April 7, 2011
A city reveals itself through its street food, and Philadelphia's wealth of on-the-fly options continues to grow.
(Photo of Renaissance Sausage Truck by R. Kennedy for GPTMC)
Philadelphia has always been a street food forerunner.
Local food trucks run the gamut from student grub in stainless steel carts to upscale eats in high-tech mobile kitchens. And the city’s food truck register is continually expanding; the newest addition, a Memphis Taproom hot dog truck, officially opens for business Saturday, April 23.
Here’s a look at some of Philly’s must-try trucks — serving soft pretzels, pork roll sandwiches, elegant pastries, espresso drinks, global fare and just about everything in between:
Twitter Trucks
• The newest roving kitchen to hit Philadelphia’s streets is Iron Chef Jose Garces’ bottle-cap bedazzled Guapos Tacos truck. Frequenting neighborhoods like Northern Liberties and Fairmount, Guapos serves up simple Mexican fare like guacamole with cotija cheese, along with pork, duck and vegetarian tacos. Follow its route here.
• The fresh and locally sourced sandwiches (think country herb pork with caramelized onion; Mediterranean lamb and beef with hummus and tzatziki) of Renaissance Sausage Truck are also free-range — the truck’s Twitter feed announces its location of the moment. Follow its route here.
• Among the goodies at the Call Me Cupcake truck are carrot cake, red velvet and seasonal strawberry cupcakes. Follow its route here.
• From Love Park to South Philly and back again, Buttercream — helmed by “the cupcake lady” — brings cupcakes to the masses, in tempting flavors like banana with Nutella buttercream and yellow cake with peanut butter buttercream. Follow its route here.
• The pared-down menu at Honest Tom’s tacos truck includes flour-tortilla taco wraps with fillings like sweet potato and chicken and guacamole, along with Stumptown iced coffee and Arnold Palmers. Follow its route here.
• The colorful Tyson Bees truck purveys enticing Asian fusion eats like Korean BBQ short rib tacos, Thai basil chicken over rice and kimchi hot dogs. Located at 33rd and Spruce Streets.
• The Dolce Vita (topped with provolone, pepperoni and tomato sauce) and the Mack (topped with macaroni and cheese) are just a couple of the creative hot dogs at The Dapper Dog, parked during lunch hours at Temple University and during late-night hours in Northern Liberties. Follow its route here.
Lots more, below.
September 20, 2010
Honest Tom's Tacos will be one of three food trucks representing Philadelphia at the Vendys. (Photo by M. Kennedy for GPTMC)
Ask any Philadelphian and they’ll tell you. This city has a pretty happening (and delicious!) street food scene. It’s concentrated in Center City, West Philadelphia and around Temple University, but you’ll also find a vary of trucks and carts in nearly every neighborhood.
Next Saturday, three Philly street food vendors are headed to New York City, to show the Big Apple just how phenomenal our street food is at the 6th Annual Vendy Awards. It’s the first time that vendors from a city other than New York have been invited to participate in the Vendys, so it’s quite an honor.
The Vendys are a project of the New York Street Vendor Project and our participation has been coordinated by Philly Homegrown.
The lucky vendors are Honest Tom’s Taco Shop, Denise’s Soul Food Restaurant and the Chester County-based Birch Run on a Roll.
Check out the videos below to learn more about Honest Tom’s and Denise’s. (The videos were produced by the talented Liza de Guia.)
