Take a stroll down the Avenue of Festival Food at the 45th annual Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival, and you’ll smell a smorgasbord of traditional and cultural fair foods.

 

This year’s avenue has 18 food booths with vendors selling goodies ranging from hamburgers and hot dogs to pad thai and gyros.  Many of the vendors are returning, some of them are new.

“You’re really missing a wonderful component of the festival if you don’t check the food booths out,” said Ann Spikes, the food coordinator.  “We have an incredible variety of foods. There’s a lot happening there.”

 

Festival-goers won’t be going hungry at this year’s festival, Spikes said.  With so many booths on the avenue, she said she’s made sure there’s something tasty for everyone to try.

“My policy is to not duplicate major food items from one booth to another, so you’re not going to find something like jalapeño poppers in 10 booths,” she said.

 

The food booths are scheduled to run from 3-10 p.m. on Friday, from 11-10 p.m. on Saturday and from 11-5 p.m. on Sunday.  

 

A festival favorite, Slim’s Pickens BBQ, is returning for the sixth year in a row with its original slow-cooked barbecue.  The booth is serving Southern-style pork, ribs, brisket plates or sandwiches with coleslaw and stuffed baked potatoes.

Owner Mark Ford said his meat is a labor-intensive food.

 

“I put the time into it,” he said.  “I rub the meat four days before, smoke it four hours and cook it for nine hours.”

For more Southern cooking, festival-goers can stop at The Whim booth for Philly cheese steaks shrimp po’boys, fish or shrimp and chips, deep-fried pickles, mini French dips, seafood gumbo, Cajun shrimp and Jamaican chicken skewers.

 

“The Whim’s seafood gumbo is, honestly, one of the best gumbos I’ve ever put in my mouth,” Spikes said.

 

Also available will be Papa Murphy’s cheese, pepperoni, Hawaiian and gourmet-chicken pizza, she said.

 

Festival-goers can also enjoy Asian cuisine, including Japanese-style egg rolls, barbecued-pork buns and a chicken combo with vegetables and rice or noodles from Delicious Asia.  

“My Japanese-style chicken combos come with your choice of orange, teriyaki or Mongolian sauces,” said Albert Feng, owner of Delicious Asia.  “The sauces are really tasty, and everything is healthy and fresh.”

 

Pork lumpia, chicken adobo, pancit noodles, white or fried rice, barbecued pork on a stick, bubble tea and healthy beverages from Happy Toes; pad thai, chicken satay with peanut sauce, veggie dumplings with soy sauce and Thai tea from the Mukilteo Thai Restaurant and Hawaiian shaved ice from Northern Lights Hawaiian will also be available.

 

Festival-goers can satisfy their sweet tooth with Barvarian funnel cakes from Lizi’s Fine Foods, rootbeer floats and ice cream from European Style Food and cotton candy from Fairy Floss Candy.

 

Battered, deep-fried onion bursts, hamburgers, kielbasa, french fries, jalapeño poppers, mushrooms and onion rings from Aussie Onion and beef, lamb, chicken or veggie gyros from European Style Food will also be at the festival.

 

Snack foods are also available, including garlic fries, elephant ears and pita pockets with chicken from H&D Foods, roasted corn from Corn Roasters, and kettle or cheese popcorn from Crunchy Corn.

 

Other festival goodies include mini pies and tarts, samosas, puff dogs, sundaes, chips and cinnamon twists from Janeys Pies; savory and sweet crepes from Crepealicious; hot dogs, chips and candies from Mukilteo La Crosse and coffee, muffins and cookies from D.R. Espresso.

 

The D.R. Espresso booth has developed a following in the six years it’s been at the festival, said Dee Giddens, president of D.R. Expresso.

 

“When you’re in my industry, the fact that a festival is put on well is big,” she said.  “I think the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival is phenomenal.”