DC Food Truck Extravaganza

We recently had an opportunity to spend a day together sans baby, which all of you parents out there know is a rare and special thing.  We love The Luce but sometimes we need a break too!  So when BJ said "What do you want to do today?"  I replied "Go hunt down food trucks of course!"  For months, I've been wanting to check out the food truck scene in the city.  It has blown up over the last year and since we had fun chasing the Wafels & Dinges truck in NYC last year, I thought it would be fun to see what the local guys have to offer.  We checked out their various Twitter feeds and found a great, condensed list of locations that pointed us towards L'Enfant Plaza and Farragut Square. 

At Farragut, we found 3 trucks for our sampling pleasure.

1.  Eat Wonky - known for being one of two locations to get poutine in the city.  What is poutine, you ask? Here is a website that explains:  http://www.montrealpoutine.com/

^{The fries are hand-cut every morning before they get on the truck and the gravy base is imported from Canada.  The cheese curds were delish and the whole thing was just very well done, in our humble opinions.  Eat Wonky also had the nicest service - friendly owner, lollipops for the kids, he got off the truck to hand us our food.  All in all, 10/10.}

 

2.  Sol Mexican - mostly tacos and burritos.  We had 3 carnitas tacos with the works and felt they really were not worth the calories.  Chipotle is better.  Mine was way too salty and the taste was just "meh."  I didn't even finish my taco.  The servers were also confused and not very friendly.  2/10.

3.  Dangerously Delicious Pies - just like it says, they serve pies, both sweet and savory.  Some prior research told us the SMOG pie was a specialty - steak, mushrooms, onions and gruyere.  We gave it a try and it was wonderful.  Lots of filling, buttery crust, could have used a pinch more salt though.  The green hot sauce served on the side was also excellent.  I would definitely try this one again.  The owner was not talkative, but explained the sauces and was quick.  9/10.

We then moved locations to L'Enfant Plaza and found a couple more trucks to sample.

4.  Curbside Cupcakes - this one had the longest line.  The cupcakes are on the small side for the price.  We got a vanilla vanilla, duh, and a "black Irish Cream" which was dark chocolate with an Irish cream frosting.  I loved that one, it was very decadent, but BJ said the vanilla was like from a grocery store.  8/10 and 3/10 respectively.

5.  El Floridano - this truck serves regional sandwiches.  BJ bought a Cuban and it was decent.  The pork slices were flavorful and the sandwch was a nice size for the price.  It was good, but I personally wouldn't buy it again.  6/10.

6.  DC Empanadas - I really enjoyed this one.  I knew they had a long, rotating menu and I was pleased to see that the 3 flavors they were offering were ones I knew I'd enjoy.  We sampled one of each:  a ropa viejo, a buffalo chicken (named the Badass!) and a spinach & feta.  They were all really great, well seasoned, nice size.  The service was also excellent.  The owner came out and told a couple people behind us that they were about to sell-out, as a courtesy in case they wanted to go elsewhere.  She also offered free drinks since we waited so long, so we enjoyed our free ginger ale as well.  9/10.

In the end, we spent about 3 hours on our adventure and had a thoroughly excellent time.  I think that part of the fun of food trucks is the atmosphere and whimsy.  We are blessed to live near a city that has a thriving and eclectic food scene and the trucks are just a small part of that.  I am looking forward to doing this again, with all new trucks to sample from!  The day as a whole - 10/10.