The uber-social media friendly bricks-and-mortar chain Wow Bao is now serving you from a food truck! Reader Josh H.tipped us off to this one today, and we’re pretty stoked. Starting next week we’ll now have TWO Asian cuisine food trucks in Chicago (including Duck ‘N Roll)! If you’re a ginormous fan of Asian food like us, this is welcome news!
Note: They serve from a van the size of the Flirty Cupcakes van, not a big truck.
Welcome to the food truck scene, Wow Bao!
It’s Halloween time! You know what that means? Super cute Halloween-themed cupcakes from the Flirty Cupcake Van! Their Halloween cupcakes are inspired by candies that are staples in trick or treat bags. From now until Halloween, Flirty Cupcakes will feature a Trick-or-Treat pack featuring four mini bite-sized candy inspired cupcakes. Each pack will include one of the following:
Snickers: Chocolate, Caramel, Nuts…need we say more?
Almond Joy: Chocolate with a coconut macaron filling and chocolate ganache frosting topped with coconut and almond.
Hot Tamale: A red velvet cupcake infused with hot cinnamon and a cinnamon cream cheese frosting
Candy Corn: A vanilla cupcake with a sugared vanilla buttercream
Though you can get them at the truck, you may also want to save yourself the time and effort (let’s be honest, could you turn out cupcakes that are this cute and delicious?) and order them for your Halloween party. To order the cupcakes for a party, they just need 48 hours notice and you call 312-852-4441. One dozen cupcakes is $35 and 36 mini cupcakes is $46.
Today we get a fresh new addition to our food truck bregade: the Duck N’ Roll truck!
They describe their concept as: “…inspired by Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches, with a contemporary take on flavors from China, Japan, Korea and Thailand.” After taking a look at their menu, they deliver on that promise. Not only are there lots of fun variations on the bánh mì, Duck N’ Roll also puts their own Asian-inspired spin on chips and salsa. Here is the menu that we found on their website today:
Amy Le, co-owner of the truck, is a Loyola University Chicago graduate and daughter of an entrepreneurial mother who came to the U.S. from Vietnam as a refugee. The Duck N’ Roll truck is a tribute to Amy’s mom. On their website, they also point out that duck is considered to be good luck in many Asian cultures and is often served for special occasions. That is a thoughtful detail that we appreciate, and makes the truck that much more special in our eyes.
Though our beloved Slide Ride has served up delicious bánh mì slides, and Homage Street Food has some great Asian-inspired dishes, Duck N’ Roll is the first truck that solely serves Asian-inspired food. That’s kind of a big deal, food truck freaks! Little by little, our food trucks scene is starting to resemble that of other major cities with highly developed food truck cultures (despite our major Achilles heel: not legally being able to cook on board).
According to their Twitter feed, they debut tonight at 1111 Cherry St. (on Goose Island near Kendall College) from 6 - 8 p.m.and officially hit the streets on Monday (October 31). Welcome, Duck N’ Roll!
Plus, we give this truck an A+ for design (web, logo, and truck). We can’t wait to see if their packaging is equally as beautiful!
It seems as though our coveted Food Truck Thursdays may be in jeopardy. We have not heard definitively, but it seems as though Ethyl’s Beer & Wine Dive is closed. 
Two weeks ago, we were at Ethyl’s and our server apologized for the limited list of food and beverages. She informed us that they aren’t ordering more beverages since they may be closing. The waiter who we see every week even came over to say goodbye since he wasn’t sure how much longer they’d be open. Last week, there were only a handful of trucks at Ethyl’s and tonight they’re not answering the phones.
Could Ethyl’s be closed for good? It seems quite possible. Have any of you heard definitively?
This is a guest post written by Sharon Shi, an Innovations Associate at SMGxwho also enjoys and loves trying new foods.
You may have just asked yourself, what’s a bustaurant? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a restaurant on a bus. Bustaurants are usually double-decker busses where the lower portion of the bus houses the kitchen and the top portion of the bus is where customers are seated and served. They differ from our usual food truck. At a food truck, customers order at the counter and walk away skipping with their new delicious meals. On bustaurants, customers run to the top of the bus, grab their seats, and enjoy their meal with a view of wherever they may be.
From what I’ve read, the first bustaurant in the US, World Fare, was born in March 2009 in Los Angeles, CA. Looking at their menu the food looks delicious with entrees such as Short Rib Bunny (Worcestershire braised short rib, Horseradish Crème Fraiche) and Shrimp Lettuce Cups (buttermilk dredged rock shrimp, Boston bib lettuce cups, houses made remoulade). Certainly quite the fine dining and food you’d expect in a restaurant and not necessarily on a food truck, or bus for that matter.
The bustaurant trend continued in California with one more popping up in San Francisco the same year called Diamond Lil. The Diamond Lil also served amazing sounding food including the Cuban “pig box,” veggie paella, and herring but seems to have taken customers on trips to places such as Napa. Imagine eating dinner on a bus in the Napa wineries. Sounds romantinc…anyway, so do these 2 busses still exist? The World Fare website and twitter account haven’t been updated in over a year and I couldn’t find any updated news on the Diamond Lil. Were their existances short lived and are there any other bustaurants out there doing well? Will the bustaurants be the next food truck?
Well it may be awhile before they make it to Chicago as we continue to wait to hear if food trucks will be allowed to cook on board. Just wait until they do and you start smelling their scent from miles away. I can smell the grilling now. But if bustaurants were allowed in Chicago, who would you like to see be the first?
Connect with Sharon on Twitter @Shartron or to hear more about her adventures and read her blog at www.shartron.blogspot.com.
You asked, we listened…and launched LetThemCook.com. Let Them Cook is a video petition project where the community submits videos of themselves pledging their support for food trucks. Several food truck owners have already posted their videos and we’d love to see yours! Check out the videos here and send us yours by e-mailing it as an attachment to video@letthemcook.com.
Legislators have long promised change and are becoming the boy who cried wolf. We have hope that they will change legislation (and have a hankering it’ll require a load of patience), but want to help propel the movement with some good ole’ community activism. We launched this legislation-centric site due to a high amount of inquiries about what the current legislation is and how it affects trucks, as well as a request for a list of restaurants who have reported trucks to the police (so that food truck freaks could take their business elsewhere).
Want to win some sweet food truck prizes? Enter the sweepstakes at facebook.com/letthemcook and you could win food from Brown Bag Lunch Truck, Homage Street Food, Bergstein’s NY Deli, and Mama Green’s Gourmet Goodies.
Truck owner Eunice Jackson with her truck
Brown Sugar Café is going to be one of the new kids on the block…next week! Brown Sugar scheduled to launch their dessert truck on September 30, 2011.
“Everything is baked from scratch with high quality ingredients,” says truck owner Eunice Jackson, who has over 20 years of baking experience. She said that the recipes are inspired by her Southern roots. She grew up in Chicago while spending her summers down south.
Opening a traditional bakery didn’t appeal to Eunice. “I never really was interested in a storefront because I’m not fond of fixed hours. I prefer the flexiblity and greater customer exposure.” A girl after our own hearts. So, what is her favorite part about the food truck scene? “I love the flexibility, the diversity of foods available, the diverse group of people you come in contact with, and getting into the neighborhoods to enjoy our beautiful city!” She has even been on the consumer end of food trucks, noting 5411′s beef empanada and Taquero Fusion tacos among her favorite dishes, and she said she is stoked to try food from all of our city’s trucks!
Even though Jackson has “no intentions of baking on the truck,” she said that current legislation affects her menu. How so? ”Assembling some items sometime is nice because it allows for a fresher tasting product. So those items in that category I just won’t offer because I refuse to sacrifice taste or quality.”
The Brown Sugar truck menu will rotate items daily and include desserts such as cupcakes, cookies, brownies and a variety of other pastries. Brown Sugar also offers to roll up to the curb for private parties, corporate delivery orders, and catering services.
This is a guest post written by Sharon Shi, an Innovations Associate at SMGx who also enjoys and loves trying new foods.
With over 35 food trucks, the food truck revolution in Chicago is booming and continues to grow, but what about other cities in the US? In about a month I’ll be heading back to my alma mater in Pittsburgh, PA (GO STEELERS!) for homecoming and thought I’d do some digging of what food trucks I could check out in the process.
The food truck revolution isn’t nearly as big in Pittsburgh as it is in Chicago but the trucks that do exist definitely seem to be a hit. As I’m digging through trade articles, blog, and reviews, the food truck I’ve read most about is the Franktuary Truck which serves gourmet hot dogs, check out their menu here, everything sounds DELICIOUS! Makes me want to run out to Portillo’s to grab a dog.
The Steel City Sandwich Truck. Image courtesy of Flickr user Guzzle & Nosh.
Another truck I’ve read a lot about and heard friends in the Pittsburgh area talk about is Sree’s Indian truck. Although I can’t seem to locate a Twitter account or Facebook page for the truck, it apparently parks at the same consistent location. Sree’s truck is usually parked at Carnegie Mellon during the weekday from 11am-3pm. Exact location? Not sure. I suppose it may have to be a scavenger hunt!
Speaking of scavenger hunt, find the dessert trucks Dozen Bake Shop and the Goodie Truck to get your sweet fixes! Doze Bake Shop is a cupcake truck that serves gourmet treats. Drool. The Goodie Truck is a mobile bake shop that serves home made ice cream sandwiches during the summer. Imagine that, ice cream sandwiches to order, sign me up! Too bad summer is no longer here…
But what I wish was here in Chicago is the Steel City Sandwich Truck, which apparently brings Pittsburgh food to Los Angeles, CA. Although this truck isn’t in Pittsburgh, it’s brought the famous Pittsburgh sandwich to another city (similar to how Bergstein’s NY Deli brings New York deli-style food to us in Chicago). If you’ve never spent time in Pittsburgh, you probably don’t know of the greatest sandwich shop ever, Primanti Brothers. These sandwiches are just your ordinary sandwiches but are served with cole slaw and French fries in the sandwich. Imagine that, heaven isn’t it? The Steel City Sandwich truck lives in Los Angeles and shares the Pittsburgh food culture of the sandwich and pierogies, which are polish dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese sautéed with caramelized onions.
Most if not all of the food trucks seem to swarm around the campuses of University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. It’s a great stop for students running in between classes and something that fits in their tight college wallets. Although my sister is a student at Pitt, she lives off campus and can’t recall if she’s seen them as of late. That’s too bad. I’ll certainly be forcing her to a food truck when I visit.
Am I missing any food trucks? Or have you tried one of the Pittsburgh food trucks? Please share your stories and experiences!
Connect with Sharon on Twitter @Shartron or to hear more about her adventures, read her blog atwww.shartron.blogspot.com.
The Southern Mac & Cheese store opened on Friday to a very excited crowd. Hoards of people waited both inside and around the block to get their hands on one of the thirteen varieties of macaroni and cheese available on the menu. 
Out of the 10 people we asked, only one person had eaten from the Southern Mac & Cheese truck, while two others said that they had seen the truck before. Marie Campbell (see picture), a data entry professional, said she had seen the truck before, but the line was too long for her to wait. Many passers-by seemed to stop simply because they loved the concept of a macaroni and cheese restaurant.
Diner Marie Campbell enjoys her macaroni & cheese.
Families, college students and business people funneled in the doors, keeping the restaurant busy throughout the lunch hour. The teensy weensy storefront falsely leads people to believe that the restaurant itself is tiny. We were surprised at just how much space and seating there was inside. There are standard tables and chairs as well as a counter lining the east wall where you can grab a stool and dig into your food. The path from the door to the register is a wide one, so you aren’t like to get elbowed even during the busiest hours.
Vegetarians, get excited: their veggie menu is equally as robust as their menu with meat. The restaurant is located at 60 E. Lake St. and is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays (6 p.m. on weekends).
This is a guest post written by Sharon … [Read More...]
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