Food trucks, a Friday staple in Daley Plaza, wrap up for the season

Percy Billings sat in his Harold’s Chicken food truck Friday in Daley Plaza, a bit dejected, with the Picasso staring down at him.

His generator malfunctioned; the rain got to it.

The fried chicken truck is part of the armada of food trucks that offer lunch every Friday during warm-weather months at the city’s flagship public plaza.

Friday was the last day of the season for what the city dubbed its “Food Truck Festival.”

And regulars wanted to know why Harold’s service window was shut, its chicken slingers idle in the front seats.

“We have no power. We’re working on getting it,” Billings said.

One woman became slightly annoyed when a cook from Haire’s Gulf Shrimp, a neighboring truck, offered up his Louisiana fare as a substitute.

“No thank you, Mr. Cajun man,” she responded.

The trucks offer an easy, affordable option to thousands of customers, especially the security guards, municipal employees and state workers who call the surrounding buildings home for eight-plus hours a day.

Cynthia McKee waited in line at Uncle Remus Saucy Fried Chicken. She said she usually works right through lunch without noticing as she helps sign up veterans for benefits through her job with the state’s Department of Veteran Affairs. She previously served in the Army and has a special appreciation for the job.

On Friday, she looked out her window, saw the trucks, and was reminded that food can be good in the middle of the day.

The rain and bluster kept the lines to a minimum, but McKee wore Crocs and her ankles were exposed to the elements.

“They’re lined,” she said, a measure of indignation in her voice. She regularly fields questions about her Crocs on cold days, mostly from members of her church.

“It’s a nice way for people to get together outside for lunch,” Ken Meyer, commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said Friday.

As many as 14 of the city’s 80-plus food trucks can ring the plaza.

Six food trucks were doing business on Friday. It’s Food Truck Festival’s seventh season.

Daley Plaza is set to shape-shift again in the coming weeks when setup begins for the annual Christkindlmarket, which officially opens Nov. 18.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times