Summer is for food trucks, and the time is now

What is it that makes food trucks so irresistable?

Maybe it's the possibilities. You can get anything from a food truck: surf and turf, empanadas, lobster rolls, macaroni and cheese, cupcakes, ice cream — I could go on.

Such bounty means food truck festivals are magnets for foodies, and festival season kicks off next weekend at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport. The Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival is Saturday, May 25, through Monday, May 27, and will feature THIRTY-TWO food trucks.

That's right, nearly three dozen trucks from the Shore and beyond will be cooking everything from barbecue and pizza to pernil and arepas, with horse-racing in the background.

The Asbury Park Press and Jersey Shore Eats got in on the fun with the APP Readers' Choice Food Truck Contest, which invites readers to choose their favorite truck from those attending the festival. Place your vote Monday at app.com then keep an eye out for the winner: Food writer Gabriela L. Laracca and I will crown the first-place truck the first day of the festival.

One for the ladies

Have you ever fallen asleep at a sports bar?

I have.

While I love being with my husband and our friends, watching UFC fights is not my thing, especially when the fight of the night (I think it's called the main event?) doesn't start until late.

Sabrina Boudreau-Gullace, who with her husband, Matthew, owns Asbury Ale House in Asbury Park, gets that — and is doing something about it. The couple is turning the former Al Ponte Italian restaurant in Neptune City into a social lounge, bar and restaurant geared toward women.

Boudreau-Gullace's idea is to create a beautiful, comfortable environment "to give women of all ages a place where they feel comfortable," she said, adding that the owner of the space initially envisioned another Ale House in the location but she suggested this new concept instead.

"We're going to do events and have entertainment, and we want to create a social club where maybe it's just women and they have their own hour in the beginning (of happy hour)," Boudreau-Gullace said.

Renovations are under way and a July opening is planned.

Quick bites

Catbird , a new restaurant from Aimée McElroy of Asbury Park's shuttered Medusa Stone Fired Kitchen, has opened in the former Sunset Landing space in the city. Overlooking Deal Lake, the restaurant is serving McElroy's famous pizzas and then some, and is currently open for dinner. Breakfast and lunch plans are in the works.

Broadwalk, Red Bank's pedestrian-only plaza between Front and White streets on Broad Street, is back for another season. Restaurants and shops in the area take to the street, offering dining and shopping under twinkling lights. Broadwalk is open through the end of September.

Danny Murphy , a beloved restaurateur in Red Bank, died May 9. The longtime owner of Danny's Steakhouse on Bridge Avenue was 80 years old.

A Krispy Kreme Factory with a drive-up window will open this fall in a former McDonald's on Route 70 in Lakewood. Donut fans can look forward to Krispy Kreme's "glaze waterfall' and conveyor belt used to make the donuts.

That is all for this week! For more food content, visit app.com and follow Jersey Shore Eats on Instagram and Facebook.

Sarah Griesemer is a food writer for The Asbury Park Press and app.com. For more on where to eat and drink, please consider a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Summer is for food trucks, and the time is now