Famous Food Festival returns to Tanger Outlets in Deer Park
Famous Food Festival is returing to the Tanger Outlets in Deer Park. Credit: Sal Peretti of High Key Digital
If you’re interested in tasting food from around the globe, Deer Park’s Tanger Outlets is the place to be this Columbus Day weekend for the latest incarnation the Famous Food Festival featuring more than 70 food vendors from the tristate area.
Running Friday, Oct. 6 through Monday, Oct. 9, the festival showcases an overwhelming array of foods. Vendors run the gamut from popular Long Island restaurants like Shrimpy’s Burrito Bar, Fat Boy’s Burrito Co. and Island Spice Grill (serving a jerk chicken and oxtail shrimp), to market favorites like Tashana’s Kitchen offering mac-and-cheese "cupcakes" with a choice of toppings like pulled pork, buffalo chicken and seafood.
But the best part of a festival this food-saturated is trying new bites and flavors from afar. Consider shrimp pad thai from Bangkok Street Food or Taiwanese sausage from Bombchon Chicken. There are meat skewers and arepas from the Ecuadorian La Braza; Puerto Rican alcapurrias, sorullos and arroz con gandules from Latin Flavor; various incarnations of Filipino lechon (roasted pork) from Lechonbae. The Little Sicilian will be serving assorted types of arancini, or rice balls, and Hangrydog will be serving Korean corn dogs. Oyster Party will kick things up a notch with a selection of oysters and lobster rolls. Familiar food festival snacks like tacos, pizza, chicken fingers, sliders of all kinds, empanadas, Bavarian pretzels and fries will also be available from other vendors.
If you’re more sweet than savory, the festival is loaded with dessert options from churros (The Churro Chick) to zeppoles (Emily’s Apple Puffs) to meringue topped-and-torched ice cream (Bona Bona Ice Cream). Exotic Bowls will bring acai treats to the event, while the Sweet Love Company will tempt the healthy-minded with brownie sundaes, cake pops, milkshakes and cupcakes. Mini-doughnuts, apple cider and lemonade can be scored from The Doughnuttery and MM Sweet Shop will be on-hand with an assortment of gluten- and dairy-free alternatives like dairy-free rice pudding.
Famous Food Festival owner Eric Arshravan said the event's goal is to “bring Long Island a festival that they can be proud of,” filled with not only food, but entertainment in the form of live music and a dedicated kids space with face painting, henna, stuffed animals and rides. There will also be cooking demos, local artist galleries, axe-throwing, a 360-photo booth, psychic readings, and in the spirit of Halloween, a haunted house. New to this year’s event — for adults — is a bohemian beer garden.
Admission is $12 adults ($8 advance online), $5 ages 7-12, with discounts for multiday entry. Food is priced a la carte.
Famous Food Festival, 1-8 p.m. Oct. 6, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 7-9 at Tanger Outlets, 152 The Arches Circle, Deer Park, southeast parking lot, famousfoodfestival.com.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
