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Food Trucks Yay or Nay (Food related)

picoandsepulvedapicoandsepulveda 1,026 Posts
edited July 2011 in Strut Central
Seems to be the hot schitt right now. Anyone into it or have a favorite one you visit frequently? Any particular cuisine you'd like to see served from one of these Food trucks? I'm kinda feelin' it.
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  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    fusk yay

    there are a lot of good ones in the bay. also a good share of dog-schitt nasty ones too tho. I've gotten pretty good at spotting the faulty ones.
    my #1 rule of thumb is to never mess with one person trucks. same person handling food and money is gross.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    I don't get the craze

    Fools act like they've never seen a taco truck before.
  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    somebody should make a mobile app that gps tracks good food trucks
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    jjfad027 said:
    somebody should make a mobile app that gps tracks good food trucks

    most of the hip/yuppie/whitefolks food trucks are on twitter, that's a start
  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,906 Posts
    jjfad027 said:
    somebody should make a mobile app that gps tracks good food trucks

    Eat St. for the iPhone
  • billbradleybillbradley You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,906 Posts
    Some of the best food in town comes from food trucks. Not just limited to tacos.
  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    jjfad027 said:
    fusk yay

    there are a lot of good ones in the bay. also a good share of dog-schitt nasty ones too tho. I've gotten pretty good at spotting the faulty ones.
    my #1 rule of thumb is to never mess with one person trucks. same person handling food and money is gross.
    another warning sign is trucks that can't spell what they sell. eg. Fellafal or Deep Fired.
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    billbradley said:
    Some of the best food in town comes from food trucks. Not just limited to tacos.

    absolutely,

    I am chomping on my vietnamese shortribs straight off the truck right now.

    for those in LA. area there are 4-8 food truck parked out by the CNN Building off of Sunset daily from 11 - 3 you can find my pretty ass out there most days getting something scrumptious.

    I always thought LA was kind of the leader in lunchtrucks meaning in terms of variety and quality we've really taken the lead. I get how some people can think its just tacos and roach coach style fare, but that ain't the case out here
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    If I wanted to eat a meal from a trailer, I'd get a job in construction.

    I don't get it.

    Taco trucks and bbq trucks have been around forever, good ones too. Yet most white people pretty much skipped over them.

    But overprice your al pastor and/or throw some spring mix on a chopped beef sandwich and now these trailers are like white people crack.

    Plus I haven't noticed that having a trailer instead of an actual restaurant brings prices down any...which makes no sense to me.

    But I will go ahead and endorse the pork belly, kim chee ssam at the East Side Kings trailer in the Grackle parking lot though.
  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    Red Hook ball fields. We specifically go there to eat and there are benches and tables to sit down. Other than that I don't even look at any food trucks.
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:

    Taco trucks and bbq trucks have been around forever, good ones too. Yet most white people pretty much skipped over them.

    But overprice your al pastor and/or throw some spring mix on a chopped beef sandwich and now these trailers are like white people crack.

    leave up to a you to make lunch trucks a racial issue. you, my friend, are a case study that needs to happen

    But I will go ahead and endorse the pork belly, kim chee ssam at the East Side Kings trailer in the Grackle parking lot though.

    I would guess this is your attempt/ justification to say your "not one of those white people". your above the color lines you create and for that I salute you and your efforts at racial harmony in such a treacherous area.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    White people have driven this trend in this town. In fact, I could probably get even more specific and say white people who have moved here from California within the past 8 years have driven this trend in this town. And not only is it easy to identify them, it is even easier to hate them.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Basically the suburbanization of food trucks.
  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    White people have driven this trend in this town. In fact, I could probably get even more specific and say white people who have moved here from California within the past 8 years have driven this trend in this town. And not only is it easy to identify them, it is even easier to hate them.
  • meistromocomeistromoco 954 Posts
    they are a pretty new craze here in DC (although there has been the odd taco truck around for years -- but very very few in the city).

    Some hits, a lot of terrible ideas / misses (the french fry truck, for example).

    What I really don't get is the lobster truck. Yes, lobster rolls are good, but waiting 30+ minutes in line and paying $15 (yes, $15) for a smallish one through a truck window is just stupid. If I am going to pay $15 for lunch, I better be nice and full afterwards. And it better be good.

    there is a web tool tracking all the trucks here, which is nice.

    http://foodtruckfiesta.com/
  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    the eat street show is ill
    the great food truck race is garbage
  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    Don't let the five to fifteen percent of food trucks that are good distract you from the fact that most of these places are crap.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    Jonny_Paycheck said:
    I don't get the craze

    Fools act like they've never seen a taco truck before.

    But it's upscale! It's gourmet! It's hip! It's organic! It's...$10 for two bites.
  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    Eat St. is produced in Canada, they featured a taco truck parked by a beach on Vancouver Island in BC. The people there claimed it was the best burrito they had ever eaten.
  • pcmrpcmr 5,591 Posts
    trzakhstan said:
    Eat St. is produced in Canada, they featured a taco truck parked by a beach on Vancouver Island in BC. The people there claimed it was the best burrito they had ever eaten.

    everything feat in BC looks amazing for the location alone
  • grandpa_shiggrandpa_shig 5,799 Posts
    HarveyCanal said:
    White people have driven this trend in this town. In fact, I could probably get even more specific and say white people who have moved here from California within the past 8 years have driven this trend in this town. And not only is it easy to identify them, it is even easier to hate them.

    yeah, i dont see how one could live in LA and not see how it is a white thing. especially since about 5 years ago, before the uppity truck craze, there were laws being passed to outright ban taco trucks in the city. now it seems like those laws no longer exist.

    ive actually never been to one of these new fangled trucks. not that im against it or anything, i just dont want to wait in line, nor do i want to stand around eating $10 fancycakes with a bunch of yuppies.

    i'll say this, the better "taco trucks" are mostly out in the northeast san fernando valley. those ones tend to have the handmade tortillas which makes a world of difference. theres also a bunch in ktown that cater more to the oaxacan and central american tastes. tlayudas, cemitas poblanas, etc.

    one thing i have noticed is there arent as many fruit carts in town anymore. i kinda liked that shit.
  • marumaru 1,450 Posts
    there's a bunch of food trucks in downtown SF that I hit up on the regular. tacos, indian curry burritos, crepes....as long as the food is delicious i don't really care if it comes from a truck or a restaurant.
  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    One major US city requires food trucks to pre-cook all food, allowing hot food only from heating lamps. Another only allows trucks to stay parked for as long as there is a line of people waiting on the sidewalk. I'm guessing several cities limit the number of licenses, but allow the license holders to resell them at market prices after getting a year-long or similar license.
  • picoandsepulvedapicoandsepulveda 1,026 Posts
    trzakhstan said:
    One major US city requires food trucks to pre-cook all food, allowing hot food only from heating lamps. Another only allows trucks to stay parked for as long as there is a line of people waiting on the sidewalk. I'm guessing several cities limit the number of licenses, but allow the license holders to resell them at market prices after getting a year-long or similar license.

    great info, thanks! what are your sources? definitely interested in learning more.
  • picoandsepulvedapicoandsepulveda 1,026 Posts
    Also wondering if it would be possible to have a truck that sells food with weed baked into it. a sort of "cannabistro" on wheels would be hot imo. maybe strictly serving those with cannabis club cards? you could make stops at all the dispensaries around town and serve food to all the patients ;) i know there would be tons of bs and red tape to get that off the ground but it might be kind of cool.
  • herbacios tweedherbacios tweed 445 Posts
    Jonny_Paycheck said:
    I don't get the craze

    Fools act like they've never seen a taco truck before.

    You just don't get it. It's not any taco, it's a Korean taco. And you can take a gauzy picture of it with Instagram.
  • trzakhstantrzakhstan IA 198 Posts
    When that one guy founded the Kogi Korean BBQ Truck, one of the first people he hired was a contributor to Serious Eats. Serious and savvy internet marketing skill from the very beginning.

    He recently spoke to the LA Times about how the scene was changing:

    The problem came when the other commissaries and truck owners saw money and basically just prostituted the whole culture. So what you ended up with was 15 so-so trucks parked on Mid-Wilshire, the city unhappy, a mediocre food product and all the truck owners cannibalizing each other's business."
    Photos: Food truck culture
    Hiller is not alone in feeling that what was once an exciting, underground food scene driven by a punk rock aesthetic and an exploratory mentality is swiftly becoming a mainstream, bottom-line-obsessed maze of infighting and politics.
    When Kogi started, there were only a few new-wave food trucks on the scene; now that number is hovering near 200, says Hiller. And where experimental entrepreneurs once dominated, corporate players such as Jack in the Box and Sizzler are entering the fray.
    http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/06/food/la-fo-food-trucks-20110506
  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    We had some NYC and LA food trucks roll through town for some TV show. I made a point to go and check them out and the shit was so ho-hum and unremarkable I was pissed off I wasted the money on it. What is the big deal? The lamest one was Korilla...some Korean taco bullshit...bland and it cost like 20 bucks for 3 tiny tacos and a quesadilla. Meh.
  • BELIEVEBELIEVE 257 Posts
    THE SF TAMALE LADY GENTRIFIED THIS SCHITT

    I want to see foie gras dumplings dished out of an Igloo perched on a skateboard.

    Even more random: Ice Cream Trucks in DC sell chocolate eclairs for $2.50 a pop. High tide raises all boats?

    In all seriousness, this is a cost-effective fad for would-be, should-be ,and has-been restaurateurs and I don't see it slowing down any time soon.
  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts
    picoandsepulveda said:
    Also wondering if it would be possible to have a truck that sells food with weed baked into it. a sort of "cannabistro" on wheels would be hot imo. maybe strictly serving those with cannabis club cards? you could make stops at all the dispensaries around town and serve food to all the patients ;) i know there would be tons of bs and red tape to get that off the ground but it might be kind of cool.

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