Food Truckus Ruckus

I was there with my family from 11:40 - 1:00. The Vegan truck was really good and got its product out. Delicious. MozzaPi looked excellent. El Rumbon turned out a good sandwich, too.

But Lil Cheezers??? Maybe I just don't get it. I've never seen a more disorganized and inefficient operation: order and stand around for 35-40 minutes for what turned out to be an overpriced product lacking in much, including CHEESE! My wife and daughter both had their high end offerings, at $8 per sandwich, and both were sorely disappointed. I avoided such disaapointment by canceling my order after waiting for 30 minutes and watching them turn out 2-3 sadwiches every 5 minutes or so. Their two sandwiches may have had enough cheese for one sandwich, total. My daughter, a bit of a foodie from Baltimore (with food truck dining experience) whom I enticed down here for Father's Day at least partially with the Truckus Ruckus promise, was bitterly disappointed with the Fancy Pants Grilled Cheese. She said she would never eat another one if it was free, let alone stand around on the pavement for 40 minutes waiting for it to be served. We can do way better at Shoney's (or anyplace else, for that matter). Or, like I said, maybe I just don't get it.

This seems more mean-spirited than critical.

Maybe Lil Cheezers got a little overwhelmed today group because we have eaten from them before and the food was excellent! The sandwiches were very flavorful and they had very sufficient cheese and other ingredients. Their chips were also very nice and a nice addition to the meal. I'm sorry that Jeffrey didn't enjoy them today but I hope he will try them again under different circumstances.

[Robin Garr]

This seems more mean-spirited than critical.

I can't testify to Li'l Cheezers because the lines were too long, so I didn't go. But in all fairness, this strikes me as a legit review. Negative, yes, but clearly stated, and he supports his argument with a report on what he didn't like: Slow service and scanty portion size. I've heard much better reports and hope this was a case of Li'l Cheezer being in the weeds with a huge crowd, but let's not attack the messenger. We have no rule against negative reviews.

This seems more mean-spirited than critical.

I can't testify to Li'l Cheezers because the lines were too long, so I didn't go. But in all fairness, this strikes me as a legit review. Negative, yes, but clearly stated, and he supports his argument with a report on what he didn't like: Slow service and scanty portion size. I've heard much better reports and hope this was a case of Li'l Cheezer being in the weeds with a huge crowd, but let's not attack the messenger. We have no rule against negative reviews.

Fair enough. Apologies to Jeffrey for criticizing his report.

Fair enough. Apologies to Jeffrey for criticizing his report.

Matthew - no apologies necessary. I promise it was not intended to be mean-spirited. Perhaps I'm not overly blessed with patience, but ... geeze, it seemed like a long time to wait for a flippin' grilled cheese sandwich. Maybe they need a Disney-like sign telling you when you order that it will be XX minutes before your order is ready. Or maybe the order-taker could have told us.

I should have mentioned that their chips were good.

This is a problem that I hope is resolved. Truck food should be fast. Prep, Prep, Prep. I routinely do 80 to a 100 persons in a two hour period with a full menu in a kitchen space as small as any truck. Then again I'm insanely fast, but this will come back to bite any truck that can't get out the food in a timely fashion. I hope they resolve these issues and are welcome to call on me to look over the operation and make any kindly and heartfelt suggestions if that would help.PM me. Bill Smith, Shady Lane Cafe.

P.S. Is the best Gyros in the world still open? I've been by three times this week during what would be normal operating hours and seen not a soul stirring.

This is a problem that I hope is resolved. Truck food should be fast. Prep, Prep, Prep. I routinely do 80 to a 100 persons in a two hour period with a full menu in a kitchen space as small as any truck. Then again I'm insanely fast, but this will come back to bite any truck that can't get out the food in a timely fashion. I hope they resolve these issues and are welcome to call on me to look over the operation and make any kindly and heartfelt suggestions if that would help.PM me. Bill Smith, Shady Lane Cafe.

P.S. Is the best Gyros in the world still open? I've been by three times this week during what would be normal operating hours and seen not a soul stirring.

Your kitchen is small, perhaps smaller than each of those trucks. Baxter Station has an insanely small kitchen and I've been impressed with the speed of delivery and of course the quality. I think the speed will come with more practice at a higher volume.

[Robin Garr]

P.S. Is the best Gyros in the world still open? I've been by three times this week during what would be normal operating hours and seen not a soul stirring.

Still closed, and three UPS "sorry we missed you" tags have piled up on the front door. But their wi-fi is still running (you can "see" it from Heine Bros.), and a little chef statue in the front window is holding a chalkboard that says "See you soon."

gyrosman.jpg

From their facebook page, it appears the owners are on vacation in Florida right now.

I'll admit it, recently I've been going down the food truck rabbit hole. Having read some of the other food truck threads on Hot Bytes and looking at tv/youtube commentary/interviews of other cities, I lost half of my day off haha. It really is intriguing to me the ideas people have for their trucks and the menus they create. Also, I love how fun, practical, efficient, and independent the concept is. I was daydreaming about what kind of menu I would have, where I would park, the theme of the truck, and everything. It seems like it'd be a lot of work but also seems so gratifying and self-fulfilling to call it your own. Normally I'm working during the day cooking lunches too, but I hope I can get a weekday off to try some food truck goodness myself.

Thanks to everyone that gave my vegan truck (Morels) a try yesterday I know it can be quite a risk to try something that says "vegan" on it, but it didn't even seem to matter most. Thanks a lot Robin for trying our dogs, its a real honor!! See you guys around town

-Stanley

http://www.morelsfoodtruck.com

[Robin Garr]

Thanks a lot Robin for trying our dogs

It really was my pleasure. That Banh Mi reall knocked my socks off. Are you SURE that's not a meat hot dog? Seriously, Stan, can you tell what that "hot dog" in the Banh Mi is really? Something tempeh?

Haha, yes I assure you theres no meat in them, and completely vegan. They are simply Lightlifes "Smart Dogs" (http://www.lightlife.com/product_detail.jsp?p=smartdogs). They sell them at Rainbow Blossom and Whole Foods, even most Krogers carry them. I've found (and I'm sure other vegetarians can attest) a lot of mock meats can be prepared very wrong. For example, if you put one of these smart dogs on the grill, they get kinda rubbery. They have a synthetic skin, and react wonderfully to a little olive oil and a good pan. I try to remain patient with a lot of these products and really want to introduce people to a differently prepared vegan item they may have had a nightmare experience in the past with. Things especially like tofu, which seem to be impossible to find anyone that knows how to cook it properly Again thank you for trying the food, made my weekend when I read you enjoyed yourself.

*edited for link!

All I got to try was Morel's and it was awesome. I didnt get there until 1:30 and really could only try one thing. That Korean Brat was awesome.

[Robin Garr]

That Korean Brat was awesome.

I agree, and the Banh Mi hot dog was even more so.