Vancouver Street Food Scene
There are now almost 100 food trucks licensed in Vancouver and the surrounding areas. Each year 15 new trucks are added in Vancouver. This year’s new trucks ranged from hot dogs to gourmet including everything from International flavours to Mexican, Pan-Asian, Korean and more. One of the best spots to enjoy a food truck lunch is along Howe Street between Georgia and Robson. The city has graciously closed Robson Street (sorry bus drivers) between Hornby and Howe for the summer and set up tables and chairs in the street. The stairs of the Vancouver Art Gallery also make a great lunch spot. There are four carts licenced on the one block of Howe – Pig on the Street, Tacofina, Finest of the Sea and Mom’s Grilled Cheese. Re-up BBQ and Bun Me are on the same block on Howe (the other side of the Art Gallery).
Food Truck Line-Ups
Jeff was not as excited by the addition of the grilled cheese truck as I was so I tried to go by myself last Friday between two meetings at 12:15. The line up was 30 people deep so I had to abort the first grilled cheese mission. This time we both met at the truck at 11:45 on Thursday. The line was about 10 deep and quickly grew behind us. Watching the lines of the other three trucks it looks like the lunch rush is from 11:45 to 12:30. After 12:30, as we were leaving our perch at the top of the steps, the lines were back down to 5 – 10 people each.Most trucks are open regular hours Monday to Friday and for special events on the weekends. There is a great online tool and app StreetFoodApp.com that tells you which trucks are open when and their location.
Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck
There were three girls and a guy working inside Mom’s Grilled Cheese which is one of the larger trucks in operation. The two that engaged us – the cashier and the cook/server were both very friendly and seemed like they were having fun with the customers. The system they had was fast and efficient. Considering they had about 10 orders in front of us we waited only about 10 minutes for our food after we ordered. The menu is simple…choose your bread – Sour Dough, Multi Grain, Marble Rye, gluten free, choose your cheese – Swiss, Cheddar, Havarti, Pepper Jack, Provolone, vegan cheese available for $1.00 extra. There are deluxe add ons– red onion, dill pickle, tomato $.50 and super deluxe add on – double cheese, double smoked bacon, sliced turkey breast $1.50. Standard sandwiches are $7 and come with a dill pickle and a few plain kettle chips.There is also a daily special for $8.50.
We both ordered cheddar and swiss, one on sourdough and one on marble rye. The rye took a bit longer to cook but was well worth it – toasted perfectly with the cheese stretching between the slices as the server cut it in half. They were ooey, gooey delicious. The Pop Shoppe cream soda (also available in other flavours) in a glass bottle reminded us of the kind of pop bottle in 24 packs we got in Winnipeg as kids. We sat on the steps and took our time eating in the sunshine. The only downside with eating such a thick grilled cheese slowly is that the cheese cools down and becomes a bit chunky. Next time we will have to eat faster!
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