dopkick t1_iwx1qn7 wrote on November 19, 2022 at 12:16 AM

Let's see how many people have learned from the past many years of disastrous food festivals nationwide.

> The organizers are working with Peblla, a technology company based in North Bethesda that automates ordering through a mobile app. Chris Liang, Peblla’s co-founder, said his clients have used the mobile app at other festivals, but this will be the company’s first food festival in which they are supporting the whole system.

The real issue is NOT ordering. The real issue is that the food truck model (effectively what these are, with or without the truck) does not respond well to sudden surges in demand if the food is cooked to order. Unless the vendors scale out their infrastructure they are never going to be able to keep up with a huge rush. Or the food has to more or less be prepared prior to the start so it's just a matter of serving it. This problem isn't limited to just food festivals, you can read similar stories about weddings catered by food trucks going poorly just the same.

Personally, I think the "spend money to wait in line and spend more money" model is dumb. There's plenty of amazing Asian food in the area. Why not go visit these restaurants and get the full experience? Heritage in Whitehall Mill is absolutely top notch Filipino food and one of the best restaurants in Baltimore. I can tell you any of the Filipino vendors (I'm assuming there will probably be 2) at this event will be MANY tiers below Heritage. Ekiben is Asian-inspired and awesome. There are tons of great Thai restaurants in Baltimore'ish, and even more just outside (Kittiwat in Frederick was solid when we went and it has some menu items that many Thai places do not).

The DC area has a TON of options. I'm a huge fan of Thip Khao. Or if you want something more fusion, check out Bandoola Bowl. There's sooooooo many options.

I guess you can make an argument for the cultural stuff, but my experience with the Night Market when it was in Baltimore and free was that it was okay at best. Maybe it'll be a lot better, I don't know, but I feel like it wasn't super reflective of how Asian culture actually plays out. Go to a large Chinese or Indian wedding and your frame of reference will forever be changed.

PleaseBmoreCharming t1_iwy1fmn wrote on November 19, 2022 at 5:37 AM

This is a different group putting on this one than the previous Asian might market in the Bromo Arts District, FYI.

dopkick t1_iwy2qbv wrote on November 19, 2022 at 5:52 AM

Is it the same as the Howard County disaster?

PleaseBmoreCharming t1_iwy33om wrote on November 19, 2022 at 5:57 AM

This one doing it now is the same group, but there was another group who did the Asian Night Market back in... I wanna say 2019, and it went off without a hitch.

dopkick t1_iwy3xmn wrote on November 19, 2022 at 6:07 AM

The first one in Baltimore, 2018 I think, had gigantic lines. I will cut them slack as it was free and they did not anticipate such success. The next year was much better with respect to lines and crowds.

I thought there was overlap between the two groups? Maybe I missed something.

PleaseBmoreCharming t1_iwy4h2s wrote on November 19, 2022 at 6:13 AM

Hmm, I don't think so, but I could be mistaken. I'll do some more research and report back. At the end of the day, I do agree that anyone should exercise some caution with the current group, no matter if they have good experience or not, given what happened in Howard. That was disgraceful and embarrassing.