Food Trucks: Quality Food on Wheels

Maybe you have seen those brightly colored gourmet food trucks around?  No, not the “roach coach” taco trucks of your youth (although, admittedly, the best tacos al pastor I’ve ever consumed was from a taco truck just south of the Staples Center off the 110).  You know the trucks I’m talking about: bright logos, hustling attitudes and rumors of great tasting food.  Maybe you’ve seen them on a Food Network show where Tyler Florence raced them across the country giving them ridiculous challenges before, during and after having to make enough money to out earn their rivals and make it to the next round?  If not, I highly recommend you step outside your usual food experiences and stop by this constantly changing outdoor pavilion of mobile food at the Westside Food Truck Central.

The Los Angeles Gourmet Food Truck scene started with the Kogi Korean BBQ truck a few years ago.  For those in the know, following the where-a-bouts of the Kogi truck on Twitter became part of the fun.  Chasing the truck from neighborhood to neighborhood, standing in line with friends and visiting parts of southern California they might never had only driven past before was and is a phenomenon.

Fortunately, (or not, depending on who you ask) this huge success lead to a explosion of trucks. Trying to follow or taste all the new entries became next to impossible, as well as the limited number of available spaces for these trucks to park and sell their fusion food ideas.  Thankfully—for us equally adventurous and lazy—farmers markets, First Friday neighborhood parties and now food lots have popped up, making it easier for us to challenge our taste buds.

You can find a group of food trucks every weekday in the parking lot of the CORE Church on the corner of Washington and Overland just east of Downtown Culver City.  Now don’t worry about being proselytized to, I have visited the lot many times and no one has approached this lapsed Catholic school boy.  And generally I’m a pretty approachable guy.   Now that isn’t to say that you won’t meet anyone.  In the center of the trucks, the organizer of the lot puts out chairs, tables and some EZ-UP tents for shade.  At these communal tables, I have had conversations with people from the Sony Studios across the street, NPR, Best Buy and even a vacationing Norwegian couple.  Of course most of the conversation centers around what you’re eating and which trucks to try, but it is a great way to get out, catch a little sun and interact with the denizens of our wonderful city.
 
Some of my favorite trucks include the loud (and tasty) Grill ‘Em All truck rock ‘n roll burger wizards, Nom Nom Truck’s Bahn Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) masters, the ever popular Grilled Cheese Truck and The Boba Truck bringing an innumerable combination of Asian-styled sipping drinks.  I have to give a special shout out to The Lobsta Truck as their east coast New England style lobster and crab rolls transport me back to time spent in Massachusetts and Maine. 

Stop by and support these hard working culinary entrepreneurs at the Westside Food Truck Central for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10601 W. Washington Blvd.  For more information and a schedule, check out the Westside Food Truck Central website or Twitter feed.

(Photo courtesy D.Meske)