Thursday, April 23, 2009

Bandwagon (bandcart?)

Good grief this food cart thing is getting ridiculous. Street food, food carts, street vendors... whatever you want to call it... this type of food has been lacking in SF, a thought that I've mentioned before and have felt for a long time (long before MSF came around). The concept is obviously nothing new, and if you ever go to other big cities (outside of LA), you'll see non-taco-truck food vendors everywhere.

Well, it's finally happened. I'm sure the recession has a lot to do with this sudden surge (less money = people want cheaper food, people can't afford renting restaurant space, people need extra cash, etc), and maybe the whole immediacy of the twitter craze, but I think the bigger influence is MSF. I just hope this fad is about serving good food, and not just about being hip and catering to the Dolores Park scene. If only! I'm sure there will be plenty more popping up around the city, but here's the running list:

Magic Curry Kart

Creme Brulee Cart
Amuse Bouche Guy (this guy doesn't have any permits = Amuse Douche? har har that was cleverrr)
*Correction* Apparently none of these guys have permits, and there's also a spring roll guy now.

Non-cart "street food"
John's Snack and Deli: I actually ate here a few days ago*, and eater finally got word today
Kitchenette
Kasa (it's been around for awhile and actually is a restaurant, but they've been having special street food nights featuring different regions of India)

* John's Snack and Deli has been around Financial for awhile, serving up "home-cooked" Korean food for cheap, like dok boki, bibimbap, etc. After LA's Kogi cart exploded, John and wife followed suit and started making kimchi burritos and tacos. I had both (pictured above), and let's just say that it wasn't for me. I haven't tried LA's Kogi, but I'm going to assume it's better than this. Don't get me wrong, John's Snack and Deli is great, but I don't think kimchi and cheese mix very well.

1 comment:

margaretmit said...

people (including srini) actually wait for 1 hour for the korean taco truck in LA. srini says they're all hipsters, and he loves it.