Food Truck Nation

Eating at a food truck makes me want to own one. I have ideas for them, and I get really excited until I realize that I'll need a lot of backing to actually start it up. (Insert donation plea here - ha!) Yesterday, I had a delicious lunch at a truck that my husband has been raving about for months, and I finally made it over there. It was definitely worth the walk!

The truck is called Staff Meal, and they have truck-made chorizo. Yup, they had me at "truck-made chorizo!" The menu selection consists of four basic choices, with the option of having each as tacos, or as a burrito, as well as a few specials - one of which is Matt's favorite. The line was long, people were excited to eat the food, and the employees are friendly and helpful!

I finally got my turn at the window, and ordered for both me and Matt. A "Steinberg" for him (half chorizo, half barbacoa, rice n' beans, "guac" and Alex's Ugly Sauce) and the Truck-Made Chorizo, Lime Crema, Radish and Lettuce burrito for me. I added a couple of Judge Smails' Half & Halfs (half lemonade, half iced tea blasted together) and pulled up the coupon I got on Yelp for checking in! After saving the dollar, I pulled up LevelUp to pay! I love how convenient they make this!

After toting my purchases over to a lovely bench down the way a bit, I took a sip of the refreshing beverage. It was a great concoction of iced tea and lemonade, not too much of either, but just right. It was just sweet enough, and just tart enough to be the perfect drink for a hot day in Boston!

Once properly refreshed by "Judge Smails," we both unwrapped our burritos and took a few bites! The chorizo is so fresh, the rice is perfectly cooked, and the sauces are interesting and flavorful. I thoroughly enjoyed mine, but the "Steinberg" was amazing. The combination of flavors made each bite really pop, and the mixture of barbacoa and chorizo was very complimentary! I think it was the guacamole that pulled it all together - that or the red cabbage they threw in there for some crunch - so good!)

I found Staff Meal's truck in City Hall Plaza, by Government Center, but you can check their website daily, or follow them on Twitter for alternate locations. I definitely recommend checking them out when you are in the mood for tacos or a burrito, because the food is delicious and really satisfies the craving. With fresh ingredients, and friendly faces, how can you go wrong!?!?

A Park Full of Trucks

Today, we took a family outing to the Food Truck Festival, being held at the center of UMass Boston's campus. There were 27 trucks parked around the circle, with plenty of food to serve and smiles to give. It was a beautiful day today, and until today, I didn't realize how pretty the campus is, right on the water, which brought a lovely breeze to the event.

There was no way we would make it to every cart, based on the serving sizes that we started with, but I tried to take pictures and notes on my favorites from the day. By far, my favorite bite was from Mei Mei Street Kitchen. There were quite a few options at this truck but I decided to go for the Green Monster ball, a deep-fried spinach and cheddar rice ball, along the lines of the Italian version - arancini. This was a delicious ball of goodness - It was warm and gooey on the inside, and crispy and crunchy on the outside. The best of all worlds, if you ask me, and I now have to find a way to get to their truck in Back Bay, from my office in the Financial District, on a regular basis for lunch. I wonder if they deliver!?

The Lobsta Love Truck was gaining quite a following, and at a rapid rate, so we decided to hop in line before it got ridiculous. There were only three options at this location, so my husband and I decided to each get one thing and share. We opted for the lobster mac n' cheese, which came with giant chunks of lobster claw, as well as the lobster quesadilla, a tortilla stuffed with succulent lobster meat and a biting sauce to top it all off!

There's a couple glimpses of the puppy in these pics - haha! She was looking on with her tongue out, wishing she could have some delicious lobster too! Over at Staff Meal, I had noticed a "truck-made" chorizo on the menu, and that grabbed my attention, so we went over there next. The chorizo was served in a taco, with lime crema, radish and lettuce, and it was delicious!

The Dining Car offered the choice between a Pulled Pork Slider, and Crispy Cauliflower. I don't normally find myself being drawn to anything involving cauliflower, but this was just calling my name for some reason. It definitely did not disappoint. The florets are tossed with their special corn flour coating and then lightly fried. They are then topped with some curry aioli that adds a hint of spice to the dish! Yum!

The final highlight of delicious food at the festival came from Roxy's Grilled Cheese, which despite being famous from The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network, I have had yet to try. They don't show up in the area that I work very often, and when they do, I've usually already eaten lunch once I find them. I was excited to try their food and so I opted for the The Green Muenster Melt, which contains applewood-smoked bacon, guacamole, and muenster cheese. 

Before we left the festival, but after we decided we were sufficiently full, we had to visit Del's Frozen Lemonade for a refreshing cup of, you guessed it, frozen lemonade! In this heat, that really hit the spot!