H&8th Night Market Season Finale

by Helen Grant

The H&8th Night Market season ends this Friday. And sure, it will be back next March, but until then you should definitely go check out the last one of 2013. If you’re inclined to hop around, you can bounce out of the Night Market once you’ve filled up on deliciousness and go see “Queerbait” (free at the Paramount, where it is warm and toasty inside).

Special points of interest this go-round: “truck or treating” and Tulsa’s Andolini’s Pizzeria join the line up.

I’ve had pizza at Andolini’s brick and mortar location for a pre-concert carb up and it’s great. And the last time I was at Cain’s Ballroom, I had a post-concert slice from their food truck, which was on par with what you’d get at the restaurant. In short: if you don’t plan to be in Tulsa anytime soon and classify yourself as a “pizza lover” then Andolini’s is your ticket that night.

As for “truck or treating,” this is what they’re planning: “At 6 p.m., families can pick-up their free ‘Happy Halloween from H&8^th Night Market’ truck-or-treat bags in front of Elemental Coffee, 815 N. Hudson Ave., and fill them with treats by touring the lineup of food trucks and visiting neighborhood businesses and organizations.”

What else is there to know? Spaghetti Eddie will kick-off the live music at 7 p.m. with a family-friendly set, followed by local Kindie rock duo Sugar Free Allstars at 8 p.m.  Both acts performed recently at Wiggle Out Loud, Oklahoma’s first family music festival.  Dr. Pants will bring nerd rock to the stage at 9 p.m., followed by Born in November at 10 p.m. If you listen to The Spy FM, then you should know that Ryan Drake, co-host of “No Fun Intended” on The Spy FM and KOSU radio, will DJ in front of Elemental Coffee from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. And if you’re in the mood to shop, know that ScissorTale Salon’s monthly pop-up shop will host Dwelling Space as their special guest. Also, for the fashion forward, Group Fly will join the lineup as the event’s first non-food truck.

As far as confirmed food trucks, expect to see: Big Truck Tacos, Cafe Bella on Wheels, Cupcake Queen, El Reno Onion Burger, Frank’s Wurst, Hall’s Pizza Kitchen, Heo’s Kitchen, Jerky.com, Kaiteki Ramen, La Gumbo Ya Ya, The Loaded Bowl, Lalo’s I Love My Taco Chop & Grill, Off The Hook Seafood & More, Pizza 23, Roxy’s Ice Cream Social, Smokin’ Okies, Tacos El Patron and Taste of Soul Eggroll.

If you’ve never been to this event, or if you think you know everything there is to know about the H&8th Night Market, I would encourage you to watch this great video from SBGProductions. There’s some cool news about how H&8th organizers have been contacted by other event planners in other big cities, like New York and L.A., to ask how OKC manages to get the food trucks to get a long and work together.  My guess? It must be an Okie thing.