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Mai Chau

9 Apr

vietnamese food truck columbus

Facebook.com/MaiChauTruck
Twitter: @MaiChauTruck

A diverse range of cuisines have been finding their way to the local food truck scene, and Mai Chau’s contribution furthers this trend. Started by a duo that spent a couple of years teaching in Hanoi, Vietnamese food is their calling card.

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We caught the truck on it’s second outing, so the menu was limited but poised to grow. Here’s what we had:

In the pork banh mi sandwich the expected components were in attendance, except for pate. The quality of ingredients seemed high, and the signature freshness of the dish clearly came through. The Sriracha pulled pork was a bit of a curve ball, though – while tasty in its own right, it seemed slightly odd in context and we suspect that the saucing was perhaps dialed back to keep the heat of the sriracha in check. As a result, the sauce flavor was difficult to detect. It’s not as spicy as the menu description might suggest. Nonetheless, a likeable enough sandwich.

mai chau food truck

The bun – a cold rice noodle dish – had us nervous… a bit unnecessarily, as it turns out. The key to this dish is the nuoc cham sauce, and none was provided on the side (as we’ve come to expect from local Vietnamese restaurants). Instead, it was drizzled over the noodles and pooled in the bottom, which led us to wonder if it’d be too much or not enough. Turns out, with a quick mix, it was just right. The aforementioned pork is a topping option, as are tempeh and chicken. We opted for the chicken, and enjoyed the flavor of it. Bun is a great summer dish and a nice healthy food truck menu option.

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The spring roll was similarly pleasant – a cold dish composed of a generous portion of shrimp, bean sprouts, herbs and greens. It was consistent with what you’d find at any Vietnamese restaurant, which is to say solidly good.

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Mai Chau is off to a promising start, and we’re looking forward to what they come up with next. If you find them in your neighborhood, check ‘em out!

Smokeout BBQ

24 Mar

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Smoke Out BBQ and Catering
4578 N. High Street
Beechwold / Clintonville
614.256.7900
Facebook
http://www.smokeoutbbq.com
Fridays and Saturdays 11 am to when they run out, most recently, about 2 pm

Here is our interview with John Becker one of the que slingers on Smokeout BBQ.

Who else works on Smoke Out with you?
A: I have a business partner, Eric Grant, and our wives may be on
location from time to time. Our sons will be learning the art in the
years coming.

When did you first get interested in BBQ.

A:I spent summer and winter breaks of college working for a landscape
company. We would cut mature apple trees from a local orchard, split
the wood, and sell it to local BBQ joints. Back at OU in Athens,
through trial and error, I learned to take a fatty cut of meat, wood
smoke, and patience and turn a cheap cut of meat into something better
than steak.

What is your BBQ style – Texas, Carolina, etc., if any?
A: I have eaten BBQ extensively in the Carolinas, Texas, Memphis, and
St. Louis. I enjoy good BBQ anywhere. The food we offer is the food we
like to eat with the meats being smoked by local cherry wood. Smoke
Out BBQ is pork oriented, but we also offer pulled chicken and brisket
on a rotating basis. The menu will expand once spring hits.

What inspired the trailer?

A:Eric and I both have experience in construction. We bought the
trailer shell and turned it into a fully functional kitchen ourselves.

You make many of your own sauces, any stories about that; family recipes, win any competitions, etc.
A: As much as possible, our offerings are homemade: sauces, rub, slaw, Mac N Cheese, etc. I’ll take a thumbs up or a smile from a customer who likes our food over an official award any day.

What are the next steps for Smoke Out? Do you hope to open a restaurant, do more catering?
A: I am just happy that I have the opportunity to share my favorite BBQ with my neighbors in Columbus.

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Green Meanie

5 Jul

website
Facebook
Twitter @eatgreenmeanie
614.961.0516

Everything this truck makes has something green in it or on it, said their owner, Keith Smith, thus the name ‘Green Meanie’. He liked the name immediately, and everything else followed, including the hulk-like farmer logo.

That’s about as much of a conceptual handle as you’ll get from this truck – the menu is exceptionally eclectic, ranging from banh mi sandwiches to a spin on Native American fry bread to mac and cheese.

As of our last visit, the menu had four signature sandwiches and one rotating side.

green meanie food truck

Their signature ‘Green Meanie’ is probably the most unique sandwich offering. It consists of panko crusted chicken croquettes atop an adaptation of Native American fry bread topped with avocado, mixed greens, diced tomato, scallion, cilantro, signature green sauce and signature mean sauce. The chicken croquettes are rich and the filling, reminding us of a warm chicken salad (you may want to ask for some extra hot sauce to cut the richness). The fry bread was thinner and less greasy than we expected from previous encounters with it, and it works well as a wrap.

food trucks in Columbus Ohio

The ‘shiznite’ (their spelling) is a panko crusted dirty water hot dog on a New England roll with bacon and jalapeno cream cheese. It’s topped with avocado, onions, diced tomato, scallion, and cilantro and drizzled with ‘shiznite’ sauce. The one we had was a little heavy on the cream cheese but popular with our taste testers.

food truck banh mi sandwich

The ‘banh Meanie’ is probably our favorite Green Meanie sandwich, but it has a distinctly different flavor profile from a traditional banh mi. It’s made with hoisin and sriracha marinated pork tenderloin on French baguette with pickled carrots and onions, blanched beans, cucumbers, fresh basil, cilantro and creamy jalapeno aioli. The difference in flavor, relative to its namesake, comes mainly from the use of Italian basil, the aioli, and the green beans.

columbus street food

The vegetarian option is the Green Thumb which consists of a grilled portobello mushroom with fresh mozzarella served on flatbread and topped with avocado, mixed greens, diced tomato, scallion, cilantro, signature green sauce and signature mean sauce. We liked the flavors of this sandwich but found the portabello tough and hard to bite through.

Sides have included freshly cut french fries served with a scallion-olive oil aioli for dipping, macaroni and cheese topped with bacon and scallions and chilled tomato consomme.We’ve also seen them offering ‘puppy chow’ as a sweet treat.

You’ll notice that there are quite a few signature sauces. Keith’s wife works at Marzetti and has helped him to develop the sauces for the truck.

Prices for a sandwich range from $7-8. Green Meanie are at a lot of events and festivals. Follow them on Twitter or Facebook to see where they’ll be appearing next.

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Per Zoot Truck

6 Apr

columbus food trucks

Per Zoot
@perzoottruck
614.506.8849
Specialty – Italian sandwiches

Before opening Per Zoot, owner Matt Swint worked at Rotolo’s Pizzeria but his passion for Italian food extends back to a childhood spent in an Italian neighborhood in the East side of Cleveland.

Matt’s been working on the Per Zoot concept for sometime – originally he was planning to open a truck serving Italian flatbreads called piadinas, but after Piada opened he went back to the drawing board looking for another idea he could put his own mark on. After finding a recipe for tigelles, another style of Italian bread, the concept was set.

A tigelle is a round bread disc similar in size to an English muffin with a crisp exterior and soft inside. Matt described it as a cross between an English muffin and a biscuit… which, after trying it, isn’t a bad description overall. Historically tigelles have also been known as ‘crescentines’ and tigelle refers to the press used to cook the bread. They are most commonly associated with Modena.

tigelle, tigelleria usa

In addition to the sandwiches listed on the menu (above), the special was a prosciutto (a very traditional filling), mozzarella and arugula tigelle. The sandwich was served with a side of nicely dressed and properly cooked green beans.

italian street food columbus

We also tried Per Zoot’s signature sandwich – Arista (Italian pork loin) with roasted onions served on a tigelle. This sandwich was accompanied by some lightly dressed arugula. We enjoyed the sandwich but thought the pork could have benefited from a touch more salt. The photo below gives you a better idea of the tigelle bread.

per zoot food truck

Possibly our favorite sandwich was the polpette sandwich di casa, a meatball sandwich with red sauce and mozzarella on soft house made focaccia. The meatballs were juicy and flavorful and falling apart. There was just enough sauce for flavor, but not enough to make the sandwich overly soggy, and a generous amount of cheese.

street food columbus

The menu will be changing with different specials and seasonal ingredients. Matt said that he will be adding salads to the menu and when the weather gets cold again he’ll be serving soup too.  A sandwich and a drink was $7, and chips are also available.

Per Zoot will be at different locations for lunch next week, follow them on twitter for updates. Their home base will be outside Robbie’s Hobbies in Clintonville (just North of Henderson on High Street).

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Pitabilities

4 Oct

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Pitabilities: Pita sandwiches
Website
Facebook
614.216.6310

Pitabilities truck is the first of two new pita trucks to be hitting the streets of Columbus. Their truck is brand spanking new and has worked a few debut events including OSU football games. We caught up with them at the Local Foods Week food cart rally. The owners fitted out the truck themselves – in its former life it was a fabric delivery van. They are based out of the ECDI Food Fort.

Pitabilities Menu<

The menu includes: gyros, grilled chicken, Buffalo chicken, Philly steak, Italian sausage, brat, a veggie pita with hummus, grilled vegetables and cheese and the ripper dog (a deep fried hot dog topped with fries and cheddar cheese on a hoagie bun). Pitabilities specialty is pita sandwiches but all of the options are available on a pita, salad or roll and a variety of toppings and sauces are available to customize your sandwich. Pitabilities use locally produced Ezzo Italian sausage and brats.

We tried the Philly steak and the grilled chicken and of the two the Philly steak was our favorite. The meat was declared juicy and surprisingly 'beefy'. The pita was very fresh, soft and pillow-y and it was a satisfying sandwich. We recommend the sauteed onions and mushrooms as toppings. We also had mozzarella lettuce, tomato and the house sauce – a mayonnaise and sour cream based sauce. We also heard great feedback about the ripper dog.

pitabilities food truck

We also tried some of the pita chips, which are chunky triangles fried to order with a side of hummus. Fries, drinks and deep fried Oreos are also offered.

pitablities

Follow Pitabilities on facebook to find out where they will be appearing next.

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The Pickled Swine

8 Sep

food trucks in Columbus ohio, mobile deli columbus

The Pickled Swine
Deli Sandwiches and Salads
614 678 1411

Facebook

Update:

The Pickled Swine truck was purchased in January 2012 by Tracy and Bill Hunt. The menu is mostly the same as Pickled Swine 1.0 with the addition of a few new menu items such as’The Rachel’ with pastrami, swiss, scallion cream cheese, warm red cabbage slaw, caramelized sweet onion and mustard on rye.

pickled swine food truck

Tracy and Bill are also serving some interesting sides:

guide to columbus food trucks

You can find the Pickled Swine primarily at the Campus Pitt Stop at Lane Ave & Kenny Road.

Here is a bit more on Pickled Swine 2.0.

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The Pickled Swine was originally owned by partners Katrina Faenza, Giovani Faenza and Todd Meister of Meister’s Bar.

columbus food trucks

Their signature ‘The Pickled Swine’ sandwich has Black Forest ham, honey ham, swiss cheese, spicy bacon (YES BACON) aioli, scallion cream cheese, spicy dill pickles and pork rinds making it a quadruple pork sandwich. So far one of their most popular sandwiches has been ‘The Johnny’ with capicola ham, salami, buffalo mozzarella, roma tomato, olive tapenade and tossed micro-greens with balsamic vinaigrette. Sandwiches range from $3 for PB&J and old school bologna and cheese to $12.

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We haven’t tried it yet but the beet salad with Ohio sweet corn, curly endive, garbanzo beans and shallot-lemon thyme vinaigrette sounds good.  In the fall and winter they also plan to offer soup options as well.

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Spinelli’s Deli Mobile Sammies

29 Aug

Spinelli’s Deli Mobile Sammies
Location: Variable
Website
Twitter

Spinelli’s Deli has been a standby for Victorian Village residents since 2002 offering bagels and a wide variety of hot and cold, breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches. A downtown location was opened in early 2011. The downtown location may have been a bit ahead of the times so the Spinelli’s team decided to close the location in August 2011. Out of the ashes of the brick and mortar location a food cart was born. Using a rental cart from the ECDI Food Fort program, Spinelli’s Mobile Sammies hit the the pavement for various events. Spinelli’s is still tweaking the menu and other aspects of the cart. Currently Brezel Pretzels are part of the menu which we applaud for the flavor as well as pairing with a local purveyor. We will update this post as the menu and locations develop.

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The Local Munch Box

29 Jul

columbus food trucks

Munch Box
Website
Facebook
@LocalMunchBox
614.361.4129

Munch Box got off to a hesitant start this spring, but you can now see them on a regular basis at Columbus Commons as participants in Lunch on the Lawn (Wednesdays 10am-2pm). From what we’ve heard, we’re sure you’ll be seeing a lot more of them elsewhere as well in the future.

columbus street food

Munch Box offers a choice of wraps or flatbreads with a variety of toppings/fillings. As well as the menu items pictured above, we’ve also seen them offer scallop flatbreads, hummus wraps, stew and sandwiches in the past.

We tried the steak braised beef with poblano cilantro, pesto, and brussels sprout slaw on flatbread. The meat was both tender and flavorful, and the slaw accompanied it well (although it might be a bit on the vinegary side for some). The flatbread base was somewhat unusual – it seemed like more of a flattened wrap than what we’d typically think of as a flatbread, and it got soggy when the toppings were added.

columbus street food

Munch balls are cake balls that come in a variety of flavors and are something fun to share if you are eating with a group of friends. We’re looking forward to trying more of their offerings on future visits.

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Short North Bagel Deli

21 Jul

food carts columbus

Short North Bagel Deli
Cuisine: Sandwiches
www.shortnorthbageldeli.com
@shortnorthbagel
Facebook

Owned and operated by Jeremy Fox, Short North Bagel Deli is the latest cart to hit the streets of Columbus. Short North Bagel Deli specializes in steamed bagel sandwiches which Jeremy first tried and fell in love with when he visited his sister at Miami University. Bagel and Deli has a cult following in Oxford and has spawned steamed bagel delis in several other cities. A steamed bagel sandwich is different from having a toasted bagel sandwich because the whole sandwich is steamed warming the bagel and fillings and melting the cheese.

mobile food columbus

The cart uses Blocks Bagels (plain, wholewheat, sesame and everything) and offers a surprisingly wide variety of sandwich options. The most popular so far is the Good Ole Goodale with thin-sliced turkey, Colby, cream cheese,  avocado, tomato, lettuce, sprouts and honey mustard. We tried the special the Camelot, with turkey, bacon, avocado, brie and mayo on an everything bagel. You can also make up your own sandwich.

street food columbus

When you get your bagel it will be almost to hot to hold, but eat it quickly as it will start to get tough as it cools down. Make sure you grab some napkins too – the sandwiches can get pretty messy with all those steamed melt-y fillings.

bagel deli columbus

Although the cart is called ‘Short North Bagel Deli, you will find Jeremy in locations all over town. He is currently downtown during lunchtimes, at Camelot Cellars (Short North) some evenings and at Groovy Spoon (Clintonville) or Farmer’s Markets on other evenings. Keep up with his locations on his website or on facebook or twitter.

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The Cheesy Truck

25 May

grilled cheese truck , mobile food columbus

The Cheesy Truck
@thecheesytruck
Facebook.
bigcheese @ thecheesytruck.com

The Cheesy truck makes its official debut at the Columbus Commons grand opening tomorrow and we were able to check them out during their preview weekend. The Cheesy Truck is the brainchild of Rick Harrison Wolfe a Grandview native recently returned living in LA. His enthusiasm for his new venture is contagious. The truck, recently arrived from LA,  is hard to miss with its distinctive Louis Vuitton-esque wrap. Here’s a taste of the menu:

columbus street food, mobile food vendors

Our favorite was the Rife’s melt with a signature burger grind from Rife’s Market in Grandview, Roquefort cheese and sauteed onions. It was really tasty and would be good post-bar food. We also tried a couple of Sandwiches that weren’t on the menu, showing what’s possible with the ‘design it yourself’ section of the menu. Brie and apple was popular with our vegetarian taster and the Cotswold (Double Gloucester) and bacon was good too. There’s a good variety of spreads and additions to personalize your grilled cheese. To go with your sandwich the truck also offers shoestring fries and tater tots.

It’s great to see the Cheesy truck partnering with a number of local other businesses (Rife’s, Stan Evans Bakery) and other food trucks.  Three babes and a baker are providing cupcakes as a post-cheese dessert option and Mikey’s Late Night Slice are sharing their secret slut sauce recipe if you want to spice up your sandwich.

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Check out the Cheesy Truck at Columbus Commons or a summer festival and follow them on facebook or twitter for lunchtime locations.

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