It’s crazy how big this Food Truck phenomenon has become. They seem to be everywhere, lately, including TV (“The Great Food Truck Race” on the Food Network, anyone?). Don’t get me wrong. I like food on the move almost as much as I like moving to get food. I just don’t understand why the buzz surrounding this trend conveys a novelty to the concept.

The original “diners” at the turn of the 20^th century were actually horse drawn dining wagons. Street meat vendors have adorned the busy intersections of metropolises like Manhattan and Chicago for decades. And ice cream trucks have plied their sugary wares using pied piper methodologies for generations.

During my undergraduate odyssey back in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, two fantastic food trucks were campus fixtures – Louis’ Lunch (home of the TBBC – Turkey Breast, Bacon and Cheese sub) and Johnny’s Hot Truck, who according to legend, inspired Stouffer’s popular frozen French bread pizzas with their variety of delicious pizzas on toasted sub rolls.

Point is, the food truck didn’t just happen. It has a rich legacy. Now if you want to discuss how its recent surge in popularity has brought with it a higher level of variety, innovation, and design, I’m with you.

So when word hit our household about the Food Truck Festival at Suffolk Downs this past weekend, we were all in.

After all, the idea of enriching the rich mosaic of my toddlers development by exposing them to the fast paced world of horse racing while availing ourselves of the culinary treasures from a trackside mobile food court seemed like a two birds with one stone kinda proposition.

Suffolk Downs has been a part of the Boston landscape for three quarters of a century, featuring not only horse racing highlights like the MassCap, but also including in its storied history one of the final live appearances of The Beatles as well as its pioneering status as one of the first tracks to set up a “no-slaughter” policy for its thoroughbreds. A farm was established for retirees to reside at after their racing years were over (betcha didn’t know that unless you’re a die hard racing nut or a programmer for Suffolk Down’s website, huh?). But this isn’t “Horsing Around With Handicapping”, it’s “Enjoy Every Sandwich”, so let’s get to the food!

The aforementioned trackside setup had about a dozen trucks/booths, and we kicked things off with a wax bag of hot, plump cider donut holes coated in a sugary cinnamon mix from the Flour Girls.

I’ve decided this fall that a great cider donut served fresh and hot is indulgent to the point that it should be classified as an illegal narcotic, and these didn’t disappoint.

Then we beelined to the famed Woodman’s of Essex to grab a “Fried Clam Cone”.

Woodman’s is purported to have invented the fried clam, and their hot, crunchy, oily concoction dipped in creamy tartar sauce was nothing short of delectable.

The crowd numbers at the Festival began to mushroom to untenable levels for those big on hunger and short on patience, so we targeted a handful of trucks to sample before calling it a day. Meatballs and Etc., is a purveyor of Turkish cuisine from Miami (I think they missed that last exit to Albuquerque on the way to somewhere else).

We ordered up a “classic meatball”, which is like a gyro with grilled Turkish style meatballs instead of lamb. While we were waiting, my daughter asked for some fries, so we ambled on over to the french fries stand attached to the Trolley Dogs hot dog booth and grabbed an order of chili’n’cheese fries.

Not bad, even though the cheese was that movie theater concession stand type served with nachos, and the chili contained beans, whose presence or absence seems to be a topic of great debate among chili enthusiasts.

The Turkish meatball was served on a thick grilled pita, with lettuce and tzatziki sauce. For those of you who are uninitiated in the world of mediterranean culinary staples, tzatziki is a sauce made with strained yogurt, mint, cucumbers, dill, and some spices. The variation served here had no mint, dill or cukes, but rather was a simple edition with diced onion that I enjoyed (like a lighter version of sour cream). The meatballs were lightly spiced and flavorful and it didn’t hurt that they were browned on both sides creating a welcome hint crunch.

We made two quick stops on our way out the door. First we hit Frozen Hoagies, a new local truck where the customer customizes their own ice cream sandwich, choosing from a half a dozen cookies including red velvet and pumpkin, and selecting from a dozen or so ice cream flavors ranging from traditional favorites like vanilla to such unusual options like mint explosion and pumpkin.

One red velvet/mocha chip order later, my family was in ice cream sandwich heaven. The red velvet cookie had a deep red color and a sweet moist vanilla cake flavor, and the mocha chip was a creamy, sweet delight.

A quick stop at the Froyo Truck for a fresh strawberry/banana smoothie to placate our kids craving for something fruity and our foray into this Festival of four wheeling fare was complete.

But our day in East Boston was not quite finished. We made a quick stop at family favorite Roy’s Cold Cuts in East Boston for a jar of stuffed hot cherry peppers (you didn’t think we could be that close and not swing by, didja?).