Feel like Mac & Cheesesteak? Last week we walked past a new food truck on 21st St just west of 6th Ave that looked different, but seemed familiar. Walking up to the window, we saw why. The truck is the creation of Nozz, one of the original Phil’s Steaks guys who was with the truck since day one. His partner Richie was not at the truck when we were there.
We also ran into Nozz one day on the Mac Truck, when Dom was short-handed and Nozz was helping a friend out, which brings us to his new food truck concept, a mac and cheesesteak truck.
Nozz told us everyone thinks of Philly when they talk about cheese steaks, and he wanted to come up with the New York version of a cheesesteak.
He accomplished that by mixing pastrami, corned beef or brisket into the middle of the beef, along with the usual grilled onions and your choice of provolone, American, cheez wiz, or NY cheddar.
If you prefer mac & cheese, you can get that with any of the meats added on as a topping.
The menu on the website is a bit different from the menu on the truck, but it was too large to get a good photo. There are dozens of possible combinations, with a bunch of veggie options and assorted add-ons like hot or sweet peppers or jalapenos.
We let Nozz suggest our lunch, which was a cheese steak with pastrami, provolone and onions, with a generous squirt of chipotle mayo on everything. There are 6″ heros for $6.50 and 10″ heros for $8.50.
Unwrapping the sandwich, the bread was a little crustier than cheese steaks are usually served on, but it was not tough to chew.
The brine of the pastrami came through right away, but as more of an accent than as the dominant taste. The main flavors were beef, thick onions and provolone cheese, but the pastrami definitely brought another dimension to the sandwich.
The sandwich was greasier than we would have liked for lunch. At the end of a drunked night, it’s fine, but for lunch, we want less grease.
Make no mistake, this is not a traditional Philly cheese steak. It’s a cheese steak sandwich adapted to New Yorkers’ tastes. With pastrami and chipotle mayo, the sandwich had more of a “melting pot” vibe.
So far the New York Style Mac & Cheese Steak Truck has been parking on the NW corner of 21st St & 6th Ave, but we’re sure they will be moving around at some point.
The twitter and facebook links on their website aren’t live, but we will add the truck to our Mobile Munchies twitter feed as soon as it is.
