By MEG VAN HUYGEN

For some folks, it’s the best part of the festival season; the gallery of food trucks and stalls! Tacoma has been poppin’ when it comes to street food lately, changing it up with creative items like Filipino tacos, carne asada baked potatoes, and more. Here are some of the festival food vendors we’re most stoked to see out in the 253 this summer:

La Chaparrita does all the taco truck standards—tacos, quesadillas, tamales, picaditas, huaraches, and so on—but they just do them so much better than the rest. The ladies make the tortillas on-site with a big red tortilla press, fresh to order, and I don’t know if they just add extra lard or what, but it’s one of the best tortillas I’ve had in my life. I make a bee line for this stand whenever I see it.

Uncle Mike’s Filipino Comfort Food slings user-friendly Filipino fare like pancit bihon and lumpia, if you want to keep things simple. The stars of this menu, though, are the entrees: the luxurious chicken adobo or the tocino (sliced sweet-and-sour pork) served over rice, along with the tacos made from spicy sisig (chopped-up pork belly, guanciale, pig ears, and chicken liver). Portions are huge too!

Woman-owned Starvin’ Marvin does elaborate hot dogs dressed with things like mad and cheese or peanut butter and jelly. Interestingly, they also serve Syracuse-style salt potatoes, an upstate New York dish that’s rarely seen in these parts.

At first glance, Andale! might look like another taco truck in a crowd of many, but don’t pass them by, because their specialty is a carne asada baked potato, and it’s fricking heavenly. This thing is huge, but you’re not gonna share it with anyone.

Seven Sons Kitchen has all manner of barbecued meats, including smoked chicken wings, and they do a killer pineapple slaw. Their best dish might be the loaded mac, topped with a medley of pork, BBQ beef, and caramelized onions—a little bit of everything.

Boss Mama’s Kitchen does burgs and grilled chee, and if you’re new, the one you order first is the Brutus. This monster is half cheeseburger and half grilled cheese sando, stacked with Monterey Jack, brie, AND American cheese, plus grilled jalapenos and onions, “reggie sauce,” bacon, and a quarter pound Angus beef patty. This is what medieval kings would eat for every meal. If they had access to jalapenos.

Conchalicious is serving conchas, obviously, the seashell-shaped Mexican pan dulce (pastry), and they’re very good conchas. But they level things up with ice cream sandwiches served on conchas. They’re a glorious mess, and you want one.