Food trucks have become an essential part of summer in Rochester. You’ll find them at festivals, farmer’s markets, concerts and food truck rodeos. People hire them for private events like weddings, graduation parties, corporate functions and more. You can also find them serving up portable meals at lunchtime and late night around town.
Mobile food vendors have been around in various forms since the days of horse-drawn wagons, but the current food truck scene was sparked during the recession in 2008. Out-of-work restaurant chefs in large cities started food trucks that drew crowds thanks to their creative cuisines and social media buzz.
The trend found its way to Rochester over the next few years. A seminal event was the first food truck rodeo at the Rochester Public Market in June 2012, which featured 13 food trucks from around the area. Many ran out of food early in the evening due to throngs of customers. Since then, the number of vendors at each rodeo has tripled and the events are a popular draw to the market.
Some of the trucks from that first rodeo, including Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza, are still going strong. But a great many food trucks have come and gone over the years. Some recent surprise departures include popular trucks like The Meatball Truck, Le Petit Poutine and Stingray Sushifusion.
To find some of the best food truck eats in Rochester right now, we headed to the first two food truck rodeos at the Rochester Public Market. We were on the hunt for one-of-a-kind dishes that you wouldn’t find at other restaurants or food trucks. Here’s the best of what we found.
Jibaro Plate, Rob’s Kabobs
Rob’s Kabobs has been a fixture on Rochester’s food truck scene for the past 10 years. Owner Rob Loncoa’s inspiration for the truck was pinchos, a street food in Puerto Rico.
In addition to grilled meats on a stick, the truck serves a creative Puerto Rican spin on Rochester’s famed Garbage Plate. Called the Jibaro plate, the satisfying dish is based on rice & beans topped with torn pieces of pernil (roast pork), crispy strips of tostones (fried plantains); sliced avocado; and a creamy, garlicky jibaro sauce. (Jibaro refers to the mountain people in Puerto Rico.)
Mango Bang Bang Tacos, Bay Vista Taqueria
Trash Plate, Agatinas
Agatina’s has been a fixture in Gates for more than 40 years and now has a food truck that serves Italian dishes.
Crab Rangoon Nachos, Roll’n Deep
Roll’n Deep makes an assortment of Asian fusion fare; it’s also popular for its bubble teas.
Its most fun dishes are its spins on nachos, but based on fried wonton wrpers instead of tortilla chips. Crab Rangoon nachos are topped with creamy, cheesy mixture and crab stick and garnished with fresh jalenos, scallions and a sweet Sriracha sauce.
This truck also has its own nod to the Garbage Plate. In this case, it serves The Garbage Roll, filled with meat hot sauce, mac salad, tater tots and American cheese.
Strawberry Bubble Waffle Sundae, Bubble Waffle Bus
Rochester’s food truck scene has several dessert trucks, and many savory trucks serve some kind of dessert, but most are lacking in the “wow” factor. Enter the Bubble Waffle Bus, a newcomer to the food truck scene for 2026. Bubble waffles look like bubble wr and are formed from interconnected spheres that are hollow on the inside. They form the shell for eye-catching sundaes made with a variety of toppings.
We liked the Strawberry Bubble Waffle Sundae, which was made with vanilla ice cream, sliced strawberries, strawberry sauce, crispy cocoa cereal and red sugar crystals. Two strawberry candy sticks form antenna-like garnishes. @bubblewaffle_bus on Instagram.
Loaded Greek Fries, Eat Greek
Connecticut Lobster Roll, Roc Lobster
Roc Lobster is a new food stand in the Rochester Public Market that serves four kinds of lobster rolls as well as other seafood dishes. We loved the Connecticut lobster roll, filled with a quarter-pound of good-sized chunks of tender lobster coated with warm butter and served in a buttered roll.

PULLMAN — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated over 35,600 pounds of nonperishable goods to Palouse food banks and nonprofits.
The Pullman Washington Stake, a collective of five congregations in Whitman County, facilitated the large delivery on Wednesday.
Lindsay Weldon, the stake’s communication director, said the donation was far more than what one food bank could receive alone.
Around 25 volunteers loaded peanut butter, pasta and other pantry stles into the vehicles of 16 organizations.
Those include: Colfax Food Pantry, Colton-Uniontown Food Pantry, Community Action Center of Whitman County, Endicott Food Pantry, Garfield Food Pantry, Inland Oasis & the West Side Food Pantry, Oakesdale Food Pantry Services, Palouse Community Center Senior Lunch, Palouse Food Pantry, Pullman Child Welfare, Pullman Senior Citizens Association, Rosalia Food Commodities, St. John Food Pantry, Tekoa Food Pantry, The Friendly Senior Citizens of Troy, as well as the Trinity Lutheran Church.
The church estimates the donation will supply proximately 29,700 meals to the greater Palouse area.
Weldon said the contribution is part of the church’s America250 initiative, which aims to donate a total of 10 million pounds of shelf-stable items to food banks across all 50 states this year.
Weldon noted that the church’s charitable giving extends past the special event celebrating America’s birthday. The church’s welfare and humanitarian system, supported by member donations, supplies 121 Bishops’ Storehouses worldwide which regularly deliver food. Last year, she said the church donated 37 million pounds of nonperishables, or 31 million meals.
The closest Bishop Storehouse is in Spokane, she said, which usually serves that region. Wednesday marked the first time the stake brought a donation of this caliber to the Palouse.

Do you know who you’re opening your door to? A CBS News California consumer investigation uncovered food delivery drivers using rented or stolen p accounts to bypass background checks, exposing a loophole that could put customers at risk.
Now, in a CBS California accountability follow-up, investigative correspondent Julie Watts went to the State Citol to find out what lawmakers can do to close that g and protect consumers.
Charles Bledsoe says he was caught off guard when a DoorDash delivery took a frightening turn.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do or why he was trying to get in,” he said.
The driver assigned to deliver his order was supposed to be a woman. Instead, a man showed up at his door and, Bledsoe says, tried to force his way inside.
“I feared for my life,” he said.
The incident prompted a CBS News California consumer investigation.
Reporter Kristine Lazar and producer Amy Corral discovered food delivery accounts being bought, sold and rented online. During a series of test orders, they found that one in four drivers did not match the photo displayed in the p.
We took those findings to the California State Citol.
“Is your law still protecting folks if we can’t make sure that the background-checked person is actually the one coming to deliver the food?” Watts asked Assemblywoman Laurie Davies.
“It’s a great question,” Davies replied.
Davies authored a California law requiring food delivery ps to provide customers with a driver’s first name and photo when an order is out for delivery.
The goal was to help customers know who’s coming to their door and give law enforcement a way to identify drivers if a crime occurs.
The bill passed unanimously — a rare feat for a Republican-authored bill in California’s supermajority Democratic legislature.
“It’s a very bipartisan issue,” Davies said.
But the CBS News California investigation exposed what pears to be a major loophole.
Accounts are being advertised for rent or sale on social media platforms, including Facebook Marketplace and Instagram.
“Even if you don’t have a driver’s license,” Corral said.
The practice could allow people to bypass the background checks required to create delivery accounts, raising concerns that unqualified or potentially dangerous individuals may be making deliveries under someone else’s identity.
“And we have got to do something about that,” Davies said.
In response to the investigation, Davies says she’s exploring stronger safeguards and tougher penalties for people who rent, sell or share delivery accounts.
“What is the punishment if they’re caught doing that? Is there a strong punishment?” Davies asked.
She continued, “We’ve got to get law enforcement in here and tell us what can we do. Then we need to work with our legislators and make sure that we close that loophole.”
For Bledsoe, that can’t hpen soon enough.
“What would hpen if it had been a young lady by herself?” he said.
Because if customers can’t trust the photo in the p, they can’t really know who’s showing up at their door.
“It was supposed to be a guy who looked like he was in his mid-30s,” Corral said about one of the test orders. “But the guy who showed up was definitely not this guy.”
CBS News California Investigates also found Uber and Lyft accounts being advertised for rent on social media.
We reached out to Uber, Lyft and DoorDash. All three companies said account holders found engaging in fraud are removed from their platforms.
Meta told CBS News California it reviewed the accounts identified during our investigation and removed those found to be violating its fraud policies.

A new oyster bar is coming to Blue Hill and a retail shop is on track to open in Stonington this summer as local aquaculture operation Deer Isle Oyster Co. expands.
The Stoop oyster bar and The Dooryard shop are two new ventures for Abby Barrows, who purchased a 3.5-acre aquaculture lease in Deer Isle’s Long Cove in 2015 and recently more than doubled cacity with another 4.5-acre lease one cove over. She now also has a supply of farmed oysters year-round thanks to an old lobster pound used to store them through the winter season.
The two new locations, along with new farm tours, aim to connect people with local food and educate them about aquaculture, according to Barrows. They will also create new markets for her growing business and add new places to socialize in the two downtowns.
I’m excited to have the opportunity to be part of this amazing food scene and also promote and educate people around aquaculture – such as the years of work and care that go into growing an oyster, she said.
Barrows is focused on smaller quantities of high-quality oysters rather than a rid expansion, she said.
Individual oysters taste differently based on where they grow, shed by factors like water salinity, currents, temperature and the type of bottom they grow on. Barrows sees that as a sense of place in each one.
Long Cove produces oysters with a taste she describes as special and complex: clean, snpy and fresh with a briny bite and lingering sweetness.
Flavor profiles also change subtly throughout the season, and showcasing different oysters side by side shows how different factors affect their taste.
Here in downeast Maine, we’re growing some phenomenal-tasting oysters, she said.
Barrows’ business has grown incrementally, and in recent years she’s put additional energy into research and development for ways to grow oysters without plastic gear to minimize pollution.
That has brought opportunities to bring people to the oyster farm, connect them with where their food comes from, understand more about oyster growing and share the importance of oysters as waters warm in the Gulf of Maine, she said. Aquaculture has been promoted as an economic opportunity to diversify working waterfronts from reliance on lobstering as the climate changes.
Barrows also sells oysters wholesale and has held pop-up events, where she enjoyed the full-circle experience of going from working on the farm to presenting the oysters to customers.
When the opportunity arose to rent a spot at 27 Water Street in Blue Hill, it seemed like a step forward that could pull together the various pieces of the business in one location, she said. Barrows aims to keep it open year-round.
The oyster bar will also carry oysters from other local growers, with a simple menu including items such as tinned fish, local cheese, pickles and drinks.
It’s a big change from a decade of selling oysters off her porch in Stonington, the town where Barrows is also planning to open a new shop. But she’s since moved from that house and wants to have a staffed store to provide access to hard-to-find seafood and help bring life to the downtown village, providing a destination people can walk to and learn about its working waterfront, she said.
Barrows hopes to open her Stonington store in a shed at 11 N. Main St., in the dooryard of a tr shop of the lobsterboat ctain she once worked for, carrying oysters along with wine, merchandise and other value-added products. The town’s planning board is set to review the plication later this month, and she hopes to open the following day if proved.
The names of both spots are inspired by providing places for people to come together, hang out and connect with local food, she said.

The Food and Drug Administration has launched a safety study of the abortion pill mifepristone, a senior FDA official confirmed to CBS News, a step that could pave the way for the Trump administration to restrict access to the medication.
It will be a retrospective study of hundreds of thousands of cases, according to the official. The interim results of the study could be released in July, but the official noted the timing of the final results will depend on the design of a secondary analysis after the interim results come in.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the launch of the study.
Last September, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a letter to several Republican state attorneys general that the FDA was reviewing the safety of mifepristone.
At the time, Kennedy and then-FDA Commissioner Martin Makary wrote, “HHS — through the FDA — is conducting its own review of the evidence, including real-world outcomes and evidence, relating to the safety and efficacy of the drug.”
The drug came under renewed scrutiny after the Biden administration issued a memorandum lifting restrictions that required the drug to be dispensed in-person and giving access to mifepristone via telehealth and by mail.
Last year, the state of Louisiana filed a lawsuit challenging the FDA’s decision to allow mifepristone to be delivered by mail.
On May 4, the U.S. Court of peals for the 5th Circuit temporarily reinstated the rule requiring mifepristone to only be dispensed in person.
However, the following week, the Supreme Court set aside the lower court order and allowing, for now, mifepristone to continue to be delivered to patients through the mail while the Louisiana case plays out in the courts.
Mifepristone, which was first proved by the FDA in 2000 as a safe way to end early pregnancies, is typically taken with a second drug, misoprostol.
Asked last year whether a review of mifepristone could lead to a ban, CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder suggested it would be difficult for the FDA to withdraw proval, an extraordinary step that would quickly draw legal challenges.
However, Gounder said that depending on what the safety review finds, it could make access more difficult, limiting the drug’s availability through telehealth or by mail, or restricting the ability to prescribe it to doctors, rather than physician assistants or nurses who are also currently able to prescribe it.