Blustery winds and a shadowy concrete-bound locale were not enough to keep thousands of people from standing in long lines Saturday for a chance to taste food truck cuisine.

The event brought a critical mass of 23 food trucks to Eighth and W streets – the spot used by the Sacramento Farmers' Market on Sundays.

The event's success showed how popular food trucks are with the public. Hourlong waits were common at the event, dubbed SactoMoFo III.

It was the second large-scale food truck event in Sacramento this year.

The first took place at Fremont Park in April, when a throng of nearly 9,000 caught food truck operators unprepared for the large demand. Food-line gridlock ensued, and some food trucks ran out of food with lines still looming.

That result was avoided Saturday. Despite long waits at some trucks, lines moved steadily and the public's demeanor remained light.

"This is great, I'm so excited," said Jennifer Johnson, Sacramento food truck newbie. "There is different food here that we don't get to eat every day."

Some, like Roseville resident Paul Fajardo, wanted to give the food truck festival a second chance. Fajardo attended the April SactoMoFo, and recalls lines there moving a foot or two an hour.

"This time lines are moving," Fajardo said. "I think they should keep doing this – it's a really viable concept."

The roughly 4,000 people who organizers say attended Saturday's event left no doubt that sizable demand exists for food truck cuisine, or that food truck operators are more than happy to fill that demand.

No example proved more revealing than the Saturday morning plight of the San Francisco-based Seoul on Wheels Korean BBQ food truck that was scheduled to be at SactoMoFo. It broke down outside Pinole on the way to Sacramento.

Instead of towing the truck back to its home base 22 miles away, its owners made the decision to tow the truck 70 miles to Sacramento to partake in the event.

The tow cost $856.

SactoMoFo events are so lucrative, and the opportunity to build a Sacramento fan base so tempting, that the tow charge seemed palatable, said Daniel Yoon, Seoul on Wheels chef.

"Events like this build up our fan base, and we get to shine and show off our food, too," Yoon said.

About noon, a tow truck backed the Seoul on Wheels rig into its space, and a line of patrons instantly formed in front of it. When Yoon announced to lined-up patrons that its burners and food orders would not be up and running for another 45 minutes, none of the 20 patrons in line left.

Food truck owners contend that the ardent presence of food truck lovers at the festival should be proof enough that Sacramento needs to revisit current city ordinances regarding food trucks.

The Sacramento City Council has postponed a much-awaited reconsideration of those ordinances until next year.

At issue are regulations that limit the food trucks to a maximum 30-minute stop on city streets and set a 6 p.m. curfew for the trucks during autumn and winter months.

Similar issues and ordinances are at play in other parts of the state. Also at issue is whether state or city law applies. State law does not mandate curb limits for food trucks.

In the Southern California city of Monrovia, the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association has gone to court to argue that city ordinances are not only oppressive but conflict with state law.

That case was recently heard in Los Angeles Superior Court, with the judge ruling in favor of the food truck association by asserting that state law, not city law, is primary when it comes to food trucks.

That ruling's fate is being watched closely by local food truck owners such as Andrew Blaskovich, owner of the popular Drewski's Hot Rod Kitchen food truck.

"We have to do what is right by the state," Blaskovich said. "The state says we could do this … that we are all following the vehicle code."

Some vendors are considering legal action if the city of Sacramento does not revisit the 30-minute limit and other ordinances in a timely fashion, said Paul Somerhausen, SactoMoFo coordinator.

"Legal action is not what we want to see here," he said. "In all the lawsuits that I've followed, the cities have lost."

Somerhausen said that the success of SactoMoFo event may trigger serious discussion about making food trucks a common sight Saturdays under the freeway.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Edward Ortiz, (916) 321-1071.

• Read more articles by Edward Ortiz