The Best Food Trucks: Yahoo Readers Tell Us How We Screwed Up
All apologies for leaving a reader-favorite food trucks like The Blaxican off the “best of” list. Photo: The Blaxican
Yahoo Food readers are a passionate bunch, especially when it comes to commenting on the “best of” lists Yelp creates for us. They berate us for neglecting their favorite restaurant, burn us for omitting their No. 1 BBQ, run us down for excluding their go-to food truck.
The comments can be brutal, but we welcome them just the same. It’s how we learn even more about all of the great spots serving up unique, delicious dishes across the country.
In the spirit of sharing, we reached deep into the mailbag and pulled reader favorites that didn’t make the list for our 27 of the Best Food Trucks in America. Keep the comments coming.
Take a look around The Blaxican. Video: YouTube
Best Food Truck Name Ever!
Much love to “A Yahoo reader” for turning us on to The Blaxican, a truck serving up Mexican soul food in Atlanta. Check the calendar for locations. The name alone elevates it to the top of our list. The blackened fish tacos and collard greens quesadillas also help.
The crowd speaks in support of Kogi BBQ. Photo Kogi BBQ
A Heinous Crime
We rightfully got spanked by a handful of readers for omitting the beloved Kogi BBQ trucks in L.A. In most of the lists Yelp creates for us, it excludes places with less than a four-star average. Kogi got 3.5. We agree with MattK: “To not have mentioned Kogi Truck in California is insulting. Kogi basically started the entire modern food truck movement.”
Visiting The Halal Guys very late at night is one of the only ways to avoid long lines … if you’re lucky. Photo: Adam Kuban, Flickr
No Love for NYC’s Halal Guys
Even without the 4.5 star rating and 6235 Yelp reviews, The Halal Guys food cart parked at 6th Avenue and W. 53rd Street in New York City should have made the list. The line usually stretches a good city block as the hungry crowd waits for the chicken or lamb smothered in The Guys’ revered white sauce. All we can say is that Yelp most likely left it of the list because the main description on the site is “food cart,” not “food truck.” So much for algorithms. If it’s any consolation, we did include the cart in our 10 Most Reviewed Places to Eat earlier this year. We side with reader Gul on this one: “Any list without Halal Guys from NYC ain’t worth talking about.”
BBQ pork pork pie (slow-smoked butt with onions, peppers and sauce from Deliciously Dangerous Pies. Photo: Deliciously Dangerous Pies
More Missing Notables
Thanks to megaladon for filling us in on Dangerously Delicious Pie Truck, the mobile arm of a few brick-and-mortar shops in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Check out @ThePieTruckDC for locations and time.
Daniel J. suggests What The Fork at 916 Capouse Avenue in Scranton, Pa. The truck serves what looks like a fine roast pork with provolone and broccolini sandwich, as well as signature beef sliders and pulled pork tacos. Check for updates at @WTForktruck.
Sandra gave a shout out to slider-centric Culinary Chaos, which rolls through Fort Collins, Colo. Follow @CulinaryChaos for updates and menus. Greg pointed us to another Fort Collins fave, Common-Link, purveyors of poutine, sausage, and other eats made from locally sourced ingredients. If you happen to be in Denver, reader Tara Condren recommends the Venezuelan food at Quiero Arepas.
Guerilla Street Food’s Blue crab and pork siomai. Photo: Guerilla Street Food, Facebook
The Charming Philosopher clued us into the Filipino-inspired Guerilla Street Food in St. Louis, Mo. He calls it “one of the best food trucks in the nation.” Daily menus and locations.
Eileen mentioned Cleveland’s multiethnic Motormouth Food Truck, serving up Mediterranean fish tacos, Korean BBQ beef tacos, muffuletta, and pork schnitzel Panini. Menus and locations.
Terry was peeved we didn’t mention Tulsa’s Lone Wolf Banh Mi, serving Vietnamese and French fusion fare, with a heavy focus on kimchi fries and fried rice. We don’t blame him. Menu and locations.
Tankerdude told us Geste Shrimp Truck on Maui “has by far the best Hawaiian garlic shrimp on the islands, hands down. Damn, that truck is good.” 511 Yelpers agree, awarding Geste 4.5 stars.
Now that’s a sandwich! Photo: Dusty Buns, Facebook
h2o4ever was surprised the Dusty Buns bistro bus cruising San Fran and Fresno didn’t make the list. We were too after reading about its organic, locally sourced ingredients. Menu and locations. Other Bay Area reader faves include Señor Sisig and Koja Kitchen Truck.
Special thanks to MkChkn for pointing us to Jamburritos Express, a Cajun grill in Phoenix. Think of a marriage between jambalaya and burritos. We certainly are.
Also worth checking out: the award-winning tacos at Hand Helds and everything at Torchy’s Tacos, both in Austin; Baja Taco in Cordova, Alaska; Jogasaki Sushi Burrito in L.A.; Lumpia World in Seattle; Tacos Tierra Caliente in Houston (which we wrote up in our story on the country’s best Mexican restaurants); and El Corazon in Portland, Maine.
More lists to comment on. Go ahead, we can take it
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There’s still time to comment. What’s your favorite food truck.