No, this isn’t LA’s new mobile petshop, although that is a genius idea that someone should really get on. Instead, it is another one of LA’s constantly expanding collection of mobile food trucks. Dogtown Dogs specializes in hot dogs, which isn’t entirely creative considering the existence of Let’s Be Frank. Despite this, I tracked them down one night after hearing some pretty good things about their dogs. As with most mobile eateries, I ended up finding them parked near the Brig on Abbot Kinney.

Upon looking at the menu, I instantly knew that this was going to be an improvement upon Let’s Be Frank. Each hot dog was all beef, which is always preferable, but two delicious-looking unvegan dogs stood out to me. The first was the Morning Commute, which was wrapped in applewood smoked bacon and topped with a fried egg. The other one was the Trailer Trash, which was topped with chili and Fritos. I briefly toyed with the idea of combining these to make the ultimate death dog, but then my arteries yelled at me. Instead, I just ordered the Morning Commute and decided that if it was good enough, I would return later to test out the Trailer Trash. I handed over six bucks, which was cheaper than the vegetable-laden dogs, but still a bit expensive for my taste. It’s hard not to think of hot hot dogs as cheap food when you are used to Costco.

It took a surprisingly long time for the hot dog to be prepared, but I wouldn’t want to hurry bacon. Once it was finished, the dog looked pretty nice and happy to not be fighting against vegetables. I bit in and was also pretty happy. The bacon was nice and thick, but still crispy, while the dog had a nice snap to it when you bit in. I guess that’s why they are called “snap dogs.” The unfortunate part about the hot dog was that the egg wasn’t exactly made to fit in the shape of the dog. It was the regular semi-ovular shape of a fried egg, but that meant my first couple bites were egg-free. When I did reach that egg, the hot dog improved greatly. And then once my teeth pierced the yolk and sent the gooey insides running down the dog, I had a new dipping sauce!

Upon finishing my hot dog, I was pretty happy. This new truck didn’t do anything amazing or break any new ground, but they figured out how to make a pretty good hot dog, albeit in a somewhat costly way. Now if they could only figure out how to stretch the egg across the entire hot dog, that would be a great new trick for a relatively new dog.

The newest food truck to roll out onto the streets of Los Angeles will be Frysmith and their official launch is none other than tonight at 6:30 at the Brig was November 20th. I haven’t had a chance to test out their offerings yet, but what I’ve seen on their website looks pretty impressive. I did catch up with owners Erik and Brook to get a few questions in.

Check out the interview below.

Unvegan: First off, what took you so long? I was beginning to think your truck was an elaborate hoax.

Frysmith: Basically, the main hold-up was that our builder drastically oversold their finish time. That was compounded by some crazy random hold-ups like the truck breaking down the night before a health department appointment that we then had to reschedule.

Unvegan: What was your inspiration for starting a fry truck? Deep fryers in a moving vehicle sounds dangerous to me.

Frysmith: The fryers have lids attached, which is a must seeing as you can hear the oil sloshing around when you turn. The inspiration is pretty much that I really like fries. And Brook and I have always wanted to own our own food business.

Unvegan: What are the best fries you ever had, aside from your own truck?

Frysmith: That’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child, but at the moment what comes to mind are the pommes frites Brook and I had at Bouchon in Las Vegas last year.

Unvegan: For a totally unnatural city in the middle of the desert, it is amazing how good the food can be in Vegas. I see that you have chili fries on your menu, but for some reason, there are onions on the fries. Can this be remedied to fit my dietary restrictions?

Frysmith: Onion removal for dietary restrictions or religious concerns are not a problem.

Unvegan: Hmmm I wonder if Unveganism can become a legit religion…You also have vegan chili fries, which may be offensive to some of my followers or disciples. Do you have plans for any sort of unvegan specials? I’m thinking some Montreal-style Poutine topped with steak and bacon. Those would be some fries I’d love to get my hands on.

Frysmith: Oh, there’ll be a lot of un-veganation going on. We’re definitely doing a poutine special, but I hadn’t considered putting bacon on it until I read that question. And you know what they say, everything’s better with bacon.

Unvegan: So so true. Sweet potato fries are all the rage right now, but what do you think is the next step in french fry evolution?

Frysmith: The fried rutabaga is going to take the world by storm! Actually, I don’t know what the next fry craze is, but fried parsnips are pretty tasty.

Unvegan: Damn, I was hoping taro or ube for something both purple and fried, but that’s why I am not in the fry making business. Thanks for your time and good luck!

As you can see, Frysmith looks to have fries for just about everyone. They’ll be launching at the Brig tonight from 6:30-10:00 They launched on November 20th and can now be found on the streets of LA. I can’t make it that early, but would love to hear some preliminary feedback.

The highly anticipated Grilled Cheese Truck finally rolled into town tonight and due to my frightening obsession with cheese, I made sure to greet the truck. In the tradition of other great ks before it, the unveiling took place at The Brig on Abbot Kinney. I arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled 8:00 start time and was shocked to find the parking lot at The Brig empty except for the shiny orange truck. Apparently, I was to be the first in line!

Within a few minutes, other people formed a line behind me, assuaging my fears that this was some sort of well-coordinated, but cruel joke played on me. As 8:00 rolled around, someone asked when the truck would open, only to discover they weren’t really expecting to open until 8:30. Patient and unwilling to give up my prime spot, I continued to wait. I was glad I didn’t leave, because my hanging around gave me the chance to meet Zach Behrens, editor for LAist. He gave me a little interview, which should probably be popping up on LAist soon. But back to the truck.

Finally, 8:30 arrived and one of the proprietors of the truck came outside to announce that technical difficulties were hampering the preparations of the mighty grilled cheese. One of the griddles wasn’t working, so with heavy hearts and even heavier anticipation, we realized we would have to wait even longer.

Then, something magical happened. Rather than face an impatient mob, the workers (including someone’s elderly and incredibly sweet parents) started handing out samples of what they could prepare on a single partially-functioning griddle. First came the soups, which I politefully declined since they were vegetables like tomato and pumpkin. Then came the tater tots. These were nice and crispy, but a little bit too salty. It definitely saved me the trouble of having to order my own side of tater tots.

As more time passed, they brought out the mother of all samples, the Cheesy Mac and Rib. This little delight was filled with mac and cheese, plus BBQ pork. In two bites I was finished and knew I would have to order a full sandwich with that.

Finally, around 9:30, a mechanic came and went, signifying the real melt was about to begin. I sauntered over to the window to finally place my order. Although my Cheesy Mac and Ribs sample didn’t have carmelized onions, the menu said it came with them, so I first ordered one of those without the onions. Unfortunately at some point between dishing out the samples and taking my order, they had combined the onions with the meat, creating a concoction unfit for an unvegan. As a replacement, they suggested bacon, and I didn’t argue. In addition, I ordered a regular cheddar grilled cheese with bacon and a dessert grilled cheese, which was made of a roasted banana puree, Nutella and marshmallow. The woman taking my order asked how many people were in my party and I laughed as I told her all that food was for me.

The bill came out to just under $20, which was a little sad, but then I did order three entire sandwiches. The strange part was that the prices didn’t include sales tax. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a mobile eatery that didn’t just include sales tax in the prices, and a fear that dealing with copious amounts of change will hinder the efficiency of their operation. Nonetheless, my order was in and although I was first in line, I was given the number 6 and a coupon for half off next time to thank me for waiting.

When my number was called, I dashed over to grab my sandwiches. They were packed in convenient little foil bags, which I rapidly tore open to begin eating. I started with the Cheesy Mac and Bacon. It was pretty darn good, but not as good as that onion-free sample of Cheesy Mac and Rib I tested out earlier. After taking that sandwich down, I moved on to the Cheddar and Bacon, which was grilled perfectly, but couldn’t compare to having mac and cheese in a sandwich. Finally came the dessert melt. This was the least tasty of the lot. The bread was kind of dry and the insides were a bit overwhelming with sweetness (yes, it is possible).

Overall, the sandwiches showed that the chefs had a great understanding of how to use the griddle. Each sandwich was grilled to a crispy perfection and I know that despite the relatively minor maintenance issues, the grilled cheese truck has a bright future on the streets of LA. Especially if they can separate their caramelized onions from the BBQ Pork!

A little more than eight months after my first taste of Kogi BBQ, I found myself once again standing in the parking lot of The Brig, eager to take on another food truck inspired by the fusion of Asian and Mexican food. If so much hadn’t changed in the food truck scene of LA since that first taste of Kogi, I would have felt some intense deja vu. Since the arrival of Kogi, it feels like a new food truck is unrolled every week. From the architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches of Coolhaus to the beautiful women running Baby’s Badass Burger truck, I almost feel like LA offers more food on wheels than it does in restaurants, with more coming. Nonetheless, the official opening of the Vietnamese and Mexican fusion Nom Nom Truck was exciting for me, and I made my way to The Brig in Venice to see if I would have a new friend on wheels.

I arrived before the truck and was happy to find only a short line had

formed. When the truck did arrive, it took about fifteen minutes to get the thing parked correctly. While this was happening, the Fishlips sushi truck arrived to crash the Nom Nom party. Apparently this wasn’t an exclusive event and Fishlips knew there would be a lot of hungry people waiting in line at The Brig. Undaunted by Fishlips, the truck found its place and started preparing for the hungry horde of foodies that had gathered. I glanced back to see that Elijah Wood had taken a spot in the ever-growing line

behind me. This only made me more excited, for it isn’t every day you get to eat the same dinner as Frodo Baggins.

Although the menu on the truck had been placed far from the ordering window, I had determined what I would eat by the time I made my way to

the front of the line. I decided on the Lemongrass Chicken Tacos and made sure to mention Thrillist, since they were giving away either a free taco or spring roll to the first fifty people to mention Thrillist. I asked the nice lady what came on the tacos and she said “Chicken, carrots, jicama, some sort of pickles and cilantro.” True to myself, I asked for mine without the veggies or pickles, then waited to see the result.

When my tacos were ready, they appeared a little bare. I know I ordered without the veggies, but I expected some sort of sauce on it all. That said, there was no lack of chicken. I started eating and was pretty happy. The chicken was pretty good and the cilantro was just kind of there. Luckily the chicken had a little kick, which made sauce a little less necessary. I just couldn’t escape the feeling that without those strange

vegetables on the taco, I was eating something all-too similar to a regular taco truck taco. Perhaps for people who don’t follow the unvegan way, the taco with veggies will be an eye-opening experience. Unfortunately this was not so for me. Perhaps I will have to try again and order one of their Banh Mi sandwiches, but unlike when I first tried Kogi, I don’t feel an immediate need to return to the Nom Nom Truck.

Over the weekend, a friend of mine enlightened me to the existence of Kogi BBQ, a Korean taco truck. The very concept of this blew my mind, in a good way. The truck’s whereabouts can be tracked via Twitter. Now I’m not entirely sure what Twitter is (perhaps a polite way to say twister without offending people with lisps?), but we found out that the truck would be outside of a bar called The Brig on Abbot Kinney that night.

We set off, and although most of my friends were looking forward to the bar, I really only cared about the taco truck.

The truck offers three different kinds of meat, short ribs, BBQ chicken and spicy pork. There may also be tofu, but it was invisible to me. These meats can come in taco or burrito form. In line, I heard that the short rib is the best, so I ordered one short rib and one chicken taco. I asked the nice woman taking the orders what came on the taco. She said it was cabbage, lettuce, onions, cilantro and meat, so I made sure to go with just cilantro and meat. Within a couple minutes, my tacos appeared, looking just as I had ordered them. At the truck, they also had a mystery unlabeled Korean sauce that I tasted, loved, and proceeded to douse my tacos with. For all I know, it could have been made with tiger milk, but it was just too good. The tacos were a great change of pace from the typical taco truck, introducing my mouth to a variety of seasonings that I had never before thought possible in taco form.

After destroying the tacos, I needed more. I chose the burrito this time, which I found out was a breakfast burrito. Once again, my mind was blown. I ordered it with the short ribs and the lovely order lady asked, “No greens or onions?” and I said, “Wow, you are amazing.” The burrito was even better than the tacos, and with the mystery sauce, it was the perfect fusion of Korea and Mexico.

I would imagine that if Korea and Mexico were ever in a conflict, both sides could eat this breakfast burrito and be at peace. Perhaps more of the world’s problems could be solved this way. Conflict between US and Japan? Sushi burgers. Between Germany and Lebanon? Chicken Schnitzel Schwarma. The possibilities for peace through food are endless.