The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival also celebrates the art of cooking. Full of top notch vendors from all over Los Angles and Palm Springs, the fest features food from a variety of cuisines. Stop by stalls on the grounds for mac and cheese and paella, or venture into the Beer Barn and specialty food areas (if you’re 21+) for the best that Indio has to offer.
Eureka!
Located in the Beer Barn, Eureka! offers classic burgers and fries with upscale twists. The juicy American Cheeseburger ($15) includes swiss cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and fries that hit the balance of crispy and fluffy. Coachella attendees can also get the Fresno fig burger for $16, with fig marmalade and goat cheese. Our truffle cheese fries ($11) were topped with green onions and havarti cheese sauce—very rich in the hot sun. As for Eureka’s mac and cheese balls ($11), the texture was unbelievable. The inside featured creamy and gooey mac and cheese, coated in crunchy deep fried goodness. Plus the Fresno chiles really gave it a kick. These treats were clearly freshly fried and satisfied our cravings. Favorite item: fries.
Little Fatty
Created by UCLA’s own David Kuo, Little Fatty served up Taiwanese soul food in the form of a cold noodle salad with edamame and carrots, along with orange chicken and rice and fried pork dumplings. These hearty fried dishes are very filling, optimal when you’re walking around all day. The orange chicken was heavily breaded, but the sweet sauce with the dumplings made for a glorious combination of salty and sweet, soft and crunchy. And the cold noodle salad with creamy sauce offered a welcome break from hot food in the heat. Everything was masterfully seasoned and the components were added with purpose. Favorite item: dumplings.
Pinches Tacos
Westwood’s own taco shop made the trek to Coachella, serving up asado, pollo, al pastor and veggie tacos for $5 each. Add to it with chips and salsa, like we did for the crunch. All four of the tacos were soft and flavorful inside their warm tortillas. Celebrated for its “authentic homemade tacos,” Pinches Tacos never disappoints. They’re truly the best you can find on the West Side, and now they’re here in Indio serving up stunning dishes. Located inside the Food West “Taco Party,” these tasty tacos are a perfect bite in between sets. Favorite item: al pastor taco.
Milk Box
This premium boba vendor keeps guests refreshed and hydrated. You can choose from milk tea, milk matcha, sweet iced tea or even mango matcha tea for $8 each with boba added for $1 more. Every drink comes in cute road runner-themed cups to fit the Coachella brand. You can’t go wrong grabbing an icy boba drink from Milk Box; it’s a great option for a light beverage, and their boba is noticeably fresh in that the texture is soft and not hardened by the ice. Favorite item: milk tea with boba.
Sweet Rolled Tacos
Set to become THE dessert of Coachella, Sweet Rolled Tacos combines two food trends: ice cream tacos and rolled ice cream. The birthday cake taco ($14) was filled with a roll of pink ice cream with sprinkles inside a sweet blue taco shell. Though the idea sounds hip and trendy, it ended up being unnecessary. The ice cream itself was rightfully the best part of the taco—beautifully creamy and delicious. However, the taco shell and sprinkles didn’t match the high quality of the ice cream. I would have loved to watch the employees roll the ice cream in front of us (instead of behind the curtain), and serve it solo in a cup. In this case, the taco portion was mainly for looks (look at the cute photo!). Favorite item: ice cream.
Fuku
The desire for Fuku’s chicken sandwiches created a huge line in the Indio Central Market during Weekend 2. The spicy fried chicken sandwich ($12) features a habanero thigh with pickles on a potato roll, and Fuku’s chicken is truly stand out. The warm, juicy dark meat was coated in breading, made even better with spicy sauce and pickled veggies. The $13 loaded fries were also in a league of their own, with ranch and spicy cheese drizzled atop the seasoned fries with added scallions and bacon. Yes, it really is that amazing. Both the chicken sandwich and fries packed on the heat for fans of spicy food. Also offered: strawberry lemonade slushie to quench the thirst of course. Favorite item: chicken thigh.