New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

Things are never quiet on the NY food truck scene.  We were contacted by several vendors last week who were not only chased away from their spots in the Flatiron District, but they received summonses as well.

The Cinnamon Snail, Mexico Blvd and Kelvin Slush were all part of the action, and there were likely more trucks involved.  Adam from The Cinnamon Snail heard a rumor that someone who didn’t have their ID got thrown into a police car, but he was not sure which truck it was, and stresses that it was an unconfirmed rumor.

The Flatiron District was the main beneficiary when food trucks were chased from midtown.  Although the foot traffic wasn’t as heavy as midtown and business dropped off, at least it was a fairly safe haven.  We’re not sure if that’s even true any more.

Adam said he was worried this would happen when the block they used to park on with no one else around started having 3-4 trucks a day on it.  That’s a recipe for disaster.

If any food trucks are reading this, please spread out.  If you see a food truck parked somewhere, try to park at least 2 blocks away.  It’s a lot harder for a business to say it’s being affected by one food truck than 3 or 4 within a 2 block radius.

(credit: NYSF)

Being the ever-vigilant food truck diners that we are, there was a tweet late last week from The Taco Truck about them coming to the High Line.

We contacted our friends at the Vendy-Award Winning food truck and got the scoop for you.

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(credit: NYSF)

WE ARE ON THE ROAD TODAY AND CANNOT POST ALL DAY, but wanted to let you know about two new food trucks that will be on the street today –  and they couldn’t be more different from each other.

On Monday we gave you a NYSF First Look at Shorty’s, after their soft opening last weekend.  Cheesesteaks, Italian roast pork, and chicken sandwiches are how they made their name at their two brick-and-mortar locations.  We had a roast pork, broccoli rabe and sharp provolone hero on Saturday that was delicious.

Shorty’s told us they will be at 47th & Park today, you can see their menu here, but double-check their location on twitter here in case their plans changed.  To further entice you, anyone who orders a sandwich today can get a free beer at either Shorty’s location (as long as you are of legal drinking age).  Talk about an offer you can’t refuse.

(photo courtesy of The Squeeze)

We also told you about The Squeeze, a new bio-diesel, organic, living foods and beverage truck, which is also hitting the streets today.  CEO and Chef Karliin Brooks has created a healthy, tasty and fun alternative street food option to entice people in the city to give vegan fare a try.  They promise you will not be disappointed.

Gelati (credit: Jean-Bernard Carrilet, Lonely Planet)

Now that lunch is over, we can alert you to an article we ran across on the Lonely Planet website with mouth-watering photos of the 11 Best Street Foods Worth Blowing Your Diet Over.

Yes, I’m sure you and I can both come up with street foods they missed (nothing in the USA!), but that’s not the point of the article.

The point of the article is to make you want to go to these places on future trips, so stop drooling and book that flight.  You don’t have to go all the way to Japan, China or Ghana.  Some of these are as close as Canada (poutine), Jamaica (jerk) and Mexico (gorditas).

Click here for the full Lonely Planet article, and enjoy!

Currywurst (credit: NYSF)

Mexico Blvd (credit: NYSF)

In the first few months of 2012, it seemed like things were slowing up from the frantic pace of new food trucks and carts in 2011.  Now that it’s mid-May and we’re hearing about all these commencement addresses, it seems like a good time to see who graduated to putting a food truck on the streets of NYC in the New York Street Food Class of 2012.

There are lots more new vendors than we originally realized.

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