As interns for Martha Stewart Living Radio in New York City, Sierra Ferrier and I are determined to have the best experience possible while living here this summer. Yesterday, we decided to go on our own food truck tour in Midtown Manhattan to discover why food trucks are becoming an increasingly popular lunch break option. We researched the food trucks on websites like Time Out New York and New York Magazine, and chose four based on what was highly recommended among the types of food we wanted to try.
Food trucks tweet their location daily so that they can be easily located by their customers. We began our tour at Korilla BBQ. Wanting to stay near our office in Midtown, we were happy to find them on 45th and Vanderbilt by checking their twitter feed. Keeping everything on the menu under $10, Korilla BBQ offers their own take on Korean BBQ with things like chosun bowls, tacos and burritos that are filled with meat, organic vegetables, and homemade sauces. Sierra sampled the spicy pork burrito with “korilla” sauce. After one bite, Sierra was in food heaven. The way she described it was “a fusion of every Asian flavor imaginable in burrito form."
Our next stop was Jiannetto’s Pizza located at 47thand Madison. A huge fan of Sicilian-style pizza, I was very excited to try out this food truck. Not only does Jiannetto’s offer delicious pizza for only $2.50 per slice, they also have a wide selection of sandwiches and pastas on their menu. Sicilian style pizza is a very thin crust pizza with the cheese put on first, and then the sauce and then parmesan cheese. The best part of the pizza, in my opinion, definitely had to be the fresh basil sprinkled on top of the pizza. Even though this pizza was from a food truck, it tasted just like pizza you would find in a restaurant.
Our tour then took us to a truck that offered two of my favorite foods: burgers and fries. Frites n Meats allows you to build your burger however you would like. Once you get there, you fill out a card with your order on it and then wait until your name is called. I ordered the grass-fed angus burger with lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese on a potato-onion brioche bun along with an order of double fried Belgian style fries. My entire meal was incredibly tasty, but my favorite part was definitely the fries. Rather than just offering the traditional ketchup and mustard, Frites n Meats has a “sassy frites” option in which you can order six different aioli sauces to go with your fries. I personally recommend the garlic aioli sauce—"delicious" cannot even begin to describe it.
Our final stop was Desi Food Truck, which was parked on 6th Ave. near Rockefeller Center. It offers traditional Indian cuisine such as curry and dal. Sierra sampled the chicken tikka masala, which is chicken and curry served on a bed of long grain brown rice. For only $7, it’s enough for two meals! Sierra even said that the spicy curry could rival that of any Indian restaurant.
While there are plenty of restaurants to go to for lunch in New York City, food trucks offer a quick option. On our tour, we learned the reason that food trucks are becoming so popular: they offer quality food at a great price for the on-the-go worker.
Tips for food trucks:
- Bring cash—most trucks only accept cash
- Lines move incredibly quickly, so don’t worry if there’s a long line
- Check either the website or twitter feed of the food truck to find out their location
1 The Korilla BBQ food truck
2 The sauces available at Korilla BBQ for your burrito, taco or chosun bowl. Sierra recommends the korilla sauce.
3 Sierra paying for her spicy pork burrito.
4 The spicy pork burrito from Korilla BBQ
5 Jiannetto's Pizza Truck
6 The Sicilian-style pizza from Jiannetto's
7 The Frites n Meats food truck
8 Allison ordering her burger and fries from Frites n Meats
9 The burger on potato-onion brioche bread and fries from Frites n Meats.
10 The menu at Desi Food Truck offers traditional Indian cuisine.
11 Chicken Tikka Masala from Desi Food Truck
