RESTAURANT LOGISTICS

Restaurant Forms - Please fill out ASAP

MANDATORY RESTAURANT MEETING

THURSDAY, April 17th @11:00am CST

MEETING RECORDING

ALL RESTAURANTS MUST HAVE 1 REPRESENTATIVE ON THE ZOOM CALL. 

Please email gaby@diningoutevents.com if you have questions or scheduling conflicts. 

During this call you will:

  • Receive detailed load in/load out instructions

  • Receive blind judging information (time slot, number and drop off location)

  • Confirm power and equipment needs

  • Ask any questions you have prior to the big event!

Location: POST Houston

Address: 401 Franklin St, Houston, TX 77201
Top Taco HTX will take place in the main parking lot on the Southwest side of the building off Franklin Street and Bagby.

MetroRail - Take the MetroRail Red Line to Preston Station. Walk north along Main St. then turn left onto Congress St.
‍Continue walking 4 blocks west along Congress St. until crossing Buffalo Bayou at the Congress St. bridge.
‍Cross Franklin St. at the traffic light and arrive at POST.

Ride share (Lyft/Uber) drop off is at the 713 Music Hall.

 

Vendor/Staff Entrance & Parking Options

Vendor/Staff Entrance is located on Bagby street (red star). Please be sure you have all staff wearing wristbands on site during the day of the event. At 4pm there will be a security sweep and anyone without a wristband will have to leave site.

PLEASE NOTE, there is NO event exclusive parking. There are several paid lots surrounding the event site, including at POST. The closest outside parking lot is located across Bagby street. Please see additional parking information here: https://www.posthtx.com/visit

LOAD IN/LOAD OUT

LOAD IN LOCATION: FRANKLIN & BAGBY STREET

All restaurants will load in on Thursday, April 24th during your designated load in time. Please arrive during your time slot to ensure we have staff to assist you and prevent traffic jams.

Turn onto Bagby Street from Franklin Street and take a right into the event parking lot. Stop at the Vendor/Restaurant Check In tent where DiningOut staff will meet you with your restaurant packet and direct you to your space.

DO NOT leave your vehicle unattended in the loading area. Unload and move you car directly to the Vendor/Staff parking area.

You will be able to drive in to Load In, but please bring carts and dolly’s for load out, as we will not be able to allow cars in until all guests have left the event site and your space is completely packed up.

Load In / Load Out

  • ALL RESTAURANTS MUST BE ON SITE AND CHECKED IN BY 3PM ON THURSDAY, April 24th.

    All restaurants load in on Thursday, April 24th between 8am and 3pm. You will receive specific load in time slots and locations during the MANDATORY RESTAURANT MEETING on Thursday, April 17th.

    We will have volunteers ready to help you load in when you arrive. We will also have a refrigerator truck on site if you need to store food items. Please arrive during your designated time slot to ensure we have staff available to assist you.

    TO HELP AID IN THE LOAD IN PROCESS, PLEASE BRING DOLLYS/WAGONS TO UNLOAD CARS AND TAKE EQUIPMENT TO YOUR BOOTH.

  • All restaurants must load out fully on the evening of the event.

    You may begin loading out at 10pm when the festival is over. (Please do not begin packing up your space until 9:45pm.)

    1. All equipment items (hand washing stations, linens, etc) must be checked in by festival staff to avoid a fee.

    2. If you are renting cooking equipment, please be sure it is CLEAN and left at your space. You will be charged an additional fee if equipment is dirty.

    All items need to be loaded out the evening of the event and your space must be free of any trash or additional items. Any items left in your space will be discarded when the cleaning crew arrives.

    Please let your staff know so that they can plan accordingly. Our event staff will be working hard to break down the festival, so please help us make the load out process as easy as possible!

Equipment

  • The DiningOut Events crew will help ensure that all participating restaurants are up to code. We will provide each restaurant with a handwashing station that includes the following:

    • One 5-gallon cambro filled with hot water (to Health Department regulated temperature)

    • Catch bucket

    • Sanitizer

    • Paper Towels

    Please be sure you bring gloves for your staff as those are required but will not be provided for you.

    Our team will come around at the end of the night to pick up these items. Please leave them at your space to avoid a fee.

  • Your space will also include:

    • Standard festival banner (unless you specified that you will be bringing your own tent)

    • 2 tables (1 X 8-foot and 1 X 6 foot)

    • 1 linen

    • Ice will be available onsite if needed

    PLEASE BE SURE YOUR STAFF LEAVES YOUR LINEN AND TABLES IN THE SPACE WHEN THEY LEAVE TO AVOID A FEE.

  • These items are not provided by the festival, and will be helpful!

    • Necessary cooking equipment

    • EXTENSION CORDS - we will not provide these

    • Gloves for handling food

    • Fun decor & lighting for your tent

    • Bar towels, bus tubs, extra linens

    • Napkins, forks, or other compostable items. Each festival attendee will receive a compostable festival plate for the evening. To eliminate waste, we ask that you serve them directly onto their plate, rather than on separate serving plates. If you chose to use any additional serving items, they must be compostable.