Tonight is Monday, October 12, so Oskar's Pizza parks outside Ridgecrest Public House from 5 to 8 p.m., and trivia with host Lelando starts inside at 7. Tomorrow it's Theo's Gyros. Wednesday it's Paparepas Venezuelan. If you try to walk down to Downtown Ridgecrest for "the usual," you'll find the usual changes nightly. It has worked that way since 2015.
That schedule is the thing to understand about this stretch of Shoreline. Ridgecrest has a pub, a café, a bookstore and a four-screen movie theater on and around NE 165th Street and 5th Avenue NE. Its dinner rotation runs off one pub's online calendar, and once you can read that calendar, you can read the neighborhood's whole October.
Two buildings, same owners, split at 3 p.m.
The block's day is divided between two neighbors run by the same people. Drumlin, at 522 NE 165th Street, is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily for espresso, tea, pastries and breakfast cooked in house. It has free wifi and patios out front and back. Drumlin first opened in 2020, and Seattle magazine reported that it reopened in February 2025 as a reworked restaurant under chef Zephyr Paquette.
At 3 p.m., Drumlin's own website sends people next door to Ridgecrest Public House at 520 NE 165th Street. The pub is 21 and over. It opens at 3 p.m. every day and closes at 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and at midnight Thursday through Saturday. Since 2015, it has hosted a food truck nearly every night. You can eat inside if you're 21 or older, or take the food home. An overhang covers the line when it rains.
Sunday mornings work differently. Brunch trucks park from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., while Drumlin is still open.
How the rotation repeats
On October's calendar, most trucks come back on the same weekday every other week. Oskar's Pizza is the exception and parks every Monday. Everything else runs on a roughly two-week cycle, so if a truck you liked was here on a Friday, it's probably back two Fridays later.
| Night | Dinner trucks, 5 to 8 p.m. | Also on the calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Oskar's Pizza, every week | Trivia with Lelando, 7 to 9 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Taqueria Vela on Oct. 6 and 20; Theo's Gyros on Oct. 13 and 27 | Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association meetup, second Tuesday, 7 to 9 p.m. |
| Wednesday | Macho Burgers on Oct. 7 and 21; Paparepas Venezuelan on Oct. 14; L'Italiano on Oct. 28 | Ridgecrest Run Club at 6:30 p.m.; Mom's Night at 7 p.m. |
| Thursday | Scapa Hawaiian BBQ on Oct. 1 and 29; Georgia's Greek Food on Oct. 8 and 22; L'Italiano on Oct. 15 | Dad's Night at 7 p.m. |
| Friday | El Gran Taco on Oct. 2, 16 and 30; Momo Express on Oct. 9 and 23 | |
| Saturday | Trio Truck Steak & Frites on Oct. 3; Off The Rez on Oct. 10 and 24; Bussin' Num Num on Oct. 17; Paparepas Venezuelan on Oct. 31, starting early at 4 p.m. | Cocina Barelas breakfast burritos inside the pub, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until sold out |
| Sunday | Bai Tong on Wheels on Oct. 11 and 25; Where Ya At Matt on Oct. 18 | Brunch trucks 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Silent Book Club 2 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 18; Knit Nite at 6:30 p.m. |
The pub's calendar adds a few details. Oskar's sells thin-crust pizza by the slice or the whole pie, with three vegetarian options and gluten-free crust for pies. Theo's serves gyros, souvlaki and falafel. Momo Express makes banh mi, kabocha curry and luc lac. Where Ya At Matt brings New Orleans po'boys, gumbo and shrimp and grits. Georgia's Greek Food comes over from its new restaurant in Lake City, which moved there from Greenwood. Sunday brunch trucks rotate too. Good Morning Breakfast Tacos is scheduled for October 18, Lily's Salvadorean ran October 11, and 'Wich Came First? is set for October 25.
The clubs follow the same calendar
Because the trucks come back on a steady schedule, the pub's calendar doubles as the neighborhood's meeting schedule. The groups that list themselves there are scheduled for the same hours as the dinner trucks.
The Ridgecrest Run Club meets out front of Drumlin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays for a run of about 3 miles, at any pace. Its listing says the group gets back "with plenty of time left to order from the food truck," with optional dinner afterward at the pub or Drumlin. Ridgecrest Knit Nite has met since 2017 and welcomes "knit, crochet, felt, darn, sew, quilt, tie flies," with no experience needed. It meets Sunday evenings at 6:30, while Bai Tong on Wheels or Where Ya At Matt is parked outside. Mom's Night is on Wednesdays and Dad's Night on Thursdays. Both start at 7 and are listed as "come as you are."
Civic business happens at the same tables. The Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association meets at the pub every second Tuesday at 7 p.m., and its listing says "everyone is welcome." This month that's tomorrow, October 13, with Theo's Gyros out front. Urbanist Shoreline held its meetup at the pub on October 6. Monday trivia used to be at Drumlin. Drumlin's site now says it "has moved to RPH," even though the calendar entry still calls it Trivia at Drumlin.
New names this fall
Anyone who last checked the rotation in spring will find some new names. The calendar marks Scapa Hawaiian BBQ and L'Italiano as new trucks. L'Italiano fills in for Scapa on Thursday, October 15, and has its own Wednesday slot on October 28. Bussin' Num Num is billed as new for Saturday, October 17. Cocina Barelas has started an indoor breakfast-burrito pop-up on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and it ends early if the burritos sell out.
The biggest summer addition was dessert. Mammatus Creamery is a silver soft-serve truck that began parking beside Drumlin this summer. It keeps vanilla on the menu year-round, rotates in a second flavor each week, and serves sundaes and gluten-free waffle cones made fresh. In a July spotlight in Shoreline Area News, the owners explained the idea: "Everyone in our neighborhood kept saying the same thing: 'We need an ice cream shop.' So we built one on wheels." The same spotlight calls it a seasonal business, built around one owner's summers off from teaching in Shoreline's public schools. It also lists two different schedules: Thursday through Sunday in the introduction and Thursday through Saturday in the Q&A. The next date on the pub's calendar is Saturday, October 24, from 3 to 8 p.m. No closing date for the season has been announced.
October 24, when the whole block shows up at once
The calendar gets busiest on the Saturday before Halloween. Neighbors started the Ridgecrest Halloween Parade in 2020, and Shoreline Area News reported that they repeated it in the years after. Volunteers run it, and the Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association and Ridgecrest Public House are among its past sponsors. The parade's website says it is "always the Saturday before Halloween." This year that's Saturday, October 24, from 3 to 5 p.m., rain or shine, starting at NE 165th Street and 8th Avenue NE. The site asks for family-friendly costumes. One pub calendar entry for a truck on October 31 mentions "the Halloween Parade." The organizers' date of October 24 is the one to go by.
Here is how that Saturday lines up, using the pub's calendar and the parade's route FAQ:
- 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cocina Barelas breakfast burritos inside the pub, until they sell out.
- 2 p.m. Streets close until 5:30 p.m. The closures cover NE 165th Street between 5th and 8th Avenues NE, NE 160th Street between 6th and 8th Avenues NE, and 6th and 8th Avenues NE between NE 160th and NE 165th Streets. Volunteers staff each closure for emergency vehicles.
- 3 p.m. The parade starts, and Mammatus Creamery opens its window.
- 5 p.m. The parade ends and Off The Rez starts serving.
If you live on the route, the FAQ says you don't have to hand out treats. If you want to, set up at the curb, because parade-goers stay on the route. Hillcliff residents can use the gate on the north side of the 7-Eleven while the streets are closed. Donations go to the parade committee through a link on the website.
The bookstore and the theater work on their own schedules
The trucks set the block's evenings. The other two anchors keep their own hours, and October gives you a few reasons to plan around them.
Ridgecrest Books has a story time with Traci Huahn and Michelle Jing Chan on Sunday, October 18, at 11 a.m. They'll read from "Mamie Tape Fights to Go to School." That leaves time for the Good Morning Breakfast Tacos truck, scheduled 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. the same day. The store's book club meets Wednesday, October 28, from 6 to 7 p.m. around a table in the shop, and no RSVP is needed.
Landmark's Crest Cinema Center, at 16505 5th Avenue NE, has four screens, serves beer and wine, and offers discount Tuesdays. This week it is hosting Shoreline's first matinee series from the Seattle Latino Film Festival. "Boca Vieja" played today. "Coincidencias" shows Wednesday, October 14, and "De Tal Palo" shows Thursday, October 15, both at 10 a.m.
A city-run Halloween night a short drive east
The week before the parade, the City of Shoreline holds its annual Hamlin Halloween Haunt at Hamlin Park, 16006 15th Avenue NE. It runs Friday, October 16, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with campfire songs and stories, hay wagon rides, a costume photo booth and games. The first half hour is set aside for activities with reduced sensory stimulation. Parking around Hamlin may be tight. The city lists Upper Hamlin Park as closed for construction through winter 2026, and it says the area around Ballfield 6 is now permanently closed. It also warns of parking and access problems during work near the south end of the lot along 25th Avenue NE. That night, El Gran Taco is parked on NE 165th Street until 8 p.m.
Chris Haynes of Seattle Home Guide is a Managing Broker at Windermere Real Estate / Shoreline. If you own a home within walking distance of the trucks on NE 165th Street and want to know what that location is worth in today's market, start with a free home valuation.
