Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Gut Wagons .....

That's what we called them in the old days, because pretty much it made your gut hurt if you ate there.  Usually filled with week old sandwiches and cans of warm soda, they would come around at lunch time and park next to the office building.

If you were REAL adventuresome, you could try one of the Mexican food wagons.  Way back when, there was no such thing as Health Department inspections, nor would you really have any idea what kind of meat you were eating on that taco.

Nowadays, it's a whole different story.  Food trucks are the rage.  Especially since the Food Truck Races have been on TV, showing the amazing food real chefs can cook in teeny tiny spaces.

THIS is the Tucson Food Truck Roundup.  I happened upon them on Facebook, liking them so I could get notifications of when and where they would set up.  I was hoping to find some of the same amazing food.  When I found out they were going to be in a park near me, I held off on dinner.
Although a little difficult to find in this crazy narrow-streeted neighborhood, I finally found a parking spot half up on a curb.  I was lucky.  It was to become so crowded people were parking in the middle of the street.  Surrounding this little park were lots of trees and the trucks.  People set up tables, chairs and blankets.  I brought nothing.
I checked out every one before deciding on dinner.  This is the wood fired pizza truck menu, THE most popular.  The Cowgirl sounded perfect.  Trouble was, there was a line 25 feet long, meaning it was about an hour's wait ... in 100 degree heat .... with no chair.
I finally settled on a Cubano sandwich from Gigi's Peruvian Fusion.  Kind of like Tex-Mex, everything was just a mix up of flavors.  With only two people in front of me, I figured I had it made.
As I turned around to walk away, my timing couldn't have been better.  There were at least 20 people in line behind me.  Pretty much everything on the menu was $10 and included french fries.
I was not overly excited about the presentation.  With no place to sit and becoming overheated, I hot footed it to my Jeep where I sat in lovely air conditioning with the engine running.  In spite of it's looks, it really was pretty tasty.  Pulled pork, cheese, pickles and real cuban bread stacked on some pretty good fries.  Not the gourmet meal I was hoping for, but it was good nonetheless.
What I REALLY wanted was something from PinUp Pastries.  Voted number one in Tucson, she had some amazing treats.  Get there early if you want some Jack Daniels cheesecake or to-die-for cupcakes.  She opened early at 4:30 and by 5:30 she was sold out.
The Baskin Robbins trailer was not there, but another soft serve ice cream truck with the most fabulous looking turtle sundae was.  I was stuffed, so I passed.  I'm having ice cream and cupcakes for dinner at their next meeting.  They set up here once a month ... perfect splurge timing.

Next time I'll bring a chair and six bottles of water.  By the time I left, the entire park was full of kids playing games and people enjoying the outdoors.  If you can find a food truck roundup near you, it's worth checking out.

Yesterday was a day of miscellaneous repairs and mishaps.  Just another normal day!!  By the way, if you are interested in some funny writing, Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame has a mother ... yup really ... that sent him some text messages he posted on his Facebook page.  She was always talking about his "little Facebook friends".  

After Mike posted those messages, people suggested she write a book.  And so she did in about two weeks.  Instantly, she had her OWN Facebook page called About My Mother and 67,000 "little Facebook friends".
It's full of funny stories about growing up a horse fanatic with a mother who ruled the roost and put on airs.  20,000 copies sold out in less than a week.  She was totally shocked (at 80 years old) and is now writing another book while Mike figures out how to get 20,000 more books printed.  

Check out her Facebook page About My Mother ... she posts funny stories all the time ... like when she left "Old Blue" (her purse) in the shopping cart at Walmart, causing her husband to check out every trash can around.  People thought he was homeless and looking for food.  She was terribly embarrassed.  Great stories!!






10 comments:

  1. Never heard of a Food Truck Roundup, what a great idea. So I googled it for our area in Florida...they are called "Food Truck Rally"....I like Roundup much better.

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    1. The truck rally in Florida are quite popular here on the Central Orlando an East Coast, Once a month they usually have a bigger big get together
      Everyone of them are on Facebook or Twitter some have regular site that they sit in and sell food
      Saturdays and Sunday or during something special deal travel to different areas once you go to one take a picture of their Facebook profile Or they'll tell you where their set up there's usually two or three together at a time

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    2. Dave, you can get some fabulous food on SOME trucks. Some maybe not so much but always worth a try. I bet you could even find a Greek truck where you live!!

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    3. You are lucky to have them in your neighborhood Ed. I am always looking for the Grilled Cheese Truck!!

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  2. Back in the day when a food truck parked outside my office we called it the Roach Coach. Oh, how far we have come!

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    1. Exactly Linda ... because they were usually full of roaches! Ha!! Not so much any more with the advent of the Health Department. Yes we have come a long way!!

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  3. Food trucks are pretty good it's not like the old days whether Ford pick up truck used to drive by and sell out of the back those days are well I won't say they're gone but they're not the best
    Some big cities have areas set aside for food truck Court
    I know you're not gonna drive there but Portland Oregon I think has one of the biggest 7day a week open air foodcourt have ever seeing it covers a full city block you don't go there from 12 to 1 office lunch
    And you cannot think of ethnic or American food that's not being sold their
    Most food truck chef/proprietor probably doesn't make enough money to begin with to open up a restaurant they go that route come to find out they like it better
    If you go next month they say they open up at 11 o'clock you need to be there by 10
    You'll probably find as the weather cools down there will be more of them and more food choices

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    1. Same goes for San Francisco .... they have some wonderful Chef run trucks that serve amazing food. I'm sure there will be more around here in the winter. Only the die-hards will work through the summer!!

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  4. These days I have found the food trucks are pretty decent, and been to a few in Mexico. Not sure what we are eating but always tasty.
    Interesting story about Peggy Rowe and her writings.

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    1. I want to try the Grilled Cheese Truck ... that and the Mac N Cheese. Some of my all time favorite comfort foods. Maybe in the wintertime more will come out.

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