Whether it's your first Bonnaroo or you’re a music festival veteran, we welcome you to Inforoo.
Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
Post by Free Spirit Alessia on Jan 20, 2008 23:40:43 GMT -5
Hey everyone. This is going to be my first time at Bonnaroo and I was wondering what you all do for food. We were planning on bringing a small grill and bbq'ing but I was wondering if you bring plastic silverware and paper plates... or do you bring real stuff and are able to wash them? Should I bother bringing pots and pans or just stick to bbq?
Post by trippindaisy on Jan 20, 2008 23:44:24 GMT -5
We did that the first year, but it was a pain to have to go back to the campsite and then cook. We had sooo much wasted food - even though we thought we would be saving money. Just don't deal with the hassle of it. Take lots of water and maybe fruit cups & granola bars for snacks.
The second time, I took nothing but granola bars and just bought cheap food in or near Centeroo - much better way to go. I will not be taking anything this year either.
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2008 23:45:05 GMT -5 by trippindaisy - Back to Top
Post by SouthGA_Festival Machine on Jan 21, 2008 0:18:18 GMT -5
What I do is, I do the cooking at home. I cook a couple pounds of chicken breasts, beans and rice, sweet potatos. Then at camp, I make chicken roll-ups with tortillas, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. I also bring a large container of Wal-mart potato salad. For breakfast, I bring yogurt and cereal and soy milk. I usually eat breakfast soon after waking up, then lunch and a couple of drinks around noon before heading to Centeroo, with a beer for the road. Then if I get hungry later, I just buy something there, or sometimes I make a trip back to camp to refuel on food and alcohol, depending on whether I'm willing to miss any shows that day.
Post by sparklybecca on Jan 21, 2008 0:20:36 GMT -5
every year i go, the less food i bring..but thats just me.. your gonna have a difficult time washing pots and pans but its doable...there are water stations set up throughout roo to wash yourself/whatever you want.. we usually have a little grill with us and use it a few times for sure, for simple things, hotdogs, burgers, and grilled cheese ;D
but then i just end up being lazy, buying stuff on shakedown/centeroo, too hot to cook etc etc.. i usually end up eating stuff at the site like cheese sandwiches and granola bars...
Post by Good-Chicken on Jan 21, 2008 0:23:36 GMT -5
i agree with becca the simpler the food the better. hotdogs and burgers. we make baked potatoes on the grill and use spray butter so it's less mess and don't have to worry about our butter melting all over the place
Trust me...you are NOT going to want to take the time to do a lot of cooking at 'Roo! ;D The food from the vendors is not bad and isn't outrageously priced....and if you bring snacky-type ready-to-eat foods for breakfast and snacks...you can probably get by with one REAL meal a day and snack the rest of the time...two at MOST. We brought a TON of food last year and brought nearly ALL of it home with us...and that is what almost everyone I know has said too. It's just tooo hot and there is WAAAY too much going on to bother with cooking! ;D And you'll probably end up wasting more food than any money you would save....
Post by Northbound Headlight on Jan 21, 2008 0:29:12 GMT -5
Last year was my first time and I was very impressed by the quality of food available for a reasonable price. Between shakedown and centeroo I don't think I ate the same thing twice all weekend (except the grilled cheese). The only meal I ever really ate at camp was breakfast and that was mostly fruit, cliffbars and gatorade.
We brought hotdogs and burgers. Along with alot of snacks. I also made a big pasta salad and that lasted the whole weekend with 5 people eating it. The pasta sald is a good idea because there are lots of carbs. And when you are out in that heat doing all that walking you are going to be burning off more carbs than usual. So the pasta is a good source of energy.
The first three years I bought no food at all because I was kind of broke. But the food sold there is good and cheap so unless you like the cooking thing or are on a limited budget. Buying food is probably easiest.
Always bring some snacks that will stand the heat (granola, pop tarts, etc.) and LOTS of water. Otherwise food is not a problem.
I always bring enough for one big meal a day. I have a huge pot of jambalaya or veggie spaghetti or the like and share with neighbors in late afternoon/early evening to get ready fro the night shift. More of a community/neighborly thing than a food thing actually.
I also bring "real" dishes, usually one bowl and one plate. It cuts down on trash and it's easy enough to wash off with water from the cooler or with some spare water. Also cook things that can be cooked in one pot.
Last Edit: Jan 21, 2008 10:16:00 GMT -5 by troo - Back to Top
Post by bgnewcastle on Jan 21, 2008 13:26:14 GMT -5
Last year was my first time and having little money, I took snack foods only. Goldfish, granola, beef jerkey, and a giant bag of trail mix. Trail mix is a life saver. Throw in granola, nuts, anything you enjoy. I made up a few small bags of each food in the morning and was good to spend the whole day listening to music without a trip back to camp. I was more than happy with this system and will be doing it again this year.
My camp buddy made a HUGE fruit salad and split it up into single serving bags... worked like a charm... we had fruit all weekend.... mmmmmmm fruit kebobs
Thanks. The only mistake I made the first time was adding pieces of salami. While it tasted really good by Sunday they took on a blueish color and had to be removed. So stick to the veggies and pasta.
Post by kaleidoscope kristen on Jan 22, 2008 0:24:58 GMT -5
Last year was our roo and we brought a little grill type thing. ( it ended up being a piece) But we had packed down our cooler with hot dogs, hamburgers, stir fry, and things of that nature. We relied on the dry ice to keep everything frozen, but everything got pretty rotten and we really didn't eat much but snack stuff like granola and etc.
So this year we will be much more prepared, and I will bring extra money to dole out for bonna-food because a lot of it looked AMAZING last year!
And I love the pasta salad and fruit salad ideas guys!
Post by jambandjohn on Jan 22, 2008 1:14:08 GMT -5
Bring drinks and a sh!tload of bottled water. It's usually hotter than you could imagine and you will need gallons to stay hydrated.
For the last four Roos we have never once gone back to our camp for dinner. There are great choices from a bunch of vendors (you aren't going all this way to cook and clean, eh?). Bring a bunch of ready to eat stuff and fruit. We usually get a flat of muffins from Sams for b-fast, some jerky, trail mix, etc to bring inside. Keeping things simple is the way to go!
For the past three years, I've found cooking to be a hassle, but this mainly depends on how many people you're cooking for and where you're camped. We always have a fairly large group, and it's kind of a pain to get everyone back to camp at the same time, especially when the food in and around centeroo smells/tastes so good. Also, if you get stuck camping in BFE, that's a good 40-45 minute walk to centeroo. That's an hour and a half of roundtrip walking that you have to fit in your music schedule. I usually eat breakfast/lunch at camp, and then dinner in centeroo, hit up some $1 grilled cheese on the way back to camp for the night. As mentioned before, granola bars, clif bars, trail mix are real life savers.
At camp, we had PB&J fixings, granola bars, Doritos, fruit cups and oranges. Think we also had some lunch meat and mustard, can't fully remember. I felt no need for more extensive food even though this isn't how I eat at home. Bonnaroo is just different.
And then the falafel pitas we had Sunday night were so awesome that this year we're thinking about not even bringing as much food as we did and just walking into Centeroo/Shakedown for meals instead of eating at camp before heading down.
The oranges were the most awesome things ever. Sure, they're not in season in June, but keep them in the cooler and then the cold citrus is really reviving.
Post by universalmind on Jan 22, 2008 15:50:19 GMT -5
I have a really hard time eating at bonnaroo because of heat and...other things. i think i only had one real meal last year.everything else was just snacks
in 06 i brought along meal replacement shakes. it was great. helped out with all the nutrients i was losing from not eating.
CLIF bars, trail mix, beef jerky and bananas are your friends! Keep yer protein up! Even with all the time in the world and a great location, you're not going to want to cook much.
Other than Thursday night, breakfast is the only meal I have at camp each day. I stay in Centeroo from noon until 4am-ish. Snacks (peanuts, bananas, trail-mix, beef jerky, etc.) and water get me through until dinner time. I hit up a vendor or two right before the main show and then switch over to water/alcohol/etc. for the late-nights.
Since I went with DCBee I have little else to comment on, except I hated the "fun" snack food like Doritos after Day 1. I wanted healthy and lived off the oranges we brought.
We brought fruit salad; by time we got to Bonnaroo they were Ziploc baggies of mush. Sorta nasty - if you do decide to go with fruit salad keep it to things like pineapple, honeydew and grapes that have strength and keep out any berries.
I wish I had little snacks like granola bars for Centeroo. I brought single servings of fruit but really your hands are sooo grimy you don't want to try to wield a spoon or eat it.
Someone previously mentioned a rice/beans/salsa combo in Ziploc baggies that would be good warm or cold. Think I may do that for my vegetarian self.
Last minute we didn't take the grill and we didn't miss it. Too much trouble and really, even as newbies we didn't spend much time at the campsite.
For breakfast for $5 we got a honking big plate of eggs and potatoes and such from a vendor near our campsite. Enough for 2 and very yummy.
Post by SouthGA_Festival Machine on Jan 22, 2008 17:11:22 GMT -5
alieblue said:
I wish I had little snacks like granola bars for Centeroo. I brought single servings of fruit but really your hands are sooo grimy you don't want to try to wield a spoon or eat it.
I always keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer on me at Roo for use after leaving portos and b4 eating.
breakfast burritos near our camp were $4. incl. eggs, bacon, potatoes, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. totally killer!
lunch was granolla/cliff bars and one of those little tuna kits. they come in a nice little package with tuna, mayo, rellish, crackers, a spoon, and a mint. lightweight and compact, about the size of most chicks' wallets.
dinner was something good on shakedown. gyros or some other tasty something. never spent more than $6 for dinner.
brought a small gas grill and i used it once on sunday night only cause i didn't want to throw away my brats. my buddy used it for burgers on friday night. thats all. prolly not bringing it this year.
other than beer, the most i ever spent on food in one day was $12. most of it was on shakedown rather than centeroo.
We just brought snacky stuff and either ate the free food in VIP or ate at the vendors. If it's hot, you're not going to be really hungry anyways. During the day we ate light snacks and drank water and lots of it. When the sun went down the hunger came back and we ate then. I guess it depends on your budget too.
Post by gogogajoob on Jan 23, 2008 15:14:08 GMT -5
The problem with bringing food you have to cook into GA is that you don't know where you'll be parked. In the year when i was close i did alot of cooking because it was easy to swing back to the site.
Typically i just like to bring breakfast food (milk and cereal), eat a big breakfast and bring a bunch of snacks with me into centeroo. Between that and all the beer i probably only buy one real meal a day. Oh and the arepas, i love those.
