H&8th opening night

[Praedura]

Gonna be a par-tay tonight at Hudson & 8th:




7pm - 2am

Organizers for Oklahoma City’s premier celebration of mobile culinary creativity hope to strike a chord with music lovers
at the 2013 season opener of H&8th Night Market, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday, March 29 outside of Elemental Coffee,
815 N. Hudson Ave.

Source: Uncovering Oklahoma » H&8th Night Market 'amps up' music element for 2013 season

[tillyato]

I'm planning on going tonight. Hopefully the weather holds up, sounds like it should be a pretty fun event.

[BoulderSooner]

maybe rain?

[BBatesokc]

Can't wait! Gotta get my fill of truck food.

[adaniel]

Just got back from this. Had a blast! I couldn't believe how packed it was. Given the long lines and the fact a few trucks started running out of food, I think some were a little overwhelmed by the crowd. But its a good problem to have, and I'm sure they will bring extra food and staff next time! All in all, a wild success, I kept having to remind myself I was in OKC and not Austin!

[Praedura]

Pics from:
H&8th twitter page
Bricktown Bike Bar facebook page

[catch22]

It was an absolute blast. Although the food from Off The Hook definitely tasted a little "off the hook" in not a good way. I felt the effects last night when I got home...was sprint-waddling inside to the bathroom.
It's their first time, so hopefully they get it better next time. I probably won't try them again though. Nice people however.
Looking forward to next month! And the month after! And the next....you get it?

If you haven't been yet, you need to go.

[Praedura]

Looked like a packed event. Dave Cathey has an item about this (posted before last night):

H&8th Night Market returns to MidTown | NewsOK.com

I'm going to have to make it one of these nights (I keep saying that).

[Praedura]

Another nice pic:




A writeup from Red Dirt Report:

RDR: Crowds enjoy first H&8th street festival date of 2013 season


And finally, a video from Dave Morris (who interviews Dave Cathey) here:

H&8th - More Evidence of Downtown OKC's Arrival | OKC Central


Edit: I just noticed that Dave Morris has also provided a direct link to the video, for those that might want to keep a copy:

http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/pd16/...401-dm-hn8.mp4

[Praedura]

It's that time of the month... the nightlly market comes tonight.




The success of last month's event did have some downsides -- dealing with the crowds and the larger demand that placed on the vendors.

Laura Massenat has a few changes in plan to help things proceed a little smoother tonight:

365 OKC: April's H&8th Night Market - OKC.NET

[BBatesokc]

Glad I went by and picked up 4 pints from Roxy's at h&8 at 5:30pm and avoided the crowds and then the hail.

[ThomPaine]

Got there in time to enjoy some pretty good music and grab a couple of cones from Roxy's (salted caramel and coffee and cream) before sprinting back to the car in the rain. Crowd was good right before 9:00.

[Praedura]

Glad you guys got to enjoy it for awhile before Mother Nature went rabid.

H&8th twitter page posted some pics, which I'll reproduce here for dramatic effect.

[ThomPaine]

Bicycle Valet = Great Idea!

We also walked by the flat at 709 Hudson. They had their blinds open, and the wife and I almost walked in thinking it was a new shop. Very cool, but I'm not near bold enough to have that big a window to the world at the sidewalk level!

[ljbab728]

If this continues to be successful, I hope they could eventually make it a weekly event. I was in Palm Springs recently and this is an every Thursday night event they offer where they close off several blocks of Palm Canyon Drive. It draws huge crowds.

[Mel]

I've been waiting for this event to get its legs and really start running. I'll be hitting it soon.

[catch22]

I hope I'm wrong, but I see this becoming a victim of it's own success.

Each time I am there, there are more and more complaints of long lines, slow service, etc. -- and quite frankly I am starting to agree.

In March I spent 25 minutes in line for beer, then an hour in line for chicken. Which was completely disgusting, it still haunts me.

This last one I spent 45 minutes in line for chicken and waffles, got to the front of the line and was turned away. (Due to the lightning which was out of their control, but they could have communicated with us better). I in turn walked 50 feet over to Pizza23 and grabbed two slices while everyone was panicking and flailing their arms in the air.

Anytime I have had complaints about this event, it's usually about the trucks that serve. I think they need to take a hard stance on ensuring some level of quality control.

[Steve]

Don't get too caught up in the idea of getting fast service or even acceptable service - the line is THE experience. It's a chance to get to know your neighbors, to interact with people in person, to connect to your community. Catch 22, think of it this way - what is the longest amount of time you've spent typing in discussions here at OKC Talk? If you're like many, I'll bet you've spent 30 minutes or more on a good conversation. And there's nothing wrong with that. But that time is far more rewarding engaging in such interaction in person at an event like H&8th. Think about it.

[catch22]

I have no problem standing in line Steve if the end result is worth it.

The last few times I have been, I have been very disappointed with what I stood in line for.

[soonerguru]

I hope I'm wrong, but I see this becoming a victim of it's own success.

Each time I am there, there are more and more complaints of long lines, slow service, etc. -- and quite frankly I am starting to agree.

In March I spent 25 minutes in line for beer, then an hour in line for chicken. Which was completely disgusting, it still haunts me.

This last one I spent 45 minutes in line for chicken and waffles, got to the front of the line and was turned away. (Due to the lightning which was out of their control, but they could have communicated with us better). I in turn walked 50 feet over to Pizza23 and grabbed two slices while everyone was panicking and flailing their arms in the air.

Anytime I have had complaints about this event, it's usually about the trucks that serve. I think they need to take a hard stance on ensuring some level of quality control.

I agree in principle that the quality of the OKC food truck experience needs to improve overall. In some cities, these trucks are serving food that is the quality of gourmet. Obviously we're not quite there yet.

That being said, I was not able to attend Friday, but from some of the pics I saw online it appeared there were several more food trucks serving than what has been the norm at past H&8s. Am I correct?

[adaniel]

I wasn't able to attend this due to the weather, but the handful of people I've spoken to said that the lines this Friday moved much quicker than last month.

I'm not sure some people quite "get it" in terms of what the concept is for food trucks. If you want fast service, you are better off going to a restaurant.

And just an aside, I've noticed that people in OKC can be surprisingly impatient, whether that's waiting for food, navigating through traffic, getting service somewhere, etc. I can't help but think we have a lot of small town folks who really just aren't used to crowds.

[soonerguru]

I wasn't able to attend this due to the weather, but the handful of people I've spoken to said that the lines this Friday moved much quicker than last month.

I'm not sure some people quite "get it" in terms of what the concept is for food trucks. If you want fast service, you are better off going to a restaurant.

And just an aside, I've noticed that people in OKC can be surprisingly impatient, whether that's waiting for food, navigating through traffic, getting service somewhere, etc. I can't help but think we have a lot of small town folks who really just aren't used to crowds.

I made this same comment at the Arts Festival yesterday. People are simply not used to very large crowds here, and they're not quite sure how to act. Feedback I've received has been similar about Norman Music Fest.

The more people get used to large crowds the less freaky and impatient they will act.

[catch22]

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't mind waiting at all if its worth the wait. Waiting up to an hour for food that tastes like it came from being hit in the middle of the street. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

[Praedura]

Well, there should be one tonight. But.. the weather is throwing a possible wrench into the works...

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...71379082872905

[Praedura]

The next night market coming up this Friday.

Presumably, this time around the event will be free of tornadoes and flooding.