Back On My Food Truck Game

With another Food Truck Friday just hours away, I had to let you know about some of the food trucks that I have recently checked out for the first time.

Chorizo & Pulled Pork Arepas

Eat Arepas is a brand new food truck that has one simple message: "Eat arepas!". "What are arepas?", you ask? Made of white corn grits, Arepas are a starchy vehicle to Awesomeville. They are to Colombians what bread is to Americans, what tortillas are to Mexicans, and what Pita is to Mediterraneans. These things are really killer and taste like a grits cake (so if you love grits like I love grits, you will love these too). In Colombia, arepas are typically buttered, salted, and topped with Colombian cheese (that is most similar to queso fresco, only not quite as dry). However, Al and Amy had a bigger vision for them when they decided to bring these Colombian treats to the streets of Kansas City. 

At Eat Arepas you can get: pulled pork, chorizo, steak, roasted peppers, or "solo queso" on your arepa. You can also buy packs of arepas at the truck to take home and accessorize as you please (ideas include: PB&J, Nutella & banana, burnt ends, avocado, or any of the options served at the truck).

Taco Republic

Taco Republic (truck edition) is the latest offering from Bread & Butter Concepts (the geniuses behind such restaurants as BRGR, Urban Table, and Gram & Dun). The game plan was to open a brick and mortar version of this restaurant this past spring, but after some hiccups, they decided to send a truck to the streets in the interim. This taqueria reminds me a bit of a mash-up of Port Fonda (the truck) and Torchy's Tacos (in Dallas & Austin). The tacos are better than the ones that were served at the Port Fonda truck (IMO), not stuffed quite as full as a Torchy's Taco, and a tad more expensive than I am used to paying for street tacos (but not unfairly priced). The tacos are made with quality ingredients, those ingredients are cooked slowly, and you can taste that.

Cochinita Pibil & Tecate Barbacoa

I have tried the Tecate Barbacoa, Cochinita Pibil, Tinga, and Puerco Rojos from Taco Republic. My favorite (and my wife's) being the Cochinita Pibil, by a lot. All of the tacos were good, but after trying that taco, I have to say that it dwarfs the others. There is something about that Yucatan-style marinated pork that is going to keep me coming back. You can also get Mexican Coke and all of your favorite Jarritos flavours at the truck.

Boom Boom Tacos

Beauty of the Bistro is a relatively new truck that offers up classic American fare, with a twist: Sandwiches, Burgers, Tacos (although I know are not American), all the way to Mac & Cheese. I have only had the pleasure of partaking in the Boom Boom Tacos, which were phenomenal, and did not require a trip to The Hawk on Halloween (and also probably tasted a lot better) - link purposefully foregone. The Boom Boom Tacos are jam packed with pulled pork, broccoli slaw, homemade roasted salsa, and topped off with a jalapeno aioli. The pulled pork and the broccoli slaw complimented each other very well. I cannot wait to try more from BOTB; perhaps the Crawfish Mac&Cheese or the Boom Boom Burger!

Wilma's Real Good Food is run by a mad scientist by the name of Brett (Brettski as the guys call him). Brett's madness is right up there with that of Adrian (of Indios Carbonsitos), Brandon (of Jazzy B's), and David (of Prairie Fire Oven, he put beets on a pizza for goodness sake). Brettski is an OG in the KC food truck game, but for some reason, it took this long for our paths to cross.

Barnyard Bliss

When I say Brett is a mad scientist, here is what I mean: The two items that I have had from Wilma's are the Barnyard Bliss and the Hong Kong Cletus. If those names by themselves did not peak your interest, just wait to hear what each of those are. The Hong Kong Cletus looks like a pretty straight forward homemade crab rangoon (from the outside), but when you bite into it and taste the pickle and bacon that have replaced the imitation crab meat (that most restaurants try to hock you) in this rangoon, you know you are in heaven! Following up something like the Hong Kong Cletus will leave some big shoes to fill, but the Barnyard Bliss delivered (and then some). Barnyard Bliss is a hoagie roll filled with seared steak and provolone cheese that is then topped with two deep fried-soft boiled eggs. *My Barnyard Bliss was a Lance Armstrong version (only one egg) because I got the last one*. That melted provolone and copious amounts of red meat alone were worth the price of admission, but then you put that egg on top of there and you have a masterpiece! This thing will make an egg burger tuck its tail and run. You need to try this, like yesterday!

Port Fonda

Yes, every time I think of Port Fonda, I am reminded of the old Sir Mix-A-Lot song. I have no idea where the name comes from, but no matter what the name is, the food is awesome.

You may have seen the renovated Airstream trailer sitting outside of the Rieger Hotel with one lucky group that enjoys dinner inside the trailer each night. Although Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda, she does have a table, where you can get an awesome dinner. If you are not the lucky group inside of the trailer, you can order from the walkup window.

When you get up to the walkup order window, the young lady that takes your order is very nice and helpful. You may have a little bit of sticker shock when you see the prices, and the tacos are not the best I have tried (in all fairness, I have had some pretty dang good tacos in my travels), but the Chilequiles are earth shattering. The Chilequiles are tortilla chips that are sauteed in Chorizo and salsa verde, served with: a couple slices of lime, Mexican crema (which is essentially sour cream, for all intensive purposes), and topped with a fried egg. I cannot describe what it is about this combination, but it is incredible (however, I am a sucker for a some salsa verde). Try the Chilequiles with a grapefruit Jarritos. It has been well documented that grapefruit Jarritos is my favorite of all the Jarritos, which is coincidentally the only flavor of Jarritos that I have not seen at Wal-Mart, but I suppose that just gives me an excuse to go out for good Mexican food when I have a craving.

I have not seen Port Fonda in a while, but I do know that they are in the process of opening a restaurant in Westport. I will be interested to see what the menu looks like.

Los Alamos Market y Cocina

I ride my bike by Los Alamos Market y Cocina all the time and see the interesting metal sculptures outside. They have little metal men in sorbreros, metal flowers, chimineas, and usually pinatas too. They have a board out with the daily specials on it (It's usually tamales). I have always wanted to stop in and try it, but they close a little early, so by the time I am ready for dinner they are closed. I was finally able to give it a try one weekend that I had a slow saturday and it was everything that I had hoped for.

Just looking at the outside of the market and restaurant, you can tell that they served authentic Mexican food inside. Upon entering, you see the glass door to the beer cooler straight ahead, 2 or 3 aisles of Mexican specialty food items to your left, and a counter to your right. I asked the man behind the counter where I placed my order, he pointed me to the back. When I got to the back, I saw 6 hispanic women cooking, laughing, and just enjoying making good food. The woman that took my order was very helpful, it took me a minute to decide, but she was very patient. I finally decided on the Tamales El Jefe. That is beef tamales covered in more beef chunks and some kind of Mexican gravy (for lack of a better comparison). It came with beans and rice and the lady told me that I could go get whatever I wanted to drink out of the cooler. I chose a grapfruit Jarritos (which is my favorite flavor of Jarritos) and it went perfectly with the tamales el jefe (it really goes perfectly with everything). Sitting at the tables with the Mexican themed tables cloths, the pinatas hanging from the ceiling, and watching the cooks work thier magic had the perfect ambiance to accompany my Mexican meal. As I was finishing my meal, all of the lights went out because they had overloaded the breaker, it was just like Mexico! When the lights went out, one of the regulars at an adjacent table yelled out "Everything's free!", everyone had a good laugh. They even poked fun at the young man who went downstairs to flip the breaker, making sure to ask him if he was scared before he went down. I had a great time and will definately be going back!