marianthefoodie_0 Because Long Beach has strict laws that forbid food trucks from posting up on the street as casually as they do in mobile-eatery obsessed Los Angeles and Orange County, special opportunities must be created for locals to experience this eclectic and mobile frontier in food trends. Thus did Rainbow Harbor become a wide-open-space food court Saturday, where more than 30 trucks from LA and OC presented some of the Southland’s most-intriguing offerings in a pay-per-entry, city-approved setting.

In the absence of the every-truck-for-itself mentality that prevails elsewhere, the Long Beach Street Food Fest cooked up its own ambience—along with bacon recipes, Mediterranean cuisine and fusion tacos—for the once-deprived masses.

At $9, entry tickets were a little pricey, especially since they didn’t include any food. But the money went to some good causes—the AIDS Food Store, Long Beach City College scholarships and the Adopt-A-Teacher Program. The Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce Charitable Foundation organized the event.

Unlike the Korean taco trend that put L.A. food truck culture on the map, Mediterranean cuisine and bacon-centric menus were the day’s most-recurring themes—and as consumers compared flavors and combinations, the scents that drenched the air included a sense of competition.

marianthefoodie_0 The Lardon truck, for example, produced a bacon Nutella brownie that boldly challenged Bacon Mania’s deep-friend bacon-wrapped brownie across the park. The Lardon truck won that round. But Bacon Mania’s “Baco Sandwich”—a bacon-as-bread ‘wich stuffed with potatoes, cheddar and horseradish-bacon-sour-cream—must have set some kind of standard for outrageousness. And its avocado-bacon tacos? Together, I’d highly recommend this bacon combo for any death row inmates faced with choosing a last meal.

Not to be outdone by the red meat trucks, Greenz on Wheelz served up its gourmet salads and wraps for the health-minded crowd, while seafood took a cue from Long Beach icon Snoop Dogg with the Shrimp Pimp truck, complete with a hip-hop hook—“Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy, but it sho’ feels good”—that drew laughs and customers.

Sweet trucks were also out in full force, including Chunk-N-Chip Cookies, Del’s Lemonade, Longboard’s ice cream, The Lime Truck and Tropical Shaved Ice.

But the talk of this year’s LBSFF was the Grilled Cheese Truck. Only on the road for a year and a half, the Grilled Cheese Truck has gained a following that borders on fanaticism. Its presence at Rainbow Harbor was only its second time inside Long Beach city limits—following up on last month’s appearance at the Port of Long Beach’s 100th anniversary celebration.

foodline It was no surprise, then, that its line was one of the longest of the day. As one patron plopped into her seat with relief and triumph—and the maximum order of five grilled-cheese sandwiches—she revealed that she had waited for two hours.

The all-day event was another Long Beach experience, one that gave back to the community while giving locals a chance to offload food trucks that usually never come close enough to chase.

Facebook, Four Square and Yelp! check-ins were rampant around the park. Yelp!’s even had an information booth for those drafting their food truck reviews in real time.

There was also live entertainment. Funk and reggae jam bands performed for an audience gathered around tables with umbrellas that had been set up around the stage, as well as families laid out on blankets and lawn chairs.

Between the success of the LBSFF and the Zaso Design District’s weekly Lunch Truck It event (where, thanks to 4th District Councilman Patrick O’Donnell, several food trucks post up on Coronado and Anaheim during Wednesday lunch hours), it looks like even Long Beach’s strict food truck regulations can’t stop the city’s mobile-food fiends from getting their fixes.