I think some people are being too harsh on this event and should just enjoy it for what it is. I mean it's hot and crowded but you really should just come expecting that. Maybe next year they can get some shade or schedule it during one of the cooler months.
The coins are annoying I wish they'd just let you pay with cash. But $20 for 15 coins will get you a fair amount of foods to try out provided you don't go to the booths where they give you a teeny tiny portion for 3 coins or something like that. We spent $20 and were able to get filled up with a nice variety of foods for 2 people and we actually had spare coins left over that were spent on frozen ices to cool down on our walk back to the light rail! There are a lot of chains here, but there's also a fair amount of local shops too if you look around. The corporate stores hawking their wares annoyed me more than anything to be honest. I mean do I really need a grill flipper or scope dual action mouth wash while sampling foods?!
Maybe more consistency on serving sizes between booths would be nice but seriously it's pretty nice for what it is.