Keep on Truckin’: A Slew of New and New-ish Food Trucks Roll Out

We have tried and tried to keep abreast of the food-truck scene in this city, but frankly, we would need a full-time food-truck correspondent driving from truck to truck in a golf cart outfitted with a thermal-storage bin, a cup-holder and a lot of quarters for the parking meters to make this fantasy real.

In the meantime, we stopped at food-truck gathering grounds BJC, Wells Fargo and Citygarden, and in a mere two days, learned about one brand new truck, dined at three more that are just a few months old, and sampled for the first time two others that have been roaming the streets for a bit longer.

Smokin’ Monkey might be the big scoop here. Lucas Park Grille Executive Chef Kyle Patterson and wife Kimberly Patterson (below) have decided to indulge a yen for Carribean and smoked foods, and offer the city yet another type of cuisine heretofore unserved from a vehicle. In this, their first week of service, the Pattersons are plating up jerk chicken, pulled pork sandwiches with pineapple-rum bbq sauce, and “PBLT” (porkbelly-lettuce-tomato) sandwiches, along with sides and drinks.

The stars of the show, though, are the duck-confit tacos (below left) smoked right on the back of the truck. The house-made (and locally sourced) plum/chipotle jam, slaw, sprinkle of cilantro and juicy duck on a flour tortilla make it clear – this is a food truck in the mold of Guerrilla Street Food, helmed by an accomplished restaurant chef bringing excellent fare to the lucky lunching laborers of Downtown.

The Pattersons, who benefited from a successful Kickstarter campaign – and operated South Grand’s Once Upon a Vine wine-themed resto in the early 2000’s – plan to change up the menu frequently. We’d like our proverbial chain yanked, please, when they debut the forthcoming “Shrimp Lollipop” (above right), a mix of chopped shrimp, herbs, and spices wrapped around a sugar cane skewer before being smoked and grilled.

Another new truck, Stely Belly has been roaming the streets for about three months now. Their personal approach to pan-European cooking is, again, unduplicated by any other truck on the scene.

The “Tweety” is a chicken platter or sandwich with a list of ingredients that can cause a double-take: grilled chicken breast topped with melted provolone, ricotta seasoned with chicken broth and lemon juice, lettuce, tomato, onions, olives, asparagus, banana peppers, tziziki sauce (and optional bacon). If you know food trucks, you have to chuckle – gilding the lily is part of the fun.

Other curiosities include a vegetarian marsala mushroom-and-spinach wrap, a risotto dish served in a baked tortilla shell, breakfast crepes (bacon, eggs, onions, cheese) dressed with a house-made tziziki sauce, house-made baklava, Mexican elote corn-in-a-cup and cucumber lemonade. The word “eclectic” rushes to mind.

Just yesterday Stely Belly began serving what may be StL’s only currywurst (right), a fusion street food popular from Munich to Manhattan, but until now, nowhere to be found in these parts. Chopped bratwurst is slathered in curry ketchup, and served in a warm whole wheat bun with a sprinkle of Bulgarian feta cheese. It is immensely filling. You might not want to operate a bulldozer after eating it.

Married couple Stefan Petrov and Elitsa Kostadinova are Stely Belly, and the truck’s name is a combo of their first names, plus a salute to the pregnant Elitsa’s growing belly. Would that their child embraces the spirit of adventure embodied by the truck, which would seem to be far from done with menu-experimentation.

Another married couple, Willis and Roxzanna Mosby (above) toil side by side on the Man That’s Good truck. They offer American comfort food like hot dogs, grilled cheese, nachos, and wings tossed in hot or house-made sweet-and-spicy bbq sauce.

The signature dish is surely the Big Mouth Burger (left), with fresh, juicy Angus beef served on a bun grilled in garlic butter, topped with thick-cut bacon, three kinds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and a winning, house-made sweet onion jelly, then served with seasoned crinkle-cut fries. Man That’s Good is sometimes open for breakfast, and they’ve even been known to grill a burger at 8 a.m. to sate a hungry construction worker who’s been on the job since 4 a.m., said Willis.

La Tejana Taqueria, like Man That’s Good, has been on the streets for about four months now. The Mexican eatery occupies a brick-and-mortar spot in St. Ann, too. Look for the truck with the image of a saucy cowgirl firing a gun into the air on its side to find quesadillas (chicken is below), burritos, tortas and tacos made with fillings including steak, fish and tinga (shredded chicken, chorizo, and chopped onions in chipotle marinade).

Tomas Pedro’s Taco Truck STL has been around for more than a year now, but it wasn’t so long ago he got a bigger truck with a professional wrap (below), and expanded the menu. The truck’s huge selection of tortas, nachos, tacos, burritos and quesadillas are all pictured just under the order window. Tacos come in “Mexican” and “American” versions, the former with onion, cilantro, and lime; the latter with lettuce, cheese and creamy chipotle dressing.

Finally, Andrew’s Bayou Ribs has also roamed the streets for about a year, but hey, cut us some slack – at this point some 50 trucks have crept through the area, and it takes some doing to visit them all. We eventually tracked down this mobile smoker (below) operated by Andrew Simpson and Mary Ann Moore, and sampled bbq from a menu featuring the typical ribs, rib tips, chicken, brisket, pork steak, turkey, wings, hot dogs, brats and hot links. The house-made bbq sauce is not so much sweet as tangy, and the “Bayou” is a reference to Simpson’s Louisiana origins, but not any Cajun menu offerings per se.

It’s still super-easy to have a lunchtime adventure via the roving food trucks of St. Louis, whether they’re plying Bombay street food, giant sushi wraps, Cuban sandwiches, or any of the other wonderfully diverse dishes out there. That the trucks are now working West County with about the same frequency they’re parking Downtown means you have no excuse: somewhere not too far from you a food truck you’ve not yet tried is selling something wild.

Just the other day, the folks at FEAST reported that St. Louis' first coffee truck, The Gateway Grind, will soon hit the streets, featuring the requisite espresso-based drinks, as well as coffee from today's gadget de rigueur, the V60 pourover. With the glut of all he food truck food now available, a little caffeine may not be a bad idea.