This Saturday, August 27, from 6pm to 9pm, Sigel’s will host a food truck festival at their Greenville Avenue location (just north of Lover’s Lane). It’s shaping up to be a hot event. Attending vendors include Gandolfo’s NY Deli, Jack’s Chowhound, Nammi Vietnamese, Ruthie’s Rolling Cafe, 3 Men and a Taco, Enticed Shaved Ice, The Bomb Fried Pies, Trailercakes, and Mr. Cool Ice Cream. Sigel’s will have a craft beer and wine tasting in the store at the same time. An important note: You can’t go into the store, buy a 6-pack, and consume it onsite.
I’ve put together a guide to help you decide how to plan your taste tour. For this event, I’d recommend going with a 4-player team and share. While most trucks accept credit cards, I recommend bringing cash–lots of $1s and $5s. Parking will be tough, so carpool or take DART. There is a station 1 1/2 blocks away.
Jump for a groovy how-to-sample-without-bloating guide.
If you bring the whole family, head straight to Jack’s Chowhound. It’s menu is the closest to being kid- or teen-friendly. If under age 10, go for the meatball sliders. For the teens, pulled pork grilled cheese or cheeseburgers. Add fries and everyone will be happy.
If no kids, start with Gandolfo’s NY Deli. Get a Rockefeller Reuben and ask them to quarter it to share among your group of 4. If you eat one of these on your own, well, you might be done for a while. While you savor the pastrami, walk over to Nammi Vietnamese. You’ve got a choice here. The banh mi’s are big, so get them quartered if you have a larger group. Or get each person can order a taco; they have the same ingredients the banh mi. Although the rice bowl might normally be a good idea, save it for another day. It’s a lot packed into one bowl and you’ll embarrass yourself with the mess you’ll make. At Nammi, you must get the sweet mint basil lemonade. In 100+ degree temperature on an asphalt parking lot, you will be thankful.
Go inside, cool down, and tour through Sigel’s wine and craft beer samplings. Sigel’s tells me they must close the store by 9pm, but the trucks will keep on serving until they run out of food.
Venture back outside and visit the newer entrants: Ruthie’s and 3 Men and a Taco. So far Ruthie’s has only done private parties and festival-style events. 3 Men and a Taco debuted their tacos at Taste of Dallas in July and just started rolling the streets over the last few days. Ruthie’s is doing grilled cheese sandwiches of all types. Take your group, split a sandwich and report back. Pair them with a taco or two from 3 Men and a Taco and your entree courses are done.
Let’s move on to the dessert course. Your options are Enticed Shaved Ice that we profiled earlier this week, Mr. Cool Ice Cream, The Bomb Fried Pies, or Trailercakes.
Start with Enticed first. Share a regular size for each two of you. Move on to The Bomb Fried Pies and split one of the fruit fried pies (apple, peach, cherry, or apricot) or jump directly to a fried guacamole pie. Get a couple extra and save for Sunday morning breakfast. If you are a fan of soft serve ice cream, move on to Mr. Cool.
End your night with Trailercakes. Get several flavors and either eat them on the way home or throughout the week.
That’s a total of nine (9) food trucks. The two veterans, Green House Truck and City Street Grille, have been around long enough that they book private events well in advance. Unfortunately, they were both booked for August 27. Crazy Sisters was originally scheduled , but could not line up their Dallas permit in time. Ssahm Korean BBQ is notably absent from the roster, but can often be found parking near a Centennial.
I look forward to either seeing you there or reading your comments!
