Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur and marketing executive Steve Schroeder, Food Truck Friday has become a summertime staple enjoyed by thousands. Courtesy Reno Street Food
After more than a decade of serving food to patrons at Idlewild Park, Food Truck Friday is expanding to north and south Reno.
Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur and marketing executive Steve Schroeder, Food Truck Friday has become a summertime staple enjoyed by thousands – the very reason the event is growing in both scope and geographical footprint. Additional food truck nights will run throughout the summer on Wednesday nights at Cyan Park in south Reno, and on Thursday nights at North Valleys Regional Park.
Schroeder told NNBW that in past years between 45-50 food trucks have been booked each week at Idlewild Park, making Food Truck Friday one of the largest food truck events in the nation. Vendors serve an eclectic mix of food, deserts, drinks and alcoholic beverages.
“We are the largest weekly food truck event in the state of Nevada, and that’s because our community loves sitting in the park on a Friday night, enjoying the evening and having some food. It’s like a huge catered party,” Schroeder said.
“We are bringing this event to the families of north and south Reno, and there’s nothing like this in those neighborhoods,” he added. “This will be a great way to experience a whole bunch of different foods in a safe and fun environment.”
The event has always been free to attend. Schroeder rents out the parks, and vendors pay a fee for stall space. Setting up park rentals and getting approvals for vendors is a long and arduous process that takes months of work each year, Schroeder said. He usually starts planning for the next year when the current year wraps up toward the end of summer.
“We will be putting on 31 food truck events this summer,” he said. “It takes six months of working with 13 different agencies within city, county and state governments for public and health safety, and they all have a say in how we operate, which is challenging.”
In 2024, with the sheer volume of people attending Food Truck Friday at Idlewild, it was clear the event needed to be expanded to additional sites on different nights. Schroeder also saw a lot of chatter on social media channels from attendees complaining about long lines and the poor parking situation at Idlewild Park. A meeting initiated by City of Reno Parks and Recreation officials in October where they offered additional venues provided the impetus to grow the event.
“Last year I expanded the quantity of vendors at the park, but we still had so many people coming out that I didn’t have enough trucks to service that volume of people,” he said. “Back in 2012, Food Truck Friday was just a hobby – I was running a marketing and PR firm and had a ton of clients,” Schroeder said. “But as it has grown, I have thought a lot about expanding to other locations.
“For (the city) to reach out like that gave me goosebumps; it was fantastic,” Schroeder added.
A tour of Cyan Park and North Valleys Regional Park — and a bit of imagination — sealed the deal.
“I stood there in Cyan Park on a rainy day in November and looked at all the homes and just saw the bikes, scooters, strollers and all the families nearby coming to the park,” he said. “It was just perfect.
“When I toured North Valleys, I saw this huge park, and across the street were all these homes and apartments. I saw all those people walking over, and I knew it was time.”
Courtesy Reno Street Food
Food Truck Friday has grown to service all of Reno, with events now being held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.
Expanding to outlying communities also makes it easier for residents to attend the event. Anyone commuting to North Valleys knows it's no small accomplishment to get off work at 5 p.m., navigate the bumper-to-bumper construction traffic on U.S. 395., pick up the family and return to Idlewild Park to attend the event.
Schroeder said nearly 75 trucks are registered for the 2025 food truck season. Vendors will rotate through 13 weeks at Idlewild, nine at Cyan Park and nine at North Valleys. The Wednesday and Thursday events are strategically timed to start after the Washoe County School District calendar year ends and a new one begins, he added.
Food Truck Friday wasn’t always such a huge community gathering place. The very first event was held at the RTC bus station and Fourth and Lake streets before moving to Idlewild the final month of the summer. In those early years, just six trucks served food at the event.
“I would beg them each week to come out on Friday,” Schroeder said.
Initially, Schroeder added, food truck vendors functioned as highly competitive silos; however, they quickly realized that collaboration brought in more people and increased sales.
Food Truck Friday almost didn’t survive the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was cancelled in 2020, and Schroeder didn’t find out until June of 2021 that he would be able to resume activities at Idlewild Park for the summer.
“That was tough for me because it easily takes four to five months working with the vendors to get them there,” he said.
Schroeder usually starts booking vendors for the summertime event in January before they are committed elsewhere. The volume of business they receive during their run at Idlewild and now Cyan and North Valleys parks benefits them as well, Schroeder said.
“They can look at their (profit and loss) for the year and see anywhere between two, five and 13 events booked with us, and that means they have guaranteed revenue – they can make a whole week’s worth of revenue in just one night at Food Truck Friday.”
What originally started out as an event geared towards local residents has become a regional favorite for people of all ages – and it’s poised to become even larger.
“We needed something just for our community,” Schroeder said. “I wanted it to be a family friendly event, and I wanted to grow the food truck industry by providing a central gathering place. We will be growing all these events, and we will have even more food trucks next year.”