They have been around our whole lives.  We’ve grown up seeing them in many forms:  ice cream trucks in the neighborhood, snack trucks at carnivals and sandwich wagons outside office buildings.  Food trucks.  They have always offered pretty much the same variety of standard fare, ranging from burgers and hot dogs to corn dogs and fried pickles.  When we grab a bite from them, it’s usually because that’s all that is available.  It may not be healthy, and we might even question the cleanliness of some of the vendors, but we find something to eat anyway.  However, a new food revolution has begun and suddenly we have lots of healthy, high quality choices.  Street food will never again be the same.

Gourmet Café on Wheels

The food truck of yesterday has been reinvented into a gourmet café on wheels and its raging success has even caused many restaurateurs to rethink their business models.  Chefs of this new generation of food trucks have decided to break the old rules and give us things we didn’t even know we wanted, all dressed up and served on wheels.  Hot dogs with sodium nitrate are hard to find, now replaced with plump dogs made with select meats hand
stuffed into their casings, served on homemade rolls with topping bars offering a dozen additions with which to dress your dog.  Asian style trucks are prevalent and are very popular, offering creative tastes from updated Vietnamese banh mi, to Korean BBQ tacos and Filipino lumpia with homemade fillings.  This is a dream scenario for chefs, as they get to do what they do best by experimenting with flavor combinations while presenting them at cheap prices.

Trucks Like to Roll 

Truck chefs often face a challenge in finding a legal place to park where there are likely to be crowds, but the nature of the truck makes it easy to start the engine and move to a new location when business gets slack.  Most trucks strive to have a predetermined set of places they park on different days, often at office parks, so their followers can find them. Dozens of cities, in an attempt to spur business, are hosting regularly scheduled food truck rallies in their business districts and the response has been huge.  Contests for the best food truck are often held, with the prize sometimes being a reserved parking location for a few months.  The phenomenon has brought office workers out of their cubicles in droves to participate and get a taste of the action.  While this is good news for the food trucks, many local restaurants are suffering, some complaining that their lunch business is down over 90% on the days the trucks show up.  As a result, many of them are getting back in the game by freshening up their menu offerings and even offering truck style box lunches available for takeout.

Taste For Yourself

Because we’re foodies who love to travel, here are a few trucks we think we’d like to visit when we’re next in our favorite cities.  See if you agree.  Almost all of the menu items are affordably priced in the $3 to $8 range:

• San Francisco:  Liba – Falafel sandwiches.  Stuff your own with toppings such as Rosemary Peanuts, Pickled Onion, Feta Cheese, Hummus, Braised Eggplant in Tomato Sauce, Brussels Sprouts with Red Apple and Mustard Vinaigrette, Spiced Carrot Ribbons, Red Beets with Lemon and Thyme, Red Cabbage with Black Sesame Seed. Yum.

• Seattle:  Lumpia World – Lumpia & Pancit. Steak, Pork, Lemongrass Chicken or Vegetarian filling. Homemade sauces including peanut, spicy chili, traditional vinegar, soy & garlic sauce.

• Los Angeles:  Ride or Fly – World flavors. Their Ginger Apricot Cashew Hot Wings and Blueberry Braised Guinness Brisket Black Sesame Tacos got our attention.

• Denver:  RollinGreens – Asian Mexican fusion. 100% organic. Locally grown when possible. Poblano-Cheddar Stuffed Burger. Tempeh and Chicken Tacos.  Basil Beet Salad with Balsamic & Garlic.

• Chicago:  Tamale Spaceship – Hand crafted tamales. We’ve got our eye on the pork, the duck & the vegetable tamales with a variety of classic Mexican moles.

• Washington DC:  Rolls on Rolls – Indian Kathi Rolls. Chicken or chick pea masala, paneer, vegetables.  Topped with cabbage, carrots, truck-made chutneys.  They use no cream, ghee, food color or non-stick cookware.

• Boston:  LobstaLove – Lobster rolls. Crab rolls.  Homemade mayo, brioche rolls, clam chowder, lobster mac and cheese.  Nuff said.

• New York:  Big Gay Ice Cream Truck – Specialty cones. Order a specialty or choose your own flavor with choice of toppings including  Crushed ‘Nilla Wafers, Pumpkin Butter, Nutella, Olive Oil and Sea Salt, Toasted Curried Coconut, Wasabi Pea Dust, Ginger Syrup, Dulce de Leche and plenty more.

• Miami:  Purple People Eatery – Freaky street food. Bison Burger with Goat Cheese, truffle oil, fried quail egg; Sweet Potato Wedges with sour orange oregano aioli; Herbed Broccoli Mac & Cheese;

• New Orleans:  Crepes a la Carte – Artisan Crepes. Offering both savory and sweet crepes.  We’re craving the Chicken Florentine with spinach, red onion, mushroom, Swiss & chive sauce. And the Blue Lagoon with nutella, blueberries, Bailey’s Irish Cream and brown sugar.

No matter where you live, there are bound to be some interesting food trucks in your town.  The food truck craze is here to stay awhile, so get out and try something new.  Your taste buds will thank you.


About the Author:
Jason Hall is Brand Manager for Budget Rent a Car, leading car hire specialists in AU.