The Bend

The Bend Closed!
This was a great little hot spot for lunch and dinner with some unique food trucks. While they all served D’lish food our favorite was The Slider Truck. I noticed there have been no trucks at The Bend since the end of summer and was thinking maybe they just closed for the winter. In speaking with the food truck folks who congregate at the Willow Shopping Center, many who used to also work The Bend the owners of the property have put the parking lot up for sale or have sold it and The Bend is permanently closed.

It’s so great to have food trucks in Walnut Creek! I really enjoyed the dumpling truck.
The seating setup was good too. I thought it was a lively scene, and I’ve sampled the trucks at other places, too.
Minus one star for the loud top 40 country music. I think they could do better with the music.

Food Trucks are great, this is perfect location to have them. Not sure who was there when I went but I tried some tacos that was pretty good. I would definitely visit again.

The BEND is awesome! I love food trucks, and the food trucks that come are awesome! I work just a few blocks away, and everyone in the office loves to go to the BEND at lunchtime.
The space is perfect as well. There is always plenty of parking, and plenty of tables and chairs in the shade to enjoy your yummy food. Sometimes they even have a flat screen TV set up to watch sporting events.
The only down side is the inconsistency of the food trucks. Some days there are 5 food trucks, and other days there’s only one. Kind of a bummer, but they always post their schedule online so you can see in advance which food trucks will be there.

I LOVE the concept of theBEND. I work right next door and have stared out of my office window at this vacant parking lot that has apparently sat there for YEARS (notwithstanding some rabid poodle that my co-​workers told me about).
So when theBEND finally opened, I was beyond excited. It meant that I was free from having to eat at the same place in the building day in and day out when I forget to bring my lunch.
The slight issue with theBEND, in the short time it’s been there, is consistency. As part of the growing process of the business, and scheduling of various food trucks, I totally get it. Some days there are only one food truck for the masses to choose from — other times there is a packed house giving a lot of choices. The scheduling kinks just need to be worked out which i think comes with time.
However, theBEND itself really tries to foster a community. The venue includes picnic tables, lounge chairs, and umbrellas, flatscreen tvs, a wonderful sound system, and great service in the form of guys wiping down the tables once people were finished. A great alternative!

Really disappointed. Great idea, great location, great set up but the trucks suck in comparison to Off Grid. If they change up the trucks that make regular appearances I’ll definitely give it another try.

Good stuff the sliders truck pork belly and egg sandwich is the bomb. Tried el ranchero truck burrito is ok. Wifey says moonstruck truck mac n’ cheese is awesome. Will be back.

While out for a late lunch to celebrate a graduation, we had thoughts of going to Kevin’s Noodle House on Main and sit outside with our new dog. All of the outside tables were full, so we had to find a plan B. Kevin’s parking lot kicks you out back away from downtown WC, which is where we were thinking we could find another option for outdoor dining. I’m a lover of food trucks, but the graduate had to thumbs up our new planC. He enthusiastically agreed.
There we’re three trucks there the day we went, and we ate at all three. Decent street tacos, some unique bao, and gelato finished up a lovely Thursday after graduation lunch.
These food trucks aren’t to the caliber of the ones we’d find in SF, but still pretty darn decent.
3.5 stars and rounded up because of the easy parking and the pup got to eat the bits of the taco that dropped.

I was so excited to see walnut creek has our own food truck hang out, the Bend. I’m not in the city much so this is super fun! There are four trucks this Saturday
I tried Mac and cheese from Moonstruck and it was really good. $ 7 and covered with cheese and potato chip crumbles.
My husband got the ox tail and grits, $ 9, from Gostreatery and says he would Definately order again.

So since doing Off the Grid, I’ve become a big fan of food trucks. So any chance I get I try to eat at them.
Located in Walnut Creek, literally blocks away from my girlfriends work, is theBEND. A small collection of food trucks, with a small seating area. The people coming to theBEND I hope either work near the area so they can take their food back, or don’t mind standing around eating because there isn’t a lot of seats available.
I saw that two trucks were both doing tacos, and I thought to myself that I should have a taco-​off. Best taco wins. I first went to Yummi bbq. An Asian style food truck, that have spicy beef tacos. Just up my alley. Two beautiful looking street tacos on my plate, with grilled marinated beef, spicy sauce, and topped with a slaw. I took my first bite and was in heaven. The beef is amazing, the sauce was creamy with some heat, and the slaw is there to cool you down. Just perfect.
Next was El Ranchero. A Mexican food truck you almost immediately expect to have better tacos. I ordered two tacos, steak, and hot salsa. Though the truck itself seemed a bit unorganized (I watched my debit card being passed around while trying to pay), the tacos were pretty good. Typical street taco, with marinated beef, onions and cilantro, with the hot salsa. Very tasty and so much salsa it was dripping onto my plate, which I loved. Although it was a great taco, I think Yummi bbq wins because it’s so much more unique.
We went to Tutto Bene for a little desert. Very very friendly people who are very happy to let you have a free sample of whatever you want. As soon as I had the taste of the strawberry cheesecake in my mouth I knew that’s what I wanted. I’ve never had gelato before and I couldn’t believe the flavor it has. So rich and creamy and the strawberry cheesecake so prominent. The only word to truly describe it is, amazing. Truly truly amazing.
So if you’re a fan of food trucks, or jumping on the food truck bandwagon, come check out theBEND.

So happy that The Creek finally has a real food truck pod. This will never be Portland, but it’s a good start! Had dinner there with the family on ⁶⁄₁₂. El Ranchero, Moonstruck, Tutto Bene and Streatery were up and running. Have to give a shoutout to the Streatery (
). I had their Oxtails with Grits, and it was amazing. They do «peasant food» utilizing local meat/​produce. Very good. The rest of the fam went for El Ranchero. The food was good, not great, and the service was friendly but very slow on a not extremely busy evening. We capped it off with some very good gelato from Tutto Bene that was served with a smile.
Some details: There are 6 – 8 tables of various sizes available for eating there, along with various other chairs. Permanent porta-​potties have been installed along with a hand washing station. There is room within the lot for approx. 15 – 20 cars to park.

Food truck mania is here to stay, in CA and all over! And now hundreds of Walnut Creek office workers have reason to celebrate, as we have our own food truck party every single week day for lunch! Anything that helps us escape from the monotony of the deli life is a welcome welcome sight.
I hit The Bend on a sunny Friday at lunch time and the party and feast was in full swing! The Bend, so named for the bend in the road where it sits (as Le Virage, French for ‘the bend’ or ‘the turn’, did before it), is a home to 4 trucks at lunchtime. This particular day the trucks were El Ranchero, Yummi BBQ, Yummy in My Tummy and Tutto Bene. El Ranchero previously held a permanent spot by the nearby BART station and they seem to be making this their new permanent home. Reasonably priced Mexican, though not mind-​blowing taste wise. The two Yums were Chinese BBQ style trucks, though both offered alternate options like corn dogs or tacos. I opted that day for Yummy in my Tummy’s #1 meal deal, a BBQ chicken skewer, two spring rolls and a cup of steamed white rice for $ 8. Rounded out with an ice-​cold bottled water for $ 2, it was a decent lunch for $ 10. The food was tasty and cooked well, and was reminiscent to me of the caliber of Chinese food you get at carnivals and fairs — simple simple simple.
Those trucks and El Ranchero are more classic style food trucks, while Tutto Bene is a great representation of the future of the industry and the far more gourmet direction it’s heading in. About 8 flavors of gelato were offered that day, with 3 choices of cup sizes, and two flavors is always an option as with any good gelateria. We were also offered samples quite generously! I went with a small of their TCHO Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake for $ 4.50, which might sound steep but they pile the gelato on generously and was a VERY satisfying dessert after lunch on that hot day. Fantastic, some of the best food truck fare I’ve had!
My only gripe, as is the case with all food truck markets I’ve been to, is that the background music (no matter live or canned) that plays totally adds to the fun atmosphere, but makes it very hard to hear and be heard by the truck workers. Especially for shorties like me, they’re like 10 feet above me! I need to be able to hear them!
I’m very happy to welcome TheBend to the WC office cluster — hopefully with a little time the variety and quality of the food trucks will improve a little. But so far, so very good!

I am happy to have the food truck scene join Walnut Creek! Good food! Everything is clean and comfortable! So happy I finally got to try Frozen Custard! The vendors I had were friendly and happy to be there! Check it out! Everyday but Sunday!

the Bend Food Truck Market (walnut creek) has it’s soft opening this weekend. it’s located is a parking lot where the Le Virage eatery was.
vendors present (day, ⁵⁄₃₁):
–El Ranchero
–Moonstruck (pizza unique, veggie topping added after pizza cooked.
–Tutto Bene Gelateria
–Ken’s Heart and Soul
evening schedule: a few vendors
foodnotes:
–some new vendors here, evening has some of the usual food vendors
–day time parking a possible problem.-parking lot small.
— evening, lots of street parking
–recently noticed no more weekend events

Looks like Walnut Creek has got the itch for some summertime food trucks once again! I mean basically where Main St and California Blvd collide, is this place that’s called theBend. It’s petty much a little curved cove next to the Mt. Diablo Plaza Building.
On opening day, there were five food trucks representing. The whole area set up, was much larger than I had imagined. They had picnic tables and patio chairs all set up, and just about all of them were filled up. Some tables with umbrellas, but luckily it wasn’t too hot today. It was like a busy outdoor lunchtime party!
So, by judging the hungry foodie lines at each truck, I chose United Bites. These guys appeared to be the BBQ pork and comfort food specialists. They sold out of the Jerk Chicken Tacos and the Thai Chicken Wrap. So I ended up ordering this pork trifecta:
~ Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork Tacos ($ 8) — two large tacos, handmade corn tortillas filled with pulled pork and topped with some cole slaw and BBQ sauce. This was good, but I’m not a purple cabbage fan, blah! I still ate it though, as it was satisfying.
~ BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich ($ 9)
This was like the taco, only with a bun. Good stuff, but not the best pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had.
~ BBQ Porky Cheese Fries ($ 10)
It’s exactly what it sounds like! French fries with cheese, pulled pork, and their UB BBQ sauce. Mmm mmm mmm is all I have to say!
But coming here wasn’t just about United Bites. I ate at Go Streatery the other day and just loved the Ox Tail and Grits (check out my previous review). There’s also Sliders selling sliders, El Rancheros selling burritos, and Tutto Bene Gelateria providing dessert.
Parking, probably the only issue, can be kind of tight. At least there were parking attendants directing traffic. OK so I did the food truck thing two days in a row, and what can I say, it’s Friday and I got paid. Thank you Amy P. for tellin’ me about this shin-​dig! Walnut Creek has got food truck fever again, and I recommend that everyone give it a try!

Great first day dinner line up! Sliders, tacos, pizza, and gelato. I tried the beef slider from the slider truck. The meat and buns were awesome but the cheese was a little iffy. There’s plenty of variety though. Lots of options for vegetarians and people that can’t eat gluten. The pizzas looked delicious!