Of Foodies and Food Trucks

Not so many years ago, this area's cuisine could be better described as "hearty" and "good value" than gourmet, but in recent years we've seen the arrival of some excellent restaurants as well as a burgeoning food truck scene.

(Though if you still want crab cakes with huge mounds of crab meat, we still have those in this area too!)

Bistro Lunch Box offers blackened crab cakes, spicy Sriracha lamb
sandwiches, ahi tuna fruit wraps, and cheese fondue fries

Food Trucks
Los Angeles (or as we "hipsters" would say, "L.A.") is generally credited with starting the national food truck trend, serving very good, distinctive and sometimes unusual food out of the window of a large mobile kitchen (often without a corresponding brick-and-mortar restaurant).

Food trucks often thrive by offering a fusion of traditional styles, such as tacos made with Korean bulgogi, and provide an outlet for chefs to bring innovative food without the very complex logistics of opening a full restaurant.

Not Just For Tourists Any More
Food trucks serving standard fare such as hamburgers and hot dogs have been in this area for many years, especially in downtown Washington D.C. near the major tourist attractions.

As the food truck phenomenon gained momentum, D.C. began to see an explosion of food trucks who competed for locations near office workers as well as tourists, and now has a thriving food truck scene.

In Our Area
Locally, we first began to see taco trucks up and down Route 1, with at least three or four within 10-15 minutes of our neighborhood. The tacos tend to be more in the style of Mexico or Central America than Tex-Mex, offering carne asada, pupusas and other similar fare.

But in the last few years a growing cadre of food trucks traveling around central Maryland and into Baltimore has begun to find a consistent audience. They can now be found on a regular basis at Jailbreak Brewing near us in Laurel, as well as in various office parks around the area.

The rise of social media has also helped the food trucks establish a foothold, as Facebook, Twitter and similar web sites make it much easier to find where a particular food truck will be on a given day.

Pictures
Here are some pictures from a few of the food trucks that have wandered through our area:

Brick N Fire is usually at The Breadery in Oella on Saturday mornings,
but also roams around occasionally

A BnF daily special: Prosicutto, red grapes, rosemary, and
big hunks of Mozz

Greek on the Street

Gyro on Pita from Greek on the Street

The Jolly Pig serves many types of pulled pork tacos

Tacos from The Jolly Pig: Cheri-aki; Shanghai; Zacatecas

Madame BBQ getting ready to do land rush business at Jailbreak Brewing

From Madame BBQ: The Todd - pulled pork, deviled eggs, sriracha pickles,
and bacon...plus Brussel sprouts with (mmmm) bacon

Sample Facebook Pages (how to find some food trucks): 

• Bistro Lunchbox
• BricknFire Pizza Co.
• Greek on the Street
• Jailbreak Brewing (rotating line-up of food trucks Wed-Sat)
• The Jolly Pig
• Madame BBQ
• T & J Waffles
• UpSlide Down Dave

Related External Links:

• Madame BBQ Food Truck Takes to the Road (Examiner, 1/4/15) - Howard County's newest food truck
• Food Truck Trend Brings Dining Options to Laurel (Baltimore Sun, 8/28/14)
• Food Truck Posts on HowChow Blog (Howard County Food Blog)
• How to Start a Food Truck in Baltimore, MD - Food Truck Empire interview with Dave Pulford of UpSlide Down Dave
• Charm City Food Trucks - tracks food truck locations in the Baltimore area