I'm not sure how long this mobile food vendor sign has been up at the Fifth and Race location (which is closest to my office and has become a go-to place for interesting lunches), but I'm hopeful they are an indication food trucks are here to stay. I love what these folks are doing and wanted to share a little report. The three I'm featuring here have also been nominated to compete in the next season of the Food Network's Food Truck Race, and you can vote for them through Friday, Sept. 10 (voting details and contact info for all these great vendors below).
I finally caught up with New Orleans To Go, aka Streetcar Named Desire, a week ago Friday, and wow was I glad I did. (I think the proprietor had been out of town for a while.)
You can see just one of the many plump shrimp peaking out from under the cheesy, creamy grits, lightly flecked with green bell pepper, which came with sweet cornbread that incorporated actual kernels of corn. I think this was $7.95 - again, a stunning plate of food, steaming hot, and a bargain for the portion.Based on my experience, NOTG offers a selection of three to five lunch specials each day, rather than a fixed menu. So don't go with your heart set on one particular dish, but go - you will not be disappointed!
SENOR ROY'S TACO PATROL
To spice things up, Senor Roy's recently held a contest for customers to suggest their own taco creations, which I posted about here. Each week through the end of October they will be featuring a taco of the week based on one of the winning customer creations.
I’m sorry I missed the featured taco the first week: Duck, Duck, Duck, Taco! suggested by Glenna McLendon, served with a corn tortilla piled on roasted duck in a chipotle/cumin/coriander rub, topped with a slaw of cabbage, mango, cilantro, sweet onion, hot pepper, lime juice and apple cider vinegar.
But I loved this week's Thai Taco, suggested by Chris Isbell – Curry chicken, cilantro, tomatoes, onion, basil, peppers, thai chili sauce.
Winner # 3 “Twisted Teriyaki”
9/6 – 9/10
Lauren Brandstetter- Shredded teriyaki chicken (or pork), grilled pineapple salsa, cheese, and a little lettuce for crunch
Winner # 4 “Asian Fusion”
9/13 – 9/17
Rebecca Crouse Kelley – Asian-Mexican fusion with orange-marinated chicken with stir-fried rice, with some cucumber sour cream salad
Winner # 5 “The Wingman Steak”
9/20 – 9/24
Cincy Wingman – Marinated/Grilled flank steak, caramelized onions, goat cheese, habanero salsa verde, on a corn tortilla
Winner # 6 “The Buddha”
9/27 – 10/1
Matthew Hoover - Butter curry chicken, roasted red pepper, mango chutney, a sprinkle of rosemary, all on top of a nice piece of romaine lettuce, wrapped up in thin naan. Wild rice optional.
Winner # 7 “Little Piggy Tacos”
10/4 – 10/8
Mati Senerchia – Grilled corn tortilla, barbecued pulled pork, fresh coleslaw with apples
Winner # 8 “Man Taco”
10/11 – 10/15
Nick Rodish – Steak, feta cheese, onion straws, bacon, garlic butter
Winner # 9 “Oktoberfest”
10/18 – 10/22
Diego Sebastian Moena – Apple chutney tacos: traditional pork/chicken tacos served with a red onion/granny smith/cinnamon chutney, sharp cheddar cheese
Winner #10 “The Little Ratita”
10/25 – 10/29
Little Ratita – Vegetarian taco of grilled eggplant, mushrooms, onion with roasted corn, zucchini flowers and cotija cheese (Flor de Calabaza relish)
CAFE DE WHEELS
CINCY FOOD TRUCK 411
WHO'S WHERE WHEN
These three
vendors, and others as well, have no set schedule as to when they'll be at any
particular location inside or outside city limits. That's one of the points of
being mobile, after all! All seem to have their own strategies about where they
can get the most traffic, and seem to be interested in catering, especially if
you have a group who would like them to set up at a spot near you. My
lunch-going experience has been primarily at the 5th and Race location, which
is closest to my office. I usually try to check out who's there before I go (via
their twitter or facebook). I've never walked over on my lunch hour and found
zero food trucks there. I have occasionally found only one. In my experience,
Fridays seem to draw more food trucks to that location. Then again, downtown
office workers tend to go out for lunch and be more adventuresome as the
weekend draws near, especially if it's a payday Friday.
EXPECT TO WAIT FOR
YOUR FOOD
Rather than grumble
about it, go in with an appropriate expectation. Depending on how many people
are in line when you arrive, and the fact that these vendors are at least
assembling, if not also cooking, your food to order, don't be surprised if it
takes 10-20 minutes to get your lunch. Cafe de Wheels offers an option
for you to email your order ahead, but I've had mixed success with how
effectively that works, especially when they're slammed.
SEATING
When I've talked up
these trucks, people have asked about this too. This is take-away food, people,
and my suggestion is to figure that out where you'll eat it yourself. I usually
take mine back and eat at my office. For outdoor dining, Fountain Square
WHERE TO VOTE FOR
OUR TRUCKS
You can cast up to
10 votes a day through Sept. 10 for any of these great food trucks to become
contestants on the next season of Food TV's Great Food Truck Race show (and
become eligible for some sort of sweepstakes the network is offering if you
vote). Just go here and follow the directions.
VENDOR CONTACT INFO
The best way to
find your way to these trucks is to keep track of them via twitter or facebook
(which you can do even if you don't have your own twitter account or haven't
friended them on FB). With apologies to anyone who caught this post before it
was "cooked," here's the 411.
