The 10 Best Food Trucks for Tasty Summer Bites
With their craft burgers, hummus wraps and frozen treats, these food trucks are anything but middle-of-the-road.
Related To:
Photo By: Pirozhki
Photo By: Bernie's Burger Bus
Photo By: The Cinnamon Snail
Photo By: KoJa Kitchen
Photo By: Raw & Juicy
Photo By: Boombox Taco
Photo By: Camel City Grill/VisitWinstonSalemn.com
Photo By: Chaise H. Elaine/thetinsleyco.com
Photo By: Grain and Cane
Photo By: Reema Desai @reema_desai
Pirozhki, Los Angeles, CA
Pirozhki, located in L.A.'s Art District, serves its customers out of a gleaming 1964 Bambi Airstream. The signature dish here is the pirozhki (obviously), a kind of handmade Russian bread bun that originated in Moscow and is filled with cheese, meat or veggies. Vegans, if you love the taste of creamy potatoes, order the popular potato pirozhki flavored with butter and dill.
Bernie's Burger Bus, Houston, TX
There's nothing old school about Bernie’s Burger Bus, which keeps making the list of the best food trucks in Houston, Texas. The burgers are made from scratch with certified organic, grass-fed Black Angus beef and tucked into fresh-baked buns. (Veggie options are available.) Even the ketchup and pickles here are homemade. Customers give high marks to the First Grader, a classic single, and the Homeroom, a cheddar cheeseburger with bacon.
The Cinnamon Snail, New York, NY
The Cinnamon Snail says it aims to tempt "unsuspecting non-vegans to the dark side, where they will reside forevermore in a carrot castle...". Launched in 2010 as the country’s first vegan organic food truck, the Snail now offers two permanent locations. Faves include the Fresh Fig Pancakes with pine nut butter and chamomile blood orange syrup and the Beastmode Burger Deluxe, an ancho chili seitan burger. In 2017, CNBC named the Snail one of the 10 most popular food trucks in America.
KoJa Kitchen, San Francisco, CA
The summertime lines are long at San Francisco-based KoJa Kitchen, where Korean and Japanese flavors combine. Try the best-selling Original KoJa, a rice bun burger filled with sweet and savory short rib barbecued meat with sesame vinaigrette slaw and katsu aioli. The Kamikaze Fries, topped with minced bulgogi beef, kimchi, red sauce, Japanese mayo and green onions, are a popular side. KoJa Kitchen has brick-and-mortar locations, too.
Raw & Juicy Juice Bar & Cafe, Seaside, FL
Head for the beach and Airstream Row in Seaside, Florida, where Airstream food trucks sit along scenic highway 30A. Raw & Juicy pleases palates with its organic, raw vegan food items and juices. Try the veggie hummus wrap or the Costa Rican bowl, filled with brown rice, black beans, salsa and avocado, all topped with a squeeze of fresh lime.
Boombox Taco, Houston, TX
Catch the beats while you savor the eats at Houston's go-to truck for authentic Mexican flavors. Boombox Taco offers meat-filled choices as well as a popular veggie taco stuffed with fresh vegetables, cactus and onions and topped with a special sauce. Boombox fans also sing the praises of the al pastor tacos, made with cilantro, green salsa and onions.
Camel City Grill, Winston-Salem, NC
Camel City Grill is an award-winning food truck known for Its juicy Black Angus burgers, wraps and artisan grilled sandwiches made with local ingredients. The PBB&J is a customer fave; it's a grilled burger slathered with homemade peanut butter, bacon and red pepper jelly, all tucked into a warm brioche roll. (Bacon comes with almost everything on the menu, except the grilled cheese sandwich—and we’re guessing they’ll add it if you ask.)
King of Pops, Multiple Locations
Okay, Atlanta-based King of Pops isn’t a food truck. It’s a pushcart stocked with icy pops in fabulous flavor combinations. Sold by mail and in multiple cities throughout the South, most of the popsicles are made with fruits and dairy products sourced from local farms. Some, like the Blueberry Cobbler, are seasonal. Others, like Cucumber Lime, are made with veggies grown on the company’s King of Crops farm ("the world’s first popsicle farm"). There's even a treat for man's best friend: the King of Pups.
Grain & Cane GastroTruck, Berkeley Heights, NJ
Dive into a CCBLT--that's short for crab cake, bacon, lettuce and tomato--from the Grain & Cane GastroTruck. This summery sandwich is prepared with a fresh crab cake and Old Bay mayonnaise. If you're not into seafood, order the Short Dip, made with braised short ribs topped with smoked provolone, crispy shallots and a horseradish spread. Grain & Cane's brick-and-mortar location is the Grain and Cane Bar and Table.
Swizzler Foods, Washington, D.C.
You could say Swizzler is the top dog when it comes to hot dogs. The dogs are made with 100% grass-fed beef, grilled over an open flame and served spiral-cut with your choice of crazy-good toppings. Ask for a Jersey Dawg with house-fermented sauerkraut, sweet onions and spicy brown mustard or a Feast Mode with whipped herb goat cheese, caramelized onions, candied jalapenos and black pepper honey. And yes, you can stick with mustard and ketchup if you don't want to go gourmet.