Concrete Jungle Where Food Trucks Are Made Of

Lead Editor: Hannah Corbett; Deputy Editor: Alexis Stovall

One of the many benefits we get from living in the 21st century is that at any given moment, we could stumble upon a food truck. Who would have thought that we could have anything more than a boiled hot dog from a cart? Well… we still have hot dogs, but there’s more. Gourmet entrees, sweet tooth treats, and pasta shaped into the form of a donut is the reality that has been given to us with food stands. And now living in a post-pandemic world, we can have that savory goodness anytime we walk outside.

Averee Nelson Reporting Live From New York, New York

Whether people are eating food from their local bagel or halal food cart or taking their dinners down to their stoops, there is a whole lot of eating on the street in NYC. Food carts act as a glimmer of hope for hungry New Yorkers when they need a quick and satisfying meal at the right price. Whenever I am about to cross over into the realm of “hangriness,” I can always count on a simple dirty water hotdog from a food truck. Despite the study that shows that hot dogs take “36 minutes off your life,” sometimes I would happily have my hunger satisfied by a hot dog, since this is the food that helps us survive in dire moments. It seems like whenever I decide to spend a few hours in Central Park, I always find myself craving a pretzel or a hot dog. A person cannot escape food carts in Central Park, which is why it is automatically a point of no return when you are hungry in the park. One weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to take a stroll in the park, starting from around East 90th. We had made these plans to grab a sandwich on our way to the park but quickly realized as we headed further up on the avenues, that our chances of finding a cheap deli sandwich were slimming zero to none. But alas, I saw the entrancing glow from a food truck right at the entrance of the park. It was truly a sign, drawing me in to purchase several hot dogs. Life in the city is all about convenience because people are always on the go, and if you haven’t made your way to a food cart yet, let this be your sign to immerse yourself completely in NYC food culture. Food carts will always find you in your moments of weakness, but those few dollars spent will be the best moments of your day.

Satisfying Your Sweet Tooth All Over The Big Apple

Gabrielle Fiorella Reporting Live From NYC

Since I moved back to NYC in August, I have been seeing ice cream trucks on every corner. Continuously serving the hot and sweaty New Yorkers that are looking to cool down with a nice sweet treat. When it was decided that this week’s blog theme would be street food, I knew I had to go for dessert. At any event or cafe, when I have the option to go straight for the sweet stuff, I completely take advantage. An ice cream truck is my kind of food truck, and I have seen various different variations of these trucks. When I say they are everywhere, they are everywhere. The Mister Softee trucks are all over the Upper East Side and the other truck pictured was in Tribeca, way downtown. Seeing them all over the place gives me major nostalgia if I am being honest. I get flashbacks to when I was younger, sitting on my house porch with friends, and we would hear the ice cream music start to fade quickly into earshot. Running back to our houses to get some money from our parents for refreshing ice cream to enjoy on those warm/hot summer days. I remember my go to ice cream was always a character, be it Spongebob, a Powerpuff Girl, Hello Kitty, or even Sonic the Hedgehog. Any hint of bubblegum made any ice cream better for me, and now that I am grown up, bubblegum flavored ice cream is one of my favorites. When I lived in Germany, there was a delicious gourmet ice cream and desserts place in the local mall. I sampled their bubblegum and then after that moment, it became my go to again; I miss that place and their ice cream. I’ll have to check out some more of the ice cream trucks around here and see if they have a similar version. I would be sent right back to some great memories that led to getting a scoop of bubblegum ice cream.

Home is Where the Street Food is

Rayiah Ross Reporting Live from NYC

Growing up in California, my parents and I would go to our local taco truck every Tuesday. Despite the fact that I’m an only child and every day is “family bonding time,” I always enjoyed the time I got to spend with them there… mostly because of the food. When I first moved to New York in 2019 I thought I would lose that experience. When you watch movies about New York and how dirty everything is or how rude everyone is, it’s kind of hard to trust the street food at first. When I went to my first class of the school year we had talked about a nearby halal truck that all of the students passed. One student explained “There’s always people standing outside the truck, but I don’t know if I trust it.” To this, my professor replied, “If there’s a line outside the truck, it’s probably really good.” With that, all of my worries about street food completely changed. Besides, what makes a California food truck so different from a New York one? After taking that advice from my professor, I spent all of Freshman year trying as many food trucks as I could in my area: Halal, BBQ, Ice Cream, Fruit, Smoothies and anything else you can possibly think of. I feel like trying out the street food in New York was a big part of me learning how to trust and expose the city. It gave me this newfound confidence in the area around me and the people I explored it with.

Food Staples

Tess Schumacher Reporting Live from NYC

Street food has always been a major staple of New York City culture. Street food stands in New York City range from falafels, to Indian food, to hotdogs, pretzels, nuts, and more. I personally have been a big fan of food stands ever since I was a little kid. There is nothing like walking around central park with a fresh food stand hotdog. In the first photo I have listed, you can see some chicken strips I got from the best chicken food truck I have ever been to. It was called Yankee Doodle Dandy. When I happened upon this truck, it was located in the Diamond district.

The second photo I have is of some nachos I got from a street side Mexican food place. This place was further upstate in the Tarrytown area. I thought it would be nice to have food from two different areas in New York state. Overall, I loved these meals, both so good in such different ways, being they are from two different cultures. I’ve always had a wide range of likes when it comes to different culture’s foods. I highly recommend the Yankee Doodle Dandy truck if you’re in the New York City area. I’m a huge supporter of trying new things, especially when it comes to food. Different foods can almost give you an inside look at different places around the world. I like to call it traveling through food.

Thyme Travelling

Olivia Pietruszewski reporting live Weymouth, Massachusetts

Over the last few years, food trucks have become more and more popular. Various towns throughout the South Shore of Massachusetts hold Food Truck Festivals where a diverse group of vendors can come together to sell countless different varieties of food. The food truck that stood out the most to me was one called Thyme Travelling. This cleverly named business uses the freshest ingredients to construct a unique menu. While attending the “Food Truck Tuesday’’ festival in a neighboring town, I was able to experience the fun and fresh food, Thyme Travelling, had to offer. You can find food at this truck to satisfy just about any taste preference or dietary restriction. My friends and I got a large spread of finger foods to share in order to get a small taste of many different menu items. We started with the Bang Bang Cauliflower Bites, Southwest Chicken Spring Rolls, Mexican Street Corn Arancinis, and the Green Bean Tempura. You can tell that the ingredients are fresh and homegrown. When looking around at the other trucks at the festival, Thyme Travelling was the only one that seemed to have fresh and unique menu items. The other trucks were mostly burgers, tacos, chicken, grilled cheese, etc. I also love how the Thyme Travelling truck itself is beautifully decorated to stand out and attract customers. The tasteful vines and flowers on the side of the mellow, pastel yellow vehicle draw my attention right to it. It is no surprise that Thyme Travelling was the most popular truck at the festival.

The Galleria Food Truck Park

Princess Raymond reporting from Houston, Texas

During this past week, I went on a search in Houston, Texas looking for local food trucks/street food. To my surprise, I came across a listing in google maps that said “Food Truck Park.” As a New Yorker, I am not new to street food, but I’ve never heard of or saw a “Food Truck Park.” When I came across this, Google Maps showed me the closest food truck park to me. I couldn’t help myself but to hop in an uber and see it for myself. Unfortunately, the first food truck park that I visited was empty due to some construction work. But I couldn’t just let it go there, so I decided to visit the Food Truck Park in the Galleria area. In Houston, the largest most popular shopping mall is the Galleria mall, which is located in the Uptown Area. This Food Truck park is made up of six food trucks. The trucks were definitely unique, one of them focused around soul food, another one, Syrian sandwiches, and another truck is broken into two sides as two separate shops. One side of the truck sells milkshakes, ice cream and slushies, the other side sells coneys (hot dogs), and chicken wings in varying flavors. I went with two other people and each of us ordered from a separate truck and we each sampled all three, and I must say- I have NO complaints. My only regret is not taking a picture of the entire food truck park area that better depicts what the entire space looks like and taking pictures of the food itself.

Spicy, Sweet and Tangy… OH MY

Reporting Live From Queens

Queens offers a variety of street food from all over the continent, but the mixture of Korean/Mexican street food is astounding. I had the pleasure of experiencing an enriching flavor of Korean/Mexican hot dogs. The food combined a spicy, sweet, tangy taste of bliss in my mouth. The back alleys of Astoria produce hidden takeout spots that deliver mind-boggling food, such as this tasty breaded hot dog. The place is called “Krazy Korean Dogs,” and I am happy to have encountered this delicacy.

Who Said Donuts and Pasta Can’t Go Together?

Natalie Davila Reporting Live From Brooklyn, NY

This felt like the perfect week to focus on street food. It seems like every corner of New York had some sort of food festival going on. There were so many different types of interesting as well as delicious foods. I was on the hunt for something unique since we’ve all seen the gelato in the shape of a rose or an enormous turkey leg that can be split between a family of 4. Luckily, I found myself in Brooklyn on Friday, Bushwick to be more specific, and Bushwick is never in short supply of anything unique to them. The one thing that stuck out to me was a donut made out of spaghetti. It was bizarre on every level. With that being said, it was surprisingly appetizing and I didn’t make a mess at all. I got the chance to speak with the 2 young women working at this food stand. One of them, Kristen, explained to me that the founder of Pop Pasta, created the idea of this donut in 2014 and launched his business in 2016. These donuts are a huge hit at food festivals. Customers even want them shipped to their houses. Although I do not think many of us would eat this outside of a festival setting, it is very convenient for anyone who is running late and still needs to eat a meal before leaving the house. Maybe Pop Pasta should consider putting up food stands all over the city. We need more than hotdogs on the go.

Munchies in Minnesota

Myah Lake reporting from Minneapolis, MN

In Minnesota we don’t have many street food options typically because our weather is usually cold throughout the year. This week I was able to stop at a food truck located on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Lake Street is very popular for street food in the summer and it’s very popular for cultural foods in general. I went to Taco Taxi which was founded in 2005, by two brothers originally from Mexico. All the options at this food truck were very affordable. When I went to the food truck I got two authentic tacos. The truck was staffed by a younger girl and an older man who seem to be either her father or her uncle. I ordered two chicken tacos with a side of the lime. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty empty but Taco taxi is one of the only food trucks on Lake Street so it is typically busy with a lot of people.