually when you order macaroni and cheese out it tastes more like water than cheese. We shared the sandwich and the MooMac — although we ended up taking most of the MooMac home. (Bobby had also gotten a slice of cheese pizza from Dor Lo Pizza which is why we didn’t eat all of the MooMac.)
You might think that we were done, but wait … there’s more! I decided we needed something to wash everything down so that meant we needed to go for lemonade. We got in line for Linn’s Enterprise for fresh squeezed lemonade and on a whim decided to get an order of fries. The fries turned out not to be the fair fries I was expecting, but were instead battered fries. While I was a little disappointed, after I put aside my expectations, the fries were pretty good. They were hot and fresh (just coming out of the fryer). They were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. So, like I said, after I got over the disappointment that they weren’t fresh cut fries, they were really good fries. And Bobby really liked them, too.
As we were leaving, we ran into friends Matt and Lynette. They had enjoyed the tacos from the Buehler’s food truck. Lynette offered us her jalapeno poppers, which who are we to turn down food? We had hoped to try the jalapeno poppers from Buehler’s food truck when they were catering a wedding we attended earlier in the year, but had left before they started serving them. Thanks to Lynette’s generosity, we now can check that off of our bucket list. By the way, the poppers were quite tasty.
In the end, we had thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the 36th Annual Wooster Fest. Thanks to all at the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce who worked so hard to make it enjoyable. We’re looking forward to next year!
