Food Trucks Offer Convenience And Variety

Posted

Hmmm, what to pick up for dinner — the hubby is craving Greek, the kids want Italian, and you're thinking tacos. How to choose? Don't! You can get them all from local food trucks. Back in the day, when you said food truck, you were probably referring to hot dogs or ice cream. No more. There's something for everyone from a variety of cuisines.

Local staples, like Wingman, are at set locations. You can find others at venues such as Food Truck Tuesdays at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company or at H2 Food Truck Fridays at the corner of East-West Boulevard and Veterans Highway in Millersville.

For our first excursion into the food truck world, the guys in my family voted for a visit to Wingman. Look for the bright green truck just a few miles north of Anne Arundel Community College. We chose an order of Old Bay wings and "hot hot" wings.

It's clear the Old Bay wings were made by someone who lives near the bay and knows how Old Bay wings are supposed to taste. They're hot, but not burn-your-face-off hot. The skin was crispy and the chicken juicy – a delicate balance that many wing places miss. They either have dried-out chicken with crisp skin or moist chicken with soggy skin. This one is just right! The wings are average size – not too small, no larger than usual.

We also tried the sweet Old Bay wings. If you're not an Old Bay fan, you should start with this one, and you'll be well on your way. The wings have a touch of sweetness complemented beautifully by the spice of seasoning. Our 8-year-old was able to eat this wing and loved it because it wasn't overpowering but full of flavor.

The name may be a little deceptive for the XX hot wings. They definitely have a respectable kick — especially if they get on your skin. But if you are really addicted to super spicy sauce, I recommend trying some orders like crybaby or the “death wish.”

Wingman nailed the flavor on the buffalo sauce. If you have a craving for buffalo sauce on crispy, non-mushy wings, this is the place to go. Of course, I love to dip mine in the creamy ranch dressing for that blow-your-mind flavor combination. Like the other wings, these had crispy skin and juicy chicken with a respectable amount of meat.

Now fried pickle fans rejoice. These, my husband said, "are the best fried pickles in the history of fried pickles." It was the most I've seen him struggling with his decision to stay on his keto diet. He kept saying, "One more bite won't hurt,” and dunked the pickles into the flavorful sauce.

Prices here were reasonable - $12 is not bad for 10 wings. An order of pickles was $5.25.

Our next stop was at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company's Tuesday food truck night right before its 4:00pm opening. Vendors were just setting up and opening their windows for orders. It reminded me of a small European market and a carnival without rides. Folks seemed happy, relaxed, and many were sitting at outdoor covered picnic tables while eating and chatting. The smells were intoxicating!

Choosing from the variety of foods offered was difficult. Greek, Mexican, Jamaican, seafood, beef, barbecue, donuts, cupcakes, brick oven pizza, and ice cream were a few of the many options. And they change each week. After strolling for a while, we settled on Greek on the Street, Kooper's Chowhound, and Quinn's Ice.

Greek on the Street is one of the more popular trucks, with folks waiting for the window to open. We ordered a chicken salad and a vegetarian gyro.

We were one of the first customers, and our orders were ready in about 15 minutes. We were impressed with the generous portions. The wrap/gyro was Donald Trump-style, "huge!" The warm, soft and obviously fresh pita burst with veggies – onions, peppers, tomatoes, feta and sauce. I was also surprised to find rice. Not only was it a flavor explosion, but it was super filling. I got two meals out of it.

The chicken salad had large, tender chunks of seasoned chicken served atop fresh greens and cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and served with Greek dressing and warm slices of pita. We were a little disappointed because the olives were missing. We took our food and went home; otherwise, I'm sure that would have been remedied.

The cost of the wrap and salad was about $20.

While I waited, I decided to go for an "Elvis got the blues" burger at Kooper's Chowhound. One of its signature dishes, this one rocked! Thank you very much, Kooper's! This burger was thoroughly enjoyable — a medium-cooked black Angus burger, topped with veggies and applewood-smoked bacon, and Maytag blue cheese. I prefer crisp bacon, but that's OK, I thought as the juices dribbled down my chin. The quality blue cheese made up for limp bacon, giving the burger a tangy bite and elevating the flavor tremendously. I'd get this one again in a heartbeat.

I also ordered sweet potato fries from Kooper's and was pleasantly surprised. It seems challenging to get tasty sweet potato fries these days. Crispy outside and soft on the inside, these were some of the best I think I've ever had.

Kooper's also has the option of building your burgers. Choose a protein including beef, turkey, veggie, bison, wagyu (beef produced in Japan), or lamb, then add your cheese, toppings and condiments. Burgers range from $10 to $15.

While waiting for the Greek food and burger, I visited Quinn's Ice. There's quite an assortment of goodies, and I wanted a cold treat on a warm evening. I picked a pineapple shake before I even realized all of Quinn's offerings were lactose-free. But I wouldn't have noticed. According to their website, Quinn's uses organic vanilla-flavored rice milk as an alternative to milk with lactose.

Planning to just take a sip, I just kept going, and as usual, the shake went down quickly. The cold, sweet pineapple with creamy coconut topping really hit the spot. Not overly thick, but not thin; I did have to sip it fast due to the heat.

There are a lot of unique options at Quinn's. You can choose various toppings to go with soft serve to make a shake. Or, take your pick of soda floats, sundaes, or ice cream sandwiches – featuring chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut, or oatmeal raisin.

My shake was $12.93 and I thoroughly enjoyed it for a summer splurge.

Pace yourself, or you'll find yourself overeating or spending more than you want. It's all so tempting! Remember, you have all summer to explore the many yummy options.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here