The Unvegan

A Bite of The Ludo Truck

May 8th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

We're just doing the Ludo Shuffle.

From the casual diner to the most ardent foodie, everyone who enjoys eating out in LA has heard of Chef Ludo Lefebvre and his LudoBites pop-up restaurants that appear from time to time. Yet, while the LudoBites are impossible to get reservations for (and even when you get reservations, you don’t even pick the times), there is a Ludo Truck that roams around town dishing out Chef Ludo’s fried chicken with no reservations (thinly veiled Anthony Bourdain reference) necessary. During a time in which I was eating a lot of fried chicken, the truck came around my office. Continue Reading»

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Chef Ludo Lefebvre, food trucks, fried chicken, Los Angeles, Ludo Truck, LudoBites, Mobile

Pickled by The Greasy Wiener

April 2nd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hot dogs lurk in this Brisk truck.

On the way to basketball one night, I stumbled upon what appeared to be a food truck festival in a high school parking lot. I am nothing if not a man who takes advantage of such opportunities, so I pulled up and saw what they had to offer. A few of the trucks I had seen and eaten before, but some were new to me. One of these, freakishly painted as a Brisk iced tea ad, had just what I was looking for. Called The Greasy Wiener, this trucked dished out…well…hot dogs, with a side of sexual innuendo. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Chili, food trucks, Hot Dogs, lake balboa, Los Angeles, Mobile

Holy Donut Buns at Da Burger Boss

February 17th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Oh my God the bun is on backwards!

Da Burger Boss is part of the newer wave of food trucks and while they aren’t brand new, they’re still plenty new to me. Their schtick is naming burgers after mob terms like The Strongarm, The Collector and so on. It’s an interesting schtick that has produced some interesting-looking combinations, but the sole reason I found myself waiting for Da Boss was to partake in The Patrolman.

You see, The Patrolman is no ordinary burger. Sure, it’s filled with a half-pound patty, bacon and blue cheese dressing, but after that the burger goes in a frightening and exciting direction. First is the cran-apple reduction, which is not crazy on its own, but when you throw in the grilled glazed donut bun, things get goddamn nuts. Yes, I said a grilled glazed donut bun. I was unsure of how any degree of this would be pulled off and figure it was worth the 9 bucks to find out. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Burgers, Da Burger Boss, donuts, doughnuts, food trucks, hamburgers, Los Angeles, Mobile, north hollywood

Whining About The Wien

October 31st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Wien me a river.

Hot dogs: the edible version of man’s best friend. Genius in conception and pretty easy to do well. But to do a hot dog great takes some skill and some food trucks have taken this easily portable meal to the streets to some success. Up in North Hollywood, The Wien brought its truck over to my office one day and I thought I should give it a try and see if it could compete. Continue Reading»

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food trucks, Hot Dogs, Los Angeles, Mobile, north hollywood, the wien

Unexpected Fruitiness at TnB BBQ

August 17th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

What the what sauce?

On a one-night bender, I found myself facing down three strange taco trucks on Main Street in Santa Monica. None looked familiar and none looked particularly amazing. But it was 2 am in Los Angeles, when food options are usually limited to subpar diners and…well…taco trucks. The trucks here seemed to be some sort of missing link between gourmet and roach coaches and so after much circling we wound up at TnB BBQ. Continue Reading»

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food trucks, Korean, Los Angeles, main street, Mexican, Mobile, Santa Monica, tnb bbq

Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck

August 16th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Looks classy...

In the grand explosion of gourmet food trucks, tacos have found themselves mixed with all sorts of craziness, from Korean BBQ to fish and grapes to kung pao chicken. Yet, in all this food truck excitement, the bastard cousin/side dish of the taco has been left behind. Yeah, I’m talking ’bout Shaft…err…nachos. But along came The Nacho Truck to remedy this sad predicament. Before this truck arrived at my office, I knew nothing of it, so my expectations were pretty low. Yet, as someone who doesn’t keep nearly enough track of food happenings in LA anymore, it is certainly possible that The Nacho Truck had simply flown/driven under my radar. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, food trucks, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, nachos, north hollywood, the nacho truck

No Veggies at No Tomatoes!

August 1st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

No tomatoes in here.

By name and color, No Tomatoes! has the makings of an amazing food truck. The name implies an amazing lack of the vegetable known as the tomato (I don’t care if it’s anatomically a fruit, so is a cucumber and you don’t see anyone calling that a fruit) and the orange coloration that enshrouds the truck makes it look beautiful. Oh and if the name doesn’t give it away, it serves up Indian food. But hidden in this supposed gem of a truck is deception. For there is one dish at No Tomatoes! that actually contains tomatoes: Tikka Masala. So while they were serving up lies with Tikka Masala, I looked to other options. Continue Reading»

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food trucks, Indian, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, no tomatoes!, north hollywood

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls on Tires

June 27th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

One if by sea, two if by truck.

When Great Balls on Tires first debuted last year, I was concerned that such a name for a meatball truck was a bit of a gimmick. Yet, now that GBOT has lasted through the middle of this year, I felt it was time I tried them out. When I walked up to the truck to see what they had to offer, I found there were only a few sets of balls to choose from. Yet, more than one of these balls looked attractive to me. Unfortunately, all balls came in sets of two, so I had to limit myself to only one ball type. Continue Reading»

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Beef, food trucks, great balls on tires, kobe beef, Los Angeles, meat, meat balls, Mobile, north hollywood, Sandwiches

Getting Whizzed at Bera’s Custom Cheese Steaks

March 9th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Love the maize and blue colors.

One day outside of my work, a new truck appeared. It was called Bera’s Custom Cheese Steaks and since the best cheese steak I’ve ever eaten came from a food truck, I thought Bera’s was definitely worth a try. They have a surprisingly robust menu for a cheese steak truck, ranging from Thai Chicken Steak to Stromboli Steak. But as good as some of these looked, I was thinking more about the “Custom” in their truck name. Continue Reading»

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Bera's Custom Cheese Steaks, Cheese Steaks, food trucks, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, north hollywood

A Late Night with Kosher Grill on Wheels

December 16th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Does this look Kosher to you?

On my way home from the bar one night, I was unsurprisingly jonesing for some grub. The trouble was that I was driving through the area of Pico and Robertson, which isn’t exactly known to be a late-night food hub. But just when I thought my snack options were going to be limited to whatever leftovers I could find in my fridge, I saw a shiny beacon of hope that seemed to be a food truck. When I pulled over to explore, I found that although not exactly a truck, I had stumbled upon some sort of mobile food purveyor. It was called Kosher Grill on Wheels and a schwarma sounded like heaven to me (and with any luck, eating Kosher would bring me one step closer to that heaven). Continue Reading»

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Jewish, Kosher, kosher grill on wheels, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, Pico-Robertson, schwarma

Rants and Raves

Vegans Kill Babies

April 4th, 2011

Don't worry baby, I won't let the vegans get to you.

No, this isn’t a dead baby joke. If it were, the title might say something like, “What’s the difference between a truck full of bowling balls and a truck full of dead babies?” (You can’t unload the bowling balls with a pitch fork) Sadly, this is no such joke and perfectly good baby child has perished at the hands of unfit vegan parents.

Going Global at Plan Check

Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

‘Mobile’

A Bite of The Ludo Truck

Pickled by The Greasy Wiener

Holy Donut Buns at Da Burger Boss

Whining About The Wien

Unexpected Fruitiness at TnB BBQ

Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck

No Veggies at No Tomatoes!

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls on Tires

Getting Whizzed at Bera’s Custom Cheese Steaks

A Late Night with Kosher Grill on Wheels

Rants and Raves

Vegans Kill Babies

Going Global at Plan Check

What is this?»

Unvegan Friends