Food Trucks - Woodruff Arts Center & 10th at Peachtree

A few months ago my friend Elizabeth posted on Facebook that she had used her lunch hour to mosey on down to the Woodruff Arts Center and have lunch by way of the latest craze, food trucks. Naturally I was jealous as I work about 1 hour south of Atlanta and couldn't have lunch at the food trucks if I wanted. C'est la vie

Then my friend Chanel had to go and post on FB that she dined at the same food trucks on Thursday after some toddler event at the High Museum of Art. This makes me HATE my commute even more, as if i needed a reason.

Finally it was the last straw when my friend Shannon mentioned that after watching an episode of Chopped she hunted down the winning chef at 10th & Peachtree and bought some of her goodies.

I had had enough! I had to get myself to those food trucks come hell or high water. Good thing the next Thursday I didn't have to work due to summer break. Food trucks! That is what I shall do, right after i go to the gym.

My first concern was where to park. I hate to pay for parking; but oh well, it is all about the food. First I went to 10th & Peachtree and paid $6 to park in a lot across from the Federal Bldg and Empire State South. Done!

This food "area" as I shall call it, has tents, not trucks. Well that is not entirely true, there were two trucks including one from Decatur's own Marlay, but they were across the street and seemed to be out of place.

I love The Marlay, but i can walk there from my house and was there specifically for The Hungry Peach's pimento cheese, thanks to the recommendation of my friend Shannon. I couldn't be bothered with the King of Pops yet, or Taqueria's Pop up Chef event, I just needed some pimento cheese, and i got it. A small container (you know what i am talking about) was $5 and I was on my way.

Hum, i just paid $6 for parking and plan on eating a day's worth of calories in one sitting so maybe i should walk from 10th to 14th? Okay but it is 97 freaking degrees and even hotter since i am surrounded by all this asphalt. Whatever, I'll walk...

A few (several) hot sweaty blocks later I am at my destination. As I am walking i remember how much i miss working in the city. I also remember how sometimes i forget that i live in a city because i never come downtown. Alas, look at all these suits, and single young guys, and women wearing skirts and heels, am i out of my element or in it?

I'm too hot! sweat is dripping down my back. but hell, let's EAT!

Since i did not know what i was here for other than the food, of course, i spent the first several minutes scouring the area for what i wanted to sink my teeth into. I got there a little after noon and the place was packed and there were already long lines at Tex's Taco, Yumbi and The Pickle. WOW of Decatur fame also had a line and I decided that would be my first choice.

They specialize in arepas (Venezuelan tacos as they explain them) and have four types. I chose the beef and cheddar and went on my way. Like a good girl I ate this while standing in line at the Pickle truck.

The arepa was nice, although i was not a fan of the corn cake part, i could certainly taste why their famous sauce is famous. I could have just eaten that. Which i ended up doing. I actually threw most of the corn cake away and noshed on the beef, cheddar and famous sauce.

Now onto the Pickle....

The crab cakes seemed to be their specialty as they were offering it as a salad and a sandwich, so I chose the sandwich. I'm sick and damn tired of lettuce, ugh. I also got a homemade pickle because... well, this is the Pickle Truck after all.

Being civilized and all i decided to sit down in the little shade i could find and eat this sandwich. It is served with Lay's potato chips which are useless in an arena like this, as i am here for food, not chips, but nevertheless i stuffed those in my purse for a later date.

The crab cake was good. I could see pieces of crab in the cake and it was not mayonnaisey, which is good because i loathe mayonnaise. But the star of the show was their tomato remoulade sauce. It had just the right spice and i found myself removing most of the bun and sopping up every last bit of sauce i could find. The pickle? not sure if this is their claim to fame or if they just like the name pickle, but i did not like the pickle. In fact, it is still in my fridge in hopes of being eaten someday.

Well, that is done, on to another truck. First I decide on Yumbi because I have heard so much about it and it seems to be popular based on the line.

As I stand in line, sweating profusely, wondering why I thought this was a good idea. I remember I have to be careful about Asian ingredients as I am allergic to peanuts. I go back and forth thinking I'll just ask when i get to the front of the line and thinking this is a waste of time. Finally I decide it is not worth the potential hospital visit or casket purchase.

So on to the tried and true. Tacos. At first I remarked, snore... Tacos are everywhere, I make tacos, and tacos are old news. But when in Rome. These seem to be popular so hey, I'll try them out. Now sweat is running down my back and when i hear the guys behind me talking about coming back to the food trucks in the fall, I think, wow! why didn't I think of that! Genius! But I'm too hot to talk, food please.

It is only 97 degrees or more like 120 on this asphalt. Oh well, two tacos please. The chicken with grilled onions and the Pastor Taco are my choices. The guy taking the orders was great and the tacos were just tacos. By this point i was ready to go, so maybe that was why i was underwhelmed, but they were just tacos. The grilled onions were really sweated onions, the pastor was ok and the chicken was chicken. Nothing special here, but good... ok... if i worked in midtown a good excuse not to bring a lunch.

Now it's time to separate the women from the girls and get dessert. My choices are Westside Cremery and Yum Yum Cupcakes. I don't want a cupcake because 1. their flavors don't excite me and 2. i had two huge ones from Gigi's on Tuesday.

So onto Westside to get a scoop of ice cream. As I am standing in line thinking about how many times I am going to have to walk around the block to work off these calories i hear a guy order peanut butter ice cream and realize Danger! Danger! Rather than asking the server if she uses a different scoop or each ice cream or how she washes the scoop I decide to make my way back to 10th & Peachtree and get  the chocolate sea salt Popsicle from King of Pops I saw earlier. Yes, there is a KoP at Woodruff, but i had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to try this chocolate sea salt flavor. The day is here.

As I am walking back I was wondering who else would take a day off work to eat at food trucks? Oh well, bring on that Popsicle. And another container of pimento cheese please. Yep, i did it. I realized somewhere along the way that one container was not enough and boy was i glad i got that second container. They were BOTH gone within a week. You know they are perishable and all.

Two thumbs up for the chocolate sea salt pop and for the pimento cheese. It is different, but good different.

By the way, i sampled the pimento cheese with my finger while walking down Peachtree. Then ate the rest the same way standing in front of my fridge (don't you know there are no calories that way). You should do the same. It tastes better that way.

The Verdict: The food trucks were an adventure and if had the pleasure of working in or near downtown it would be a great escape from the office and something that is very citified! But it is hot as hell right now and i'm not going anywhere near those trucks until the temperatures are about 20 degrees cooler. I had to come home and take a nap after all that heat and sun! My Irish self was not amused.

My rankings:
1. Chocolate Sea Salt Pop (and i don't really like chocolate)... think yummy jello pudding pop, but  refined
2. Hungry Peach Pimento Cheese (thanks Shannon)
3. Crab Cake Sandwich - The Pickle Truck- really the tomato remoulade
4. Arepa- WOW truck
5. Tacos- Tex Tacos

I was glad i took the time for this little adventure, even though it was hot. Did i mention that? But even more excited when i found out later in the week that Yumbi and The Pickle were finalist for the Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network. Cool-

By the way, all the servers/order takers/people at the windows of the trucks were great! They all seems to be having a great time and competing in their own episode of the Great Atlanta Food Truck Craze.

Happy Eating!

Oh and thank Elizabeth, Shannon & Chanel for their marketing skills !