Monday, July 23, 2012

Summer, Sandwiches, and Sweet Potato Fries

This summer has been a great summer for eating. Not so great for my waist, but we are going to have to buckle down for Ironman 70.3 soon, which will take care of that. And great for trying new (to me) awesome restaurants. I have noticed a few themes that have begun to shine through in my exploits. One being sweet potato fries, which is nothing new, I have always loved sweet potato fries. The other being blue cheese. Blue cheese is often overlooked and avoided by less adventurous eaters because of its very sharp and distinct taste and smell. Others cannot get over the thought of edible mold, hope they never need Amoxicillin. I personally love the rich, sharp, salty taste of bleu cheese. This is a post about a summer of blue cheese and sweet potato fries.

First up is Lucky Brewgrille: Lucky was the perfect combination of close to a friend's house and having a deal available on Groupon, so we bought the deal. We went there on a warm summer day and sat on the patio. While there was no real view to be had, it was still a nice, fully shaded patio.

We started out with the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, the menu says it comes with tortilla chips, but you can also get it with pita bread. I recommend the pita bread! We also got an order of buffalo wings, which were the full wing style (think The Peanut, but not as epic). The wings were saucy and had a kick, but were not melt your face hot. I dipped mine in, of course, bleu cheese.

For the main course, I ordered the Inside/Out Bleu Cheese Burger. The Inside/Out Burger is the traditional Lucky Burger that has been stuffed with Bleu cheese crumbles and topped with grilled red onions. I subbed sweet potato fries for the asparagus that normally comes with the Inside/Out. I always think its awesome when any dish comes with asparagus, but sweet potato fries are kind of my jam. They are pretty much the only thing that I would sub asparagus for. Turns out to be a great decision because both the fries and the burger were awesome! The burger was quite messy, it was juicy and had this awesome bleu cheese ooze coming out of the middle. The sweet potato fries came with Lucky's own spicy ranch, that is made in house. I am not a huge ranch guy, but this sauce had some funk to it, if you are a spicy ranch guy... Then Lucky is an awesome place to catch a K-State game, grab some awesome sweet potato fries (with some spicy ranch), and wash it down with $2 domestic draws. Lucky Brewgrille on Urbanspoon

Next up is The Cashew. First and foremost, The Cashew is an awesome KU bar. Although they do not have gigantic TVs to watch the games on, they have awesome KU Alumni pre-game events in their upstairs event space (that also hosts weddings, etc.) prior to KU games at the Sprint Center. Not to mention the free shuttle to Sprint Center on KU game days.

The Cashew has awesome decor that is classic and modern at the same time. I don't usually talk about decor, but the engineer in me was captivated by the belt driven fans. The restrooms are updated and clean. the bar is fully stocked and had Boulevard Tank 7 on tap. I think they silently encourage everyone to buy alcoholic beverages with their meals, because the beer glasses were much larger than the soft drink glasses (and were filled more often), but that is my only complaint about what is otherwise a thoroughly awesome place.

The Cashew is also an awesome little sandwich shop. Sticking with my bleu cheese themed summer, I got the Black & Bleu. The Black & Bleu is blackened chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, home made spicy bleu cheese aioli, and bleu cheese crumbles all on top of a warm pita bread. The blackening seasoning on the chicken was not overpowering, as blackening seasoning sometimes gets. The aioli was nice, it had flavour to it, but was not overly spicy. The pita bread was perfect. The sandwich came with a spicy pickle and chips. The pickle was the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae that was my awesome sandwich. The chips were good chips, but still just chips. In all fairness, they did go well with the sandwich though. Mallory had the Tomato Mozzarella Panini, which was also solid, it was like a grown up grilled cheese.

I recommend The Cashew to anyone looking for a good sandwich before a KU game. You can even jump on their website and see a live webcam that will show you how busy the restaurant is. The Cashew on Urbanspoon

Lastly is The Mixx. The Mixx is a personal favorite of my wife and I's, whenever someone from out of town wants to go out to lunch, this is where we take them. We have yet to have a bad item from The Mixx.

The salads are great! The soups are great! The sandwiches are even great! Our favorite salad dressing that is offered at The Mixx is the stone ground mustard vinaigrette, it is the definition of the hyphenated word "earth-shattering". The SGMV goes well on almost any salad and is always my choice on a create your own salad. But this trip was not about the SGMV, this trip was about the sweet potato fries.

I ordered the Pretzel Chicken Sando with a side of sweet potato fries. The Pretzel Chicken Sando is grilled chicken, pepper jack cheese, grilled sweet onions, tomato, spinach, garlic aioli on a heavenly pretzel bread. The bread is always fresh at The Mixx and this was no exception, this pretzel bread hit the spot! This sandwich was everything I wanted it to be and more. Then it was time to dive into the fries.

The sweet potato fries came with a honey mustard dipping sauce, and just as I try to avoid ranch, I also try to avoid honey mustard. I used to love honey mustard as a kid, but now view it as a semi-childish dressing/dipping sauce. At risk of tainting my wonderful sweet potato fry, I reluctantly dabbed it into the honey mustard sauce, and man am I glad I did. This honey mustard sauce was not childish at all; It was as if the honey mustard I had know from my childhood grew up, went to college, bought a suit, got a corporate job, then quit its soul-sucking corporate sell-out job to go make dressings at The Mixx. This honey mustard went with the sweet potato fries so well, I kind of wished that I had saved some pretzel bread to dip in it as well.

If you are looking for a great sandwich, soup, salad, sweet potato fry, or anything with the word "mustard" in it, The Mixx is your place! Mixx on Urbanspoon

Food Truck Friday (and Saturday)

Every First Friday, in Kansas City's Crossroads District, a food truck rally called The Truck Stop takes place. The Truck Stop started in 2011 with just a hand full of trucks. It has since outgrown its lot that maxes out at 15 trucks, meaning that you will be getting rotating cuisine each month. This is a sampling of some of the new trucks that I have tried and some new menu items from other trucks. They are all 100% awesome!

In honor of the hot dog carts in New York and the artisan dog scene in Chicago, there is a new hot dog truck in town, The Dogg House Grill. The artisan hot dog is completely in play right now, but has mostly been isolated to larger cities (and that chain drive-in that doesn't even require its carhops to wear skates). There have been a few brick and mortar hot dog joints pop up around KC, but there is something that just feels right about the mobility of a truck when it comes to serving hot dogs. In fact, the first street vendor that I ever got food from (aside from the ice cream man, of course) was a hot dog vendor across the street from Bartle Hall. The Dogg House does it right with giant Vienna all beef dogs. They offer the classic Chicago and New York dogs along with their own dogs with a KC spin. I had the KC Dog (pictured to the right), polish dog topped with sweet KC style BBQ sauce, bacon, and onions, it indeed screams KC. Next time I think I am going to give the Piggy Back Dog a shot, dog topped with BBQ pork and slaw. Dogg House Grill on Urbanspoon

The Funnel Cake Truck is around for all of your fair food needs. He does a great funnel cake that is surprisingly filling after a long day of hating cancer during Crawl for Cancer.
The Funnel Cake Truck on Urbanspoon

Lutfi's Fried Fish is an urban staple in KC for years and now has a food truck (and a new location in midtown). Lutfi's has wonderful fried catfish, perfectly flaky on the inside with a crispy cornmeal breading on the outside.
Lutfi's Fried Fish on Urbanspoon

El Tenedor is a new truck on the scene. The owner is the chef that made the paella Fridays (now weekends) at Lill's on 17th famous, this fact made the paella an obviously choice for me. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish made with saffron rice and assorted meats. This particular batch was made with chicken and chorizo (of the Spanish variety, which is different than the Mexican variety of chorizo), I am unaware if the alliteration was intended. This paella is incredible, fluffy, and also very reasonably priced given that saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Looking forward to the seafood paella as soon as its offered. By all accounts the Spanish crepes at El Tenedor, are incredible too. El Tenedor KC Mobile Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Sadly, it has been a few months since I have been able to catch up with CoffeCakeKC and grab a Pablo from them. CoffeeCakeKC is exactly what it sounds like, a coffee and dessert food truck. It is some kind of wonderful with the homemade sweet treats and micro roasted coffee (that you can buy by the pound as well). But what is The Pablo you ask? The Pablo is single handedly, both, the best coffee drink and the best hot chocolate that I have ever consumed. It is a Mexican hot chocolate (think regular hot chocolate, add cinnamon) with a double shot of espresso. The creaminess of the hot chocolate, the tame fire of the cinnamon, and the perk of the micro-roasted espresso shot is like heaven in a cup. As I have said before, I am not a huge foo-foo coffee guy, but I would drink this in the middle of July on a day that the Commerce Bank sign read 105 (like today). Coffeecakekc on Urbanspoon

Cajun Cabin is owned by a New Orleans transplant who decided that the best way to cure his home sickness was to bring his delicious cajun food to the hungry folks in Kansas City. If you think about it, it is the perfect marriage: bringing the big bold flavours and large helpings at reasonable prices to a blue collar city that grew up on jazz. After sampling the jambalaya (made with chicken and sausage) and the shrimp and corn chowder in all of their deliciousness, I decided that I had to have the Cajun Dog (a foot long polish sausage smothered in the awesome jambalaya. This dog was extraordinary! The jambalaya was very thick and chunky (not runny at all, as all good jambalaya isn't), full of meat and wonderfully seasoned. This is not just a little bit of jambalaya on top of a cafeteria style hot dog, this is a bucket full of jambalaya dumped on a gigantic polish dog, as seen in the picture. I cannot say enough about this place and will definately be back for a full order of corn chowder. Cajun Cabin on Urbanspoon

P.W.A. Islanders offers up Hawaiian specialties. The pork bun was great, the bread was so soft! For those of you that have never had a pork bun, my wife likened it to a bierock (only a Hawaiian version, obviously). The bread was not like that of the King's Hawaiian brand, but that probably keys you in that this is authentic Pacific Island food, kind of like how real tacos taste nothing like Taco Bell.

Last, but certainly not least, an update on Indios Carbonsitos. The Chihuahua Dog! A Nathan's Famous dog topped with pinto beans, jalapenos, two strips of crispy bacon, Adrian's homemade garlic/jalapeno mayo, and (most importantly) cotija cheese. I am sure I am forgetting a few toppings on there because this thing was loaded, the poor bun never had a chance to hold it all. I had never had the cotija cheese before, and to a newbie it looks like a really finely crumbled queso fresco. Adrian educated me and let me know that this is because it is a dryer cheese, making it more accepting of the fine crumbling. The saltiness of the cotija, spiciness of the jalapenos, the creaminess of the pinto beans, crunchiness of the bacon, all thrown on top of a hot dog is a perfect storm of intense flavours. Lets just say that I had to finish it with a fork after the bun threw in the towel. Another great menu item from Indios!
Indios Carbonsitos on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Chez Elle

For those mornings (or aftermornings for that matter) that you wake up and just crave crepes, Chez Elle is your place! It is located in this quaint little building in the Westside neighborhood, just east of West of Downtown KC. I have never been to France, but I imagine that if you were to go to a creperie in France, it would be a lot like Chez Elle.

There are metal bistro tables out front, that no one asks you to leave. The interior is decorated with bright colours, a colourful menu (disregard the English), paintings of flowers, landscapes, and such with more bright colours, tiny metal Eiffel Towers, and then a KC skyline (that has even been updated to show the finished Kauffman Center, shown to right) to add a touch of KC. You can get real coffee drinks, not that crap that you would get at Starbucks. And not to mention, oh yeah, the crepes.

They have breakfast crepes, dessert (sweet) crepes, lunch/dinner (savory) crepes, and well... just about any kind of crepe you can imagine. I have personally had: The Acropolis, a savory crepe featuring chicken, tomatoes, kalamata olives, baby spinach, feta in a cucumber sauce, which to a crepe noobie do not seem like things that scream "crepe", but let me assure you that it is delicious. The Bonjour, a breakfast crepe which features bacon or ham, egg, and choice of cheddar or swiss cheese. The Pomme Tart, which features warm apple crisp topped with creme Anglaise and caramel sauce. The Paris, a sweet crepe featuring Nutella and banana and/or strawberry, this is probably my favorite crepe that I have had ever (not just at Chez Elle). Another thing to note about the crepes is that they are deceivingly large. You may order a savory and a sweet (for instance the Acropolis and the Paris, as I often do) because your eyes are bigger than your stomach. You may even think that they do not look all that large when they arrive at your table, but they are delicious and filling. My advice is that you split the sweet crepe with a date.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that awesome crepes are the only things you can get at Chez Elle. Au contraire mon frere! Chez Elle does amazing muffins, scones, biscotti, etc. Chez Elle also offers fresh squeezed juice and the aforementioned coffee to go with your crepes.

Chez Elle is going to cost a tad more than stopping at Quik Trip for a sausage biscuit but it is worth every penny! I mean seriously, have you ever tried to make a crepe on your own? If you haven't, don't waste your time, you will not be able to do it, just go over to Chez Elle and they will hook you up.


Chez Elle Creperie Coffeehouse on Urbanspoon

Thursday, July 12, 2012

New Oklahoma Joe's

When a new Oklahoma Joe's opened in Leawood, a coworker of mine insisted that we go on the day after it opened. We got there at about 11:15am, and in typical Okie Joe's fashion, there was already a line out the door. But don't worry, they have a bar right by the door, so they can sell you a Boulevard beer to sip on (or chug, depending on your personal preference) while you wait in the line that snakes around the perimeter of the interior of the restaurant. This location has nearly the same interior design as the location in Olathe, but does not have the mystique of the gas station location. But then again, we all know how I feel about finding great food in less than normal locations (i.e. trucks and gas stations). Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue on Urbanspoon


This Oklahoma Joe's offers the same menu as the other two locations, but many will tell you that there is no reason to order anything other than the Z Man. The Z Man features brisket topped with smoked provolone cheese and two onion rings. The Carolina (with fries) is my personal favorite, being the perfect mix of Carolina and KC bbq, which is perfect for the man that is the perfect mix of Carolina and KC himself (yours truly). The Carolina features pulled pork (that is advertised as "Carolina style", but is really more a mix of KC and Carolina, but always 100% delicious) topped with cole slaw that has a bit of a zip to it and OK Joe's famous sauce. Admittedly, I did second guess my usual when I saw the size of the daily special Smokey Joe's that they were serving up. I always order the side of fries, with the word "side" being used loosely, as the "side" is the size of a Mac truck for the low low price of something like $2.79. I recommend splitting the fries with a friend, they are some kind of wonderful though. I have never been temped to try another side dish at Okie Joe's, as I know the beans cannot beat Jack Stack, and none of the other sides appeal to me as much as a year's supply of fries covered in seasoning salt. *Side note regarding the fountain pop: There are numerous diet options (including my personal favorite Pepsi Max), and you will need them after eating this gigantic quantity of food, unless you want to end up with "The Sugars" like Paula Deen.

Some call Oklahoma Joe's the best BBQ in KC, some have a problem with that because it has "Oklahoma" in the name. I personally do not think that it is the best BBQ in KC, because I don't believe that any one place has the best BBQ in KC, but that each BBQ joint has one thing that they do that distinguishes itself from the others. Okie Joe's is the place to go to get a rockin' sandwich! I do not personally have a problem with the joint having "Oklahoma" in the name, because it doesn't matter where Joe is from, it just matters that he has become a KC Icon (and not an Icon like that copy cat bridge that they built on the Paseo and named "The Icon" like there wasn't one just like it already existing in Charleson, SC). I look at it this way, if Joe were from Kansas, then no Tiger's would want to eat there. If Joe were from Missouri, people would feel like they need to wear their best jean shorts to enjoy Joe's BBQ. That being said, OK Joe's is an awesome joint. I applaud them for building a third location in an attempt to thin out crowds at the existing two locations, but it looks like that many more people are now enjoying Joe's special brand of BBQ.

I do recommend OK Joe's to anyone looking for a great sandwich, just make sure you go at an off time (like 3pm), so then you will only have a 10 minute wait.


Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque (Leawood) on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Eating Crappiness

I purposefully don't write negative things about restaurants that I have been to or food that I have tried, because I believe that if I don't have anything nice to say then I won't say anything at all. I don't sacrifice my journalistic integrity by writing things that I do not believe, so if I do not like something then I will not write about it. I am not going to pretend like some classically trained chef or food critic, so I am not going to be a pretentious D bag and pretend to be. This is why I named this blog Eating Awesomeness, because I just want to record the awesome travel and food experiences that I have. But then Taco Bell went and created the Doritos Locos Taco Truck!
 
When Taco Bell first came out with the Doritos Locos Taco, I cringed. This is exactly what is wrong with America! You take an item that is already one of the worst and unhealthy items on any menu in America, that is filled with beef flavoured meat product (the meat version of government cheese), and adding even more salt to it. An Aussie mate of mine, who ironically used to tell me how American foods were ridiculously salty, tried and tried to get me to try it. Then at MLB All-Star Fan Fest, after stealing a base as Alex Gordon on a base stealing simulator, I was handed a coupon for a free Doritos Locos Taco (with the purchase of a medium drink). I figured that I would buy a medium soft drink anyway, no matter where I went for lunch, so I decided to finally give this God forsaken thing a try.

It was just as I thought, pure crap! I forgot that Taco Bell's taco shells crack and fall apart in your hand, no matter how you hold it. Quantifying above claim about Taco Bell's "taco meat filling" here: http://www.toledonewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13885025 . The shredded cheese on top was just terrible. Everything about this thing made me hate it even more. Salt is a key seasoning in cooking, but adding more salt doesn't substitute for lack of taste.

All of that was par for the course, typical fast food crap, but I was going to allow that to be water under the bridge until I saw the Taco Bell Doritos Locos Taco Truck during the MLB All-Star game handing out Doritos Locos Tacos. This made me sick! Never again will I spend my money at Taco Bell. It is not enough to have a crappy Ken-Taco Hut on every other street corner, and you spread your Spanglish motto of "live mas", but you have to encroach on one of the only things that young entrepreneurs, foodies, and aspiring chefs have left: FOOD TRUCKS! This is just another case of the rich trying to get richer and kill a small fledgling market before it even has a chance to spread its wings. This is like Microsoft buying up smaller software companies that offer superior products, then shelving those superior products so that everyone has to keep using Office Suite! This is like what was happening in America at the turn of the century when the large companies were taking advantage of workers, which drove the push for workers to unionize. Food trucks are already unionizing with organized events, such as NYC Food Truck Association, the Truck Stop in Kansas City, and food truck trackers (such as Truckily).

Taco Bell is not alone in what appears to be a wave of fast food chains taking to the truck. I read an article about Chick-Fil-A earlier today: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-we-can-eat/post/chick-fil-a-muscles-into-the-dc-food-truck-scene/2012/07/09/gJQAx2c0YW_blog.html . This is unacceptable and we much push back! Food trucks are for the people, by the people, that have amazing innovative ideas and want to bring them to the aforementioned "people". My ideals are Libertarian enough that I am usually fine with people doing whatever they please, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. But this does hurt a whole movement. Taco Bell and Chick-Fil-A, I greet you to the food truck world with an ice cold Kansas City "BOOOO!", circa Robinson Cano's Home Run Derby collapse.

I urge everyone to get out to their local food truck, and support a hard working local chef. Eat, Drink, and Buy Local! Sorry for the rant, but this makes me really mad and I had to get that off of my chest!

This is not a taco truck!


This is a taco truck!



Taco Bell on Urbanspoon

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Blanc Burgers and Bottles

Ernesto, originally from Mexico City, came to Kansas City via Arizona. Even though he is not a native Kansas Citian, he has become a diehard Kansas Citian through and through. He found his way to KC during some trying times in his personal life, but determined to make the best hand out of the cards he was dealt, Ernesto poured himself into his work.

After moving to KC, Ernesto became a bartender at The Capital Grille. It makes perfect sense that he had woked as a bartender, as he comes off as the guy that just wants to see everyone having a good time. Ernesto worked every shift that he could pick up at The Capital Grille, then spent Sundays with his ninos. Eventually he saved up enough money that he and a partner were able to open up The Drop in Martini Corner. After finding the space to open the original Blanc in Westport, he divested his interest in The Drop and devoted all of his time to Blanc. His wife (a former waitress at The Granfalloon) did all of the interior design and helped develop the concept.

The concept behind Blanc is to bring together a collection of the most incredible burgers and bottles that Ernesto had found in his travels and give them his own twist, all in a restaurant that is bright and inviting (thus the name Blanc). An integral part of the concept is to buy everything local that he can. Everything is local, even down to the bank that they use. The buns are made by Farm to Market Bread and are never more than 24 hours old. The only bread you will find in Blanc that is older than 24 hours old is the croutons. The milk  is Shatto. The custard that is mixed with the Shatto milk to make the incredible Blanc milkshakes (that my wife and I split) is made just down the street at Foo's Custard.

The idea for the bottle service stem from his days as a bartender; you cannot serve both fountain Coke and fountain Pepsi. Not being the type of person to tell you what you have to have, Ernesto wanted to serve both, the only way to do that was to have bottle service. After deciding to have bottle service, he began to see how many different bottled soft drinks and bottled beer he could serve. There are now over 150 bottles available at blanc, including soft drinks, craft beer, and half bottles of wine. I noticed my favorite grapefruit Jarritos on the wall when I walked in. They even have Shatto milk in bottles. (Blanc now has fountain soft drink and tapped beer options as well.)

The burgers are incredible and anyone that has tried them will agree. My wife and I had the Inside Out Burger and the Salmon Burger. Both were incredible; the fresh bun and blue cheese on the inside out burger and the sesame vinaigrette on the salmon burger set off their respective burgers. They offer burgers made of bison, Kobe beef, mahi mahi, and black bean, just to name a few. Bobby Flay (the king of the grill) has taken notice and named Blanc's Inside Out Burger the best burger in the MO. Rachael Ray made Blanc a stop on her national book tour for her new book, The Book of Burger. Blanc's ketchup and chipotle aioli are both made in house and will soon be available in what else... bottles!

The fries are made fresh in house and served in cool miniature grocery carts. Ernesto brought out some fries for us that aren't even on the menu yet, he called them Fire Fries. They were Blanc fries that had been fried and then drizzled with a vegetable oil that had been infused with habanero, chili powder, and garlic. They were amazing!

Blanc is always changing, evolving, and staying fresh. As part of this, Blanc has begun offering tacos on their happy hour menu. Being from Mexico City originally, Ernesto knows how to do tacos right. The new offerings include: Buffalo Chicken, Fried Avocado, Mahi Mahi, and Carnitas tacos. My favorite was a tie between the Fried Avocado and Mahi Mahi. My reasoning: I am in the minority of gringos and prefer corn tortillas to flour tortillas, but when I do enjoy flour tortillas, I like them to have fish on them. That and the fact that the Fried Avocado tacos were unlike anything I had ever had, they were incredible! My wife's favorite was the Buffalo Chicken taco. That being said, the Carnitas taco is no slouch. This taco review alone should speak volumes to Blanc hitting the mark with having something for everyone. Ernesto prides himself on having something for: men, women, kids, families, single people, and anyone else that may walk through his door.

I cannot say enough about Blanc Burgers and Bottles. I urge everyone to go experience the awesomeness!

You can also find Ernesto and Blanc at Livestrong Sporting Park for every home Sporting game.
Blanc Burgers + Bottles (Country Club Plaza) on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Cupcake Truck

The cupcake fad is sweeping the nation. You have Cupcake Wars on Food Network. You see cupcake trees replacing wedding cakes. In New York, people now go out for a cupcake instead of a cup of coffee. There are bakeries popping up everywhere that do cupcakes, but none do cupcakes nearly as good (or as awesome) as 3 Girls Cupcakes. But don't take 3 Girls Cupcakes as a fad, they have been around for 2 years.

3 Girls Cupcakes is a cupcake food truck, or cupcake delivery truck, depending on which way you choose to look at it. The girls show up everywhere from the Truck Stop (Crossroads food truck rally that takes place on First Fridays) to a park in KCK on a lazy Sunday. The girls also have their regular customers that they see out on any given Tuesday through Friday on one of their cruises. The weekly cruise schedule is released each Monday, the cruises cover almost all of Kansas City; from 435 & State Line, to Downtown, to Kearney. You can even book 3 Girls Cupcakes for your special event, they are everywhere!

Not only is 3 Girls Cupcakes almost certainly close to where you live, work, or play during the week, but they have the most delicious cupcakes ever! The arrangement varies by cupcake variety. Most cupcakes are hollow (for lack of a better description), filled with a cream filling (more like frosting than like donut filling), and then frosted on top. Some cupcakes come as a traditional cupcake with only frosting (not hollowed and filled with more frosting).

They have their regular 11 flavours, such as: red velvet, peanut butter cup, chocolate chocolate, and vanilla vanilla (which will often come with a special topper to celebrate an event like Mardi Gras, or even the release of the Jason Mraz CD titled LOVE, both seen above and to the right), just to name a few. They also have weekly rotators and special edition cupcakes. Weekly rotators consist of: Sock Monkey, snickerdoodle, the Elvis, Nutella Cheesecake, and Chocolate Cin (one of my personal favs), etc. They even did a chocolate covered pretzel cupcake made with Boulevard's Chocolate Ale (also seen to the right). Its incredibly hard to order only one, becase they are all so good (as shown by the box of cupcakes I brought back from a recent visit to 3 Girls Cupcakes). You can also get mini-cupcakes and frosting shots from the truck (van).

3 Girls Cupcakes is owned and operated by 3 wonderful girls (although the youngest is typically in school), they take pre-orders on their twitter page, 10% of all sales goes to local children's charities, their cupcakes are wonderful, and you do not have to go far to find them. Just check their twitter or Facebook page. They even take plastic and will text or email you a receipt right from the van.

3 Girls Cupcakes on Urbanspoon