Edgewood (over)Eats - Food Truck Gathering

Every Monday in Palo Alto at a semi shutdown shopping plaza there is a gathering of food trucks. The trucks that gather there alternate and there are usually between 8 and a dozentrucks. This week I went there for the 4th time and got to try one truck I have been to before and one new one that I have been meaning to try (oh and I got a cupcake from a cupcake van).

First the repeat truck - Eat On Monday. Fusion tacos mostly but also had what looked to be a yummy fusiony cheesesteak sandwich. I got a couple

of tacos as this was my 2nd dinner (which I ate first). One was a pork belly taco which was tremendous. Really delicious. Tender pork belly, jalapenos and a touch of cilantro. I could eat a dozen of these, literally. The second taco was a braised short rib taco which I had before. Good as well, tastes like a good cabeza taco from a true taco truck. This truck is my favorite fusion taco truck and will go again and again.

The second truck is one I have wanted and

meaning to try for a while. Saw it last week at OTG UN Plaza and another truck trumped it. Today was the day to treat myself to An the Go. This is the truck form of a set of SF restaurants that have been specializing in a family recipe of garlic noodles for over 40 years. I got the garlic noodles with beef skewer. 40 years and I can see why they continue making it. Really seemingly simple but complex layered flavors with a kick. Yum. Worth going to for sure.

Week 7 Food Truck Rankings

2 new trucks (23 total trucks ranked) this week and 1 repeat. I was unable to go to The Rib Whip this week and am jonesing for some brisket sandwich love! mmmmm..... The repeat truck was Le Truc. A buddy that has had the Rib Whip a few times with me came over from the east bay and I wanted to show him a new fave. This time I had a burger, fries (yummy aioli on top) and a salad. Delish. Still a top 5 truck by my ratings. I went to 2 new trucks that you can see my review in a post I made yesterday. Those trucks are Eat Curbside (new american by way of sandwiches) and Senor Sisig (Filipino fusion cuisine).

As you can see from the rankings I use twitter mostly to track and follow these trucks. It helps me know where they are on a given day as well as menus. I have a twitter list where I am tracking/following 57 trucks that are all around the bay area. If you want you can follow me or my list at: http://twitter.com/#!/mposki/food-trucks.

1. @TheRibWhip -(updated 6/30/11) Went on a rainy Tuesday and the sandwich is good as always. My sister enjoyed them at the Larkspur food truck gathering and declared them her favorite as well - she had the ribs which I have enjoyed in the past.(updated 6/16/11) Had the brisket sandwich again as did 2 friends I brought. All loved it. The thing is just so simple and utterly perfect! Still #1 (updated 6/9/11) See mypost with the review of the ribs and mac and cheese. (updated 6/2/11) I said I wanted to go back and try some real BBQ and I got there just in time for some brisket. This vaulted them to #2. (previous post) Ventured up to SF for lunch to try this place out. Unfortunately I caught them on a day where they had no brisket or pulled pork. Still a GREAT burger. They will more than likely slide up the list once I try some actual bbq.
2. @3sumeats - (updated 6/16/11) Again dessert only but wow again. Homemade twinkies which were so delicious and then a 'candy bar pie' which means a mini pie with chocolate, nougat, caramel and pretzels. After having the brisket sandwich and some desserts I felt like falling asleep at my desk when I got back to the office. (updated 6/2/11) Holy crap I had a peanut butter mousse moon pie from them today at OTG at the UN center for lunch. WOW is all I can say about this treat, wow. The moon pie completely solidified them as my #1. (previous notes) This is a truck run by a former Top Chef contestant. I had some philly cheesesteak potstickers and possibly the best BLT I have ever eaten (rosemary encrusted bacon). Really, REALLY good stuff.
3. @BttrScotchOnGo (up 1) -Yum after a 4th visit now! Not higher because I don't think that I can rank it higher than 2 savory trucks. Ventured over to this truck to pick up desserts for the house. Easily the best butterscotch pudding I have EVER eaten. Butterscotch sugar cookies were a treat and a tort that was rich and really delicious. On the first visit I had a butterscotch brownie (more like a blondie) which was great and then a rice krispy treat that was a bit unspectacular. They also have salads and sandwiches but yet to try them.
4. @EatLeTruc - (updated 7/8) Great burger, cooked to perfection. Was able to sit inside and enjoy the food in the shade. Just reviewed but great sandwich, yummy menu, great facility (a repurposed school bus). What is not to like?
5. @Brassknucklesf - Had a sandwich that was pork and ham served with a rosemary waffle (named Notorious P.I.G.). Kitchy names and a really bad ass sandwich.
6. @51stStateSF - New American food. Great, check that GREAT, patty melt. Really really good stuff. Excited for future visits for sure.
7. @eatmobowl - Ate from this truck 2x in 1 day if that says something. Had a 5 spice pulled pork bowl and then a tofu (umami) bowl. Both with fried eggs on top. Simple and perfect!
8. @IzItFreshGrill (up 3 from last week) - Yummy Hawaiian food and super yummy (surprisingly) SPAM! See review.
9. @eatcurbside - Like I said, GREAT sandwich and even better fries. Only 4 items on the menu and 2 or 3 looked yummy (ahi sliders - which I ate, grilled cheese with onion jam, and lamb merguez).
10. @senorsisig - Filipino fusion. Only had a small taste of their stuff. Definitely want to try more to get a better feel for the truck.
11. @OaxacanKitchen - Ate me some great tacos that were some of the best taco truck tacos I could imagine (and most know I love me some taco trucks). This truck took the place of a restaurant that they shuttered to focus on catering and the mobile food biz.
12. @BBQKalbi - Another Edgewood Eats enjoyment. Really tasty kimchi fried rice burrito. Good and enjoyable to say the least.
13. @EatOnMonday - Yet another fusion type place. Asian tacos. I had a pulled pork and a pork belly taco. Both were really well seasoned and well cooked. They had some seafood fusion tacos as well which looked interesting (although I am allergic to them). Middle of the road as it seems like there are a million of these fusion trucks in the area.
14. @ChairmanTruck - went and wanted a steamed bun and a baked bun but no baked buns the day that I went. I enjoyed the steamed buns a lot but this is a bit lower on the rankings as the value to the $$ is pretty low actually. Good food, really good!
15. @MamaEmpanadasSF - So had a good empanada and will definitely enjoy it again but not enough to go out of my way to seek it out. I will happily enjoy stumbling onto it.
16. @LIBAfalafel - Really good falafel and a crazy condiment bar.
17. @CurryUpNow - Liked it a lot just nothing spectacular. Easily a recommend but just Indian food wrapped in some naan. The plates look yummy though.
18. @TikkaBytesTruck - Another Indian truck. Daughter loved the samosa but again not impressed with a limited fusion menu.
19. @SFWHISK - So I just had a dessert from them and it was really good strawberry pana cotta. Some yummy looking sandwiches and salads on the menu.
20. @lilgreencyclo - Wow the lemonade just killed any shot this thing had at a good review. Mediocre was the word of the day. Review here.
21. @SouthrnSandwich - Another BBQ truck but I was really unimpressed by it. The pork had no real smoke flavor and the brisket was a touch dry. Big fan of BBQ and will try it again to see if it shifts up.
22. @treatbot - This is an ice cream AND karaoke truck!?!?!?!? The ice cream was good not great they were out of cones so I got a sandwich on a cookie and the cookie was a bit unspectacular.
23. @MoGoBBQ - got 2 things from them 1 really good and one meh but really yummy short rib sliders.

This Week in Food Trucks

So I have really committed to trying a new truck (or 2, or 4) every week just to expand my horizons and taste as many of the amazing food trucks there are in our area. Today friends and I originally decided to go to my favorite truck The Rib Whip. When we arrived they didn't have the brisket sandwich on the menu and that is what one of my coworkers really wanted to try. Instead of trying their other yumminess we decided to venture over to the UN Plaza where there is a truck meet up every Tuesday and Thursday. Today at the Off the Grid UN Plaza were An the Go (Vietnamese noodles that I need to try as they look good), El Tonayense (the same food truck that I hired for my 40th birthday party), Southern Sandwich Company (already tried and rated), Eat Curbside and Senor Sisig. I went for the later of the list (yes both).

Senor Sisig - This was what I would describe as my secondary truck for the day. I have wanted to try this for quite some time and finally fortune smiled on me and I was at the right place at the right time. Lots of interesting things like sisig and silog on the menu that I will want to try. Since it wasn't my primary lunch of the day I got a pork sisig taco. I am not sure if I have let it be known that I kind of think that fusion tacos are a bit of a cop out but I get it. I think of all things sisig is something that really lends itself to tacos (or burritos, or nachos for that matter) so this works. For those that don't know or care sisig is essentially cooked meat in a Filipino style. The taco was good, meat tender and delicious. I was offered spicy or regular and opted for the spicy one as I was told it just had chopped jalapenos on it. That being said it was crazy spicy but again, still yummy! Definitely a truck that I will go back to!

Eat Curbside - For my primary lunch I decided to try Eat Curbside mostly because of a rec from my sister (a burgeoning food truck stalker). She stated that their fries were amazing. 4 sandwiches on the menu - grilled cheese, lamb, kimchi hot dog, and ahi sliders. I opted for the ahi sliders with fries (based on the rec from the person behind the window). The sliders were good, asian flavors and yummy slaw. The fries were as my sister described, WOW. Salty wedge fries. Crispy and yummy. This is a truck I hope to stumble onto more and more. Really well done simple foods!