2014 Food Trucks [General]

2014 Mar 18
Might as well start a new thread in the hope that it'll make the seasonal trucks open sooner...

And looks like some sad news on that front - Trailer Pork Boys is selling their trailer. I guess this means the business is closed (hard to see how they'd continue without the trailer).

ottawa.kijiji.ca

2014 Mar 18
It's always possible they bought a new, bigger, fancier trailer ...

2014 Mar 18
One can hope!

2014 Mar 18
Streat Gourmet is still open. They actually never closed for the winter.

I really hope somebody will bring their truck to Tunney's Pasture otherwise it is going to be a looooong summer. Either that or I will have to call in sick alot-;)

2014 Mar 18
Trailer Pork Boys - nooooooooo, I really hope they have bought a bigger and better trucl

Pasta lover - I'm with you. We need a food truck or 2 or 3 close to Tunneys.


2014 Mar 18
I'm going to be a seriously sadfoodie if TPB is doing anything other than purchasing a new truck or a restaurant.

STREATS never closed and continues to make my life happy on OCOnnor.

AD MARE hasn't closed either and also continues to make me happy.

2014 Mar 18
That's why I said "seasonal" in the first post. But I guess it's good to point out those that never closed for people who aren't aware.

2014 Mar 18
'Wiches Cauldron is opening March 25 and will initially be open from 11:00 to 4:00.

2014 Mar 23
Is there a Tex-Mex truck out there? I heard of one in the south Bank area but can't find it??? :(

2014 Mar 23
Some of the food trucks shut down for the winter. Ottawa.ca had a list of the vendors

2014 Mar 23
You may be thinking of Urban Cowboy which was in Old Ottawa South last year (closed for winter though).

2014 Mar 24
... but hopefully not for much longer because i NEED those shrimp tacos and sweet potato fries now. NOW DAMMIT.

...sorry, sorry, long winter, sorry...

2014 Mar 24
I was in biz with all it's inspectors and rules for a long time, and I've been curious about food trucks and how often they are inspected. Anyone know if they are subject to the same schedules. Pretty hard to inspect a moving kitchen! And the last I heard the area food inspectors were stretched quite thin for the amount of places to visit......:(

2014 Apr 4
So, [BAP} opened back up Yesterday, and I got me some delicious bad for lunch. Bad news is that they had to increase prices to $8. But they also now offer free tea samples, and today they had a ginger honey lemon one that was quite nice.

Also, Mr Churritos cart grand opening this Monday, April 7TH, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at O'Connor and Sparks Street according to their twitter.

2014 Apr 7
re "Also, Mr Churritos cart grand opening this Monday, April 7TH, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at O'Connor and Sparks Street according to their twitter."

You can't see me, but believe me when i say i am dancing for joy right now.

...awkward with a laptop, but even so.... dancing... joy...

2014 Apr 7
Red Roaster Truck will be back in May!

2014 Apr 17
So sad. Trailer Pork Boys have closed. From their Facebook page: Trailer Pork Boys has closed the business. Thanks for your support over the last two seasons! It was a blast and we're glad you enjoyed our food.

2014 Apr 17
A coworker's husband is opening a Carribean food truck on merivale. Don't have a lot of details, other than from the Facebook page, but the pictures look tasty.

2014 Apr 23
Anyone know the backstory to the Trailer Pork Boys shutdown?

2014 Apr 25
I would like to know too...we loved this food truck. I wonder what on earth happened. Pretty swanky set up too....they put a lot of dough into that truck. I once was invited on a back stage tour during a torrential thunderstorm and the stoves were incredible. I wonder what happens to a food truck like that when a business closes...hopefully they would find a buyer.

2014 Apr 28
I can't wait for food truck season. I know many stayed open throughout the winter, but the excitement of spring beginning brings the excitement of all these amazing smells and sounds coming from the food truck lines all over town! Can't wait.

Would love a list of trucks updated for 2014? The one on the Ottawa website is outdated, I believe.

2014 Apr 29
I'll never understand why businesses launch websites with no content on them and list them as a call to action on their business cards...the Caribbean cruiser is a stock wordpress blog...hopefully the food is better than the website.

2014 Apr 29
Also, I was at west gate mall today and the trailer pork boys truck has been moved from across the street so maybe it's getting prepped to rise as a new truck...

2014 Apr 29
There is a great app on Android to find out which trucks are open etc.

Street Food Ottawa. You can view by map or by list.

2014 Apr 29
The Street Food Ottawa app is also available for iPhone.

2014 Apr 29
The list of trucks hasnt really changed this year. The only new truck that I know of is Bobites, Thailicious, Flapjacks and Churros cart. Double D's is fairly new but overall all the trucks showed on the ottawa website are pretty much up to date. Location may have changed.

2014 Apr 30
www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2625937

CBC article about Ottawa food trucks

2014 Apr 30
This link works better: www.cbc.ca

(URLs with exclamation marks and/or commas in them are difficult to parse out of plain text. Also, they're an indicator of poor design: visual clutter without purpose.)

2014 Apr 30
I really hope they allow the trucks to move around the city. The whole point of street food is that it be accessible, quick and easy. Unless you work downtown, the majority of us will never be able to try out any of the trucks as most aren't open in the evenings or on weekends.

2014 Apr 30
(City) Bureaucracy trying to run a capitalist (free?) market.

Limiting:
1) the food that's served
2) the location of the truck (incl. the distance from a restaurant)
3) the hours of operation
4) the ability to swap locations
5) Etc.

Yeah, right.
.
.
.
.
BTW: If the city restricts the location of a food truck to an existing restaurant, why don't they restrict the distance of a new restaurant and its location to an existing restaurant ?
Is this not a double standard ?

2014 May 5
So, I hit Angry Dragonz for lunch today cause I had an extra long lunch. I got the daily special (Pork belly sliders) and the Dragonz Bowl.

Unfortunately, I think they have gone a little downhill since I last visited. For starters, prices. The sliders were $8, but I only got two sliders which feels a little bit too pricey for me in the future.

Moving on, the sliders were pretty ok, not really wow, and the belly itself had way too much fat to meat ratio for me to properly enjoy/taste the meat. As well, I wasn't sold on the seasoning as much.

The Dragonz bowl was actually pretty weak. Both the Lamb and the Beef were way way too overcooked I felt, the lamb being especially dry. As well, it was overseasoned, leaving my with a bad taste. The chicken was really tasty however, and the slaw and rice was a good combo.

I feel a little dissapointed overall, which is a shame because I really liked their stuff last year.

2014 May 6
I haven't been, but there are two new trucks on Preston. They don't show up on the street food app.

Pizza & Panini Truck - On Preston, at corner of Adeline. Has only been open a week or so.

Street Curry Cart - On Preston, at corner of Carling (in front of CIBC bank).

Old food truck has been re-opened:
Town Fryer - On Preston, in parking lot by Yoga studio.

2014 May 6
The Pizza & Panini truck was stationed in Westboro last year (empty lot beside the LCBO)...Preston St is their new location.

twitter.com/whatthetruckott

2014 May 6
So I asked on Twitter and the Street Curry truck is the truck formerly known as Olive Green (who didn't get up and running last year as planned.)

2014 May 6
They just joined twitter: @StreetsideCurry

2014 May 6
Excellent, thanks

2014 May 12
There's an "Asian Taco" cart on Bank Street and... I'm not sure. Think it was up around Sparks. Didn't try. $3.50/taco.

2014 May 12
Saw that last week, the lineup was HUGE... anyone tried it, am very very interested in hearing comments?!?

2014 May 13
Tried the Asian taco cart last week. It was decent, not spectacular. As I recall, there were pulled pork and Tibetan beef for "warm" options and a cold chicken & peanut, and vegetarian option on the cold side. Not sure if it's the same menu every day. I tried two pork and one beef. The beef was seasoned ground beef. It had a bit of kick, & was better than the pork which was a bit bland. Both the pork and beef were mixed with a bit of chopped veg (carrot & onion?) and served out of trays that only kept it warm, not hot. The Asian slaw (I believe it had a more authentic name, but I can't recall it) that topped both tacos was good. They sprinked some chopped peanut on as well. You have the choice of peanut sauce or cucumber sauce. I preferred the cucumber, gave it a bit more of a fresh zing. Shells were soft from a bag and there were corn and flour options. I opted for the corn, but would take flour if I go again as I didn't really care for the flavour of the corn, a personal preference and just a mistake on my part. Size-wise, the current trend for tacos is to make them on the small side and this was no exception. I ate the 3 tacos in about 4 minutes. I would estimate 4-5 bites per taco. At $10.50 for the 3 the value wasn't quite there. I would stop there again if there was no line to grab 1 as a snack, but at mealtime I'll go elsewhere.

2014 Aug 1
I went to Pizza E Panini on Preston last week and had a filling plain pizza. It had a little more sauce for my preference, but it was still very good. It was an impulse stop and I only had the $9 cash for the plain pizza. Next time I'll bring a 10 so I can try the prosciutto. I'm sure it will crisp up beautifully in the wood oven.

2014 Oct 3
Caribbean Cruiser is now open at 1533 Merivale Roa (Pennzoil)

www.thecaribbeancruiser.com

2014 Oct 4
Saw that last night when walking but could not read the name. Thanks. I'll check this out next week.

2014 Nov 15
I've been to Caribbean Cruiser a couple of times now. It's pretty good.

2014 Nov 17
Had their veggie roti. It was good but with sweet potato and butternut squash, it's too sweet for me. Replacing one with regular potatoes would be an improvement in my opinion.

2014 Nov 17
Last week of the year for my favourite truck, Angry Dragonz