Food Trucks/Street Food: What's Good? What Sucks? Whats Missing (Seattle: appointed, transplants)

[Nicomis]

Food trucks are something I absolutely love, and have missed since moving to Tampa. I have come to understand they are big business in Seattle, and I happen to possess a converted box truck. A friend and I want to run one as a side project, and I was wondering what were some Seattle favorites, and what food do you feel is criminally underrepresented in Seattle? I have heard BBQ there is retched, but there's gotta be 100 trucks peddling BBQ?

[angelenogirl]

I don't know about Seattle, but in L.A. people treat Kogi Barbecue like it's crack: Kogi BBQ Taco Truck & Catering | Korean BBQ-To-Go

[Seacove]

The Lime Truck – Menu

[Hemlock140]

The only one that sells BBQ I have tried (or seen) is Maximus Minimus, shaped like a giant metal pig. There are 4-5 others. My favorites are Where Ya at Matt Marination, and El Camion.

[PNWGuy]

i would love to see more bbq, but the problem is that it is just too expensive. $8-$10 for 2 ribs and a bunch of sides just doesn't cut it for me.

[Vinylly]

Originally Posted by Nicomis

Food trucks are something I absolutely love, and have missed since moving to Tampa. I have come to understand they are big business in Seattle, and I happen to possess a converted box truck. A friend and I want to run one as a side project, and I was wondering what were some Seattle favorites, and what food do you feel is criminally underrepresented in Seattle? I have heard BBQ there is retched, but there's gotta be 100 trucks peddling BBQ?

I'm somewhat jittery about food trucks. We're seeing more and more of them lately, mostly Mexican. There are even more in Portland. My concern is sanitation standards. Are they inspected like resturants? Anyway, my favorite would be a food truck that specialises in gyros. When in New York, that's the best street food I've ever eaten, sold in little booths right on the street. I've never eaten a better gyros then when in New York. It's usually a rack of lamb which is carved right before your eyes and it's enough to make you weep.

[Hemlock140]

Yes, they are inspected, you can look for the Health Department Sticker in the window. From what I have seen they are more sanitary than many sit-down restaurants. There are at least two (that I know of) with Gyros, Athena Gyro in West Seattle, and Za'aTar. You can install the iphone app
called Street Eats to locate food trucks. Unfortunately I have not found a decent one for Android in the Seattle area. Oddly, here in Microsoft Headquarters area everyone has iphones.

Za'aTar Seattle | Falafels, Kebabs, and daily soups!

[Nicomis]

Hemlock 140 is correct. I have been researching the requirements, and Seattle is quite strict in their requirements for food trucks. The Gyro is one of the few things you can get here in Tampa. There is a huge Greek population here, plus many NY transplants. Good stuff!

[angelenogirl]

Now that i think about it, I imagine a truck would be easier to keep clean than a restaurant. Smaller space, no people coming in, etc.

[RotseCherut]

I was quite impressed with Pinky's BBQ.. I don't eat pork, so cannot comment on their famous bacon, but their brisket, sauce and coleslaw, etc is excellent. The place is opposite of fancy. It is a large food truck that has a covered tent like area where you consume your food. The food is cheap and better than almost any BBQ restaurant I have eaten around here for a fraction the price, give it a try. They have food carts in various neighborhoods, but the one I went to was in Wallingsford.

Seattle certainly isn't the place for BBQ. Sadly, a majority of the BBQ places here are run by Asian people (or the ones I have been to) who have no concept of American style BBQ. The others are just giant chains that have mass produced garbage that taste like it was shipped from a factory and microwaved. Likewise, Seattle is horrible for Italian food as well. Most Italian places are run by Russians, who also have no idea about how to run an Italian joint.

I have overall been disappointed with the affordable food options of Seattle. There is no lie, Seattle is a city that caters for the rich and it does have some of the best 4/5-star restaurants in the world, but it lacks greatly when it comes to finding affordable and ethnic cuisines.

My favorite and most authentic food places to go to in Seattle are those cheap Gyro/Middle Eastern kabob joints where most of the people are Arab and they really know how to cook their food and charge very affordable prices. However, I find them still lacking compared to the ones in Portland, where many of them would bake their own pita bread and have a large menu.

In this respect, I really missed Portland which had so much more to offer those looking for authentic style food and for affordable prices.

P.S. On the note of BBQ
To my great disappointment I tried Southern Kitchen in Tacoma and was greatly disappointed. Not only were the people working there intimidating, but the food was very bland and dry and had no life to it. Just not what I call Southern BBQ.