I admit, I've always secretly longed to own a food truck. The thought of my own self-contained business, zipping around town, feeding the masses and making people happy, what's not to love about that?
Of course, as someone who has many years of experience in the restaurant industry and is part of a successful seasonal food business, I also know the reality of it, long hours, unreliable income, dealing with those people who aren't always so happy...probably the reason I don't have a food truck right now. But I can still enjoy all the delicious eating that food trucks bring, and Anchorage has developed quite the impressive food truck scene over the years.
It started slowly and hesitantly, because it's difficult to operate food trucks in Alaska as more than a seasonal business. The popularity and expansion of Anchorage's Weekend Market helped grow the notion of mobile food units, and over the last few years, we've seen food trucks popping up all over town!
B and I decided to check out the Spenard Food Truck Carnival this past Saturday night. This was actually the last weekend food truck carnival they'd be hosting, as the seasonal K Street Eats opens in May. Located downtown on the corner of K and 8th Streets, K Street Eats is open Mon-Fri and for some special weekend events. There will be room for several trucks there, a nice range of food choices for any palate.
We got there right at 5pm, when it opened. It was a smaller event with just five trucks there. These included Yeti Dogs, Tasty Traveler, Sa Se Bon, Main Event Catering and my personal favorite, Babycakes Cupcakes. After perusing the menus, we decided to start with rolls from Main Event.
Food trucking is just part of Main Event Catering. They also have a full catering business and party rentals. They do weddings, corporate events, you name it. Their menu had quite a few items, maybe too many for a food truck (I've found the most successful ones seem to keep it to 3-4 items, max. Fast and simple.) and I was a little disappointed they were already out of brie for their bacon-brie-jam grilled sandwiches, considering it was only 530p when we approached the window. We decided to go with their popular "rolls", a variation of eggroll offering a variety of ingredients. One of Saturday's choices was the "rueben", basically a rueben sandwich deep fried in eggroll wrappers!
You get a lot of bang for your buck, very good portions and it was more than enough for B and I to share. We agreed that it was good, but the rueben flavor got a little overpowered by the deep frying. It was a tasty, gooey treat though and we ate it all!
Next up, I wanted to see what Tasty Traveler had to offer. Their menu was mainly tacos and burritos, with your choice of meats and fillings. We got the chimichurri steak taco and a citrus chicken taco.
Both were good, decent portions and had a nice flavor. The chicken had a nice little citrus zest. B said the steak was good, but a little cold. I imagine it can be difficult to keep temperatures consistent with mobile eateries, and again, I think it might be easier for some places to stick to a few menu items rather than trying to please the world.
The line at Sa Se Bon was too long...
So even though I was intrigued with the thought of some authentic Cajun food, we decided to move along to dessert.
Babycakes Cupcakes has become a well-known and popular place to get some of the most creative and delicious cupcakes in town. To be honest, I've become a bit obsessed with them (but not in a creepy stalker way....okay maybe a little...) and I usually gravitate toward their truck whenever I see it at an Anchorage event. They offer catering and do Pop up shops around town as well, so you never know where you might find a delectable cupcake! They could be anywhere, folks, just anywhere!
We took a few to go, and headed back home. From top left we have the Unicorn, Purple Rain, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Cherry Blossom. All beautiful, perfect and oh so yummy!
There are more and more food trucks showing up around Anchorage every day, and I anticipate this summer will mean even more options to get your mobile food fix. In addition to the K Street Eats location, there is a food truck lunch every Thursday in the Chilkoot's parking lot in my own lovely downtown Spenard. You'll see food trucks this summer at many local Anchorage events, from Juneteenth to Pride to the 4th of July. Events are often listed on Facebook or in the ADN calendar, as well as on the websites of those trucks that have an online presence.
For authentic, unusual and always memorable food, remember to support local businesses and when you're feeling hungry, consider seeking out some food truck eats. Great food, great prices and great to grab-n-go!
Sunday, April 23, 2017
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