Palmetto Bay Picked Its Thursday Food Truck Night for a Three-Year Run

At this summer's Sunset Eats Night Market, the FIFA sticker trading station started with one table. According to the organizers, it grew to three as families brought picnic blankets, sat on the grass at Palmetto Bay Park and spent the evening finishing their World Cup collections.

Its operator's page announced a June 11 launch at Palmetto Bay Park and billed Sunset Eats as "the perfect Thursday night destination all summer long." Summer is over and the market is still running. On October 5, the Palmetto Bay Village Council voted 5-0 to select that operator for a Village food truck market with a three-year initial term, and it authorized the Village Manager to negotiate and sign the agreement. Thursday, November 12, is one of the dates on the Village calendar.

What the Council approved on October 5

The Village put the job out to bid as "Food Truck and Market on Park Drive," RFP No. 2026-12-014. The procurement memo in the October 5 council agenda packet sets out the timeline and terms:

1. The RFP was published on August 6, 2026.
2. One proposal came in by September 8, from Ferenczi Consulting, Corp., doing business as Central Makers.
3. The Village receives a flat fee of $649.50 a month, and the operator arranges off-duty police.
4. The first term runs three years. After that it can be renewed annually, "not exceeding five (5) consecutive years."
5. The Council approved the selection 5-0, with Mayor Karyn Cunningham, Vice Mayor Mark Merwitzer and Councilmembers Patrick Fiore, Steve Cody and Marsha Matson all voting yes, according to the Village's log of final council action.

The RFP had already described the kind of event the Village wanted before any bid came in: "a signature community gathering" meant to bring people into public spaces, support small businesses and local entrepreneurs, and "become a premier community destination." In other words, the Village planned for one standing weeknight event in the park, and the company that won the bid was the one already running it.

The RFP lists the location as Park Drive and lets the Village change the event footprint or move it to other Village-owned property if needed. The current Village listings put Sunset Eats at Palmetto Bay Park, 17535 SW 95th Avenue. Central Makers says the market sets up on Park Road inside the park, in front of the ball fields and the playground, and that the park and playground stay open until 10 p.m.

What the RFP asks for each Thursday

The RFP sets the schedule at Thursdays, 5 to 9 p.m. Setup starts at 3 p.m. and breakdown runs until 10. The Village approves the exact dates and hours and can change them. The Village calendar lists the November Thursdays at 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., so check the Village calendar before you head over.

The vendor rules shape what you'll find there. The RFP gives "twelve to twenty" trucks per event as its example minimum, and it calls for a mix of cuisines, specialty food, dessert vendors and non-alcoholic drinks. It also tells the operator to avoid duplicate menus whenever possible. Every vendor needs an active Palmetto Bay Business Tax Receipt.

The Central Makers proposal lists the food that has been showing up:

• BBQ and Southern comfort food, soul food
• Cuban sandwiches, specialty sandwiches, smash burgers
• Mexican food, chicharrón, ceviche, sushi, Italian
• Sourdough, baked goods and other sweets
• Boba, açaí bowls, fresh lemonade, coffee, tea and matcha

The no-duplicates rule shows up in how the market is run. The organizers say they rotate the burger trucks, who split the available weeks between them, and that they put dessert vendors in touch with each other by email before each event. One brings cinnamon rolls, another cheesecake, and others bring cookies, carrot cake or banana bread. So the lineup changes from week to week, though the proposal says some regulars return every Thursday.

The free activities

The sticker table was one of several free activities. The proposal lists the free programming already running at Sunset Eats:

The organizers also describe working with the sports groups that already use the park, and with neighbors such as Venture X Palmetto Station and Indigo Palmetto Bay. Venture X has used several of the market's vendors for its corporate lunch program and has set up its own tent at the market.

The vendors' own letters in the agenda packet explain why the timing matters. Travelin' Tom's Coffee of Cutler Bay wrote that it has been at Sunset Eats "since the very first day":

"From special events such as the FIFA World Cup trading sticker event to the weekly salsa classes, Barbara continually finds ways to create an experience rather than simply hosting a food truck gathering."

Craave House, a sourdough and coffee vendor, wrote that Barbara and Ed Ferenczi "have worked so hard to get us through the slow season, we are really hoping to work with them as the park gets busier with sports and customers." The market got through the summer, and the Council's selection points it toward the cooler months that both the vendors and the yoga instructors have been waiting for.

The same organizers used to run the Sunday market

The Ferenczis are not new to Palmetto Bay markets. According to the proposal, they live in Palmetto Bay, and Barbara Ferenczi managed the market at Coral Reef Park from 2024 until January 2026. Central Makers also runs markets at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum and at Schnebly Redlands Winery & Miami Brewing Co., and it runs the Cornerstone Farmers Market in Cutler Bay.

The Sunday market is still going. The Village calendar lists the Palmetto Bay Farmer's Market at Coral Reef Park, 7895 SW 152nd Street, on Sundays, usually from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. With Sunset Eats' operator selected for the Thursday market, the Village has a regular market at each end of the week in two of its biggest parks: Thursday evenings at Palmetto Bay Park and Sunday daytime at Coral Reef Park.

In mid-November the two run three days apart. On Sunday, November 15, the farmer's market runs a shorter 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. window, and the third annual Dottie Barton Harvest Festival + America's 250 Celebration runs in the same park from noon to 3 p.m. The Village lists bounce houses, a fall photo spot, a live band and a pop-up museum for America's 250th. Baptist Health, Audi Miami South by the Collection and the Nicklaus Children's Palmetto Bay Outpatient and Urgent Care Center are sponsoring.

The festival's namesake has a history with that same lawn. The 2024 Village resolution that created the festival credits Dottie Barton with helping incorporate the Village, with organizing and expanding the Village's Annual Picnic, and with her "vital involvement in the opening of Coral Reef Park in 1979."

The next stretch of dates

Sunset Eats says it runs weather permitting, so on a rainy Thursday it's worth checking the Central Makers market page before you go.

The Thursday market is a good example of what our team at Jordan Casañas watches in Palmetto Bay: a Council vote that changes how a neighborhood actually spends its week. If you live near Palmetto Bay Park and want to know how the Village's long-term commitments around you could affect your home's value, ask us for a free valuation and we'll go through it with you.