Food trucks are old news in bigger cities, but only recently has the trend finally gained velocity in Miami. Chalk the slow adoption up to the diffuse, sprawling structure of the city (which really spreads over all of Miami-Dade County).The immediacy of a food truck posting its location on Twitter doesn’t work as well when its would-be patrons have to jump in a car for a traffic-clogged drive. Thus, here, there aren’t quite as many surprises on where the trucks pop up.
The owners often post in advance on Facebook, and stick to the same handful of stops, usually. Many stick around the Biscayne corridor north of downtown, but a couple others (luckily) venture further out through the city.
A couple big events have recognized the local forerunners of the trend recently. First, the local fancy-schmancy performing arts center, the Adrienne Arsht Center, downtown held a fall arts festival that featured a food truck alley curated by the local blogger the Burger Beast. Just a day later, the Beast held his own annual “Burgie Awards” and definitively crowned a few top dogs.
Here are three personal favorites, which by no means creates an exhaustive list. For one of those, you should check the updates at burgerbeast.com.
-Bites on Wheels (@Bitesnwheels)
I include this on the list because I love an underdog. This isn’t even really a truck, but more like a car-pulled cart with a small grill. The owner was a victim of the recession who decied to follow a passion for cooking, and now makes killer ceviche tacos. (Of course those don’t have to be really cooked, which is a plus with such a small setup). This is also one of the few mobile vendors to hit the southwestern part of Miami-Dade.
-Gastropod (@gastropodmiami, gastropodmiami.com)
This is probably the most “foodie” of the trucks, with fusion dishes like banh mi tacos (the Vietnamese sandwich filling, but, you know, in a tortilla). This one is pretty much only around the artsy Design District and Wynwood neighborhoods. It’s also one of the pricier (a burger with all the possible add-ons will total up to $9), but probably one of the more sophisticated. You won’t find “pork belly terrine” on any other Miami trucks.
-Latin House Grill (@latinhousegrill, latinhousegrill.com)
The other “Latin” truck — the Latin Burger and Taco Truck (@latinburger, latinburger.com) — gets a lot of shine, but Latin House Grill is on the come-up. This one also gets points for being out in southwest Miami-Dade (where “real” people live!), and also for offering dessert. That’s probably overkill after one of the fully loaded burgers, which includes avocado, cheese, some kinds of delicious mystery sauces, and a side of shoestring fries
[...] I recently blogged here about food trucks in Miami, and when I recently went to a small mini-truck meet up, I realized that virtually every single person waiting for food was on his or her phone. People were tweeting about eating at a largely Twitter-fueled phenomenon isn’t that surprising, but it was still noticeable that pretty much everyone was involved. I’ve noticed it a lot at brick-and-mortar restaurants too. [...]
[...] Last month, I posted a bit here about the food trucks circulating Miami streets. Yes, the city is a little late to this culinary trend, but the upside is that people are fiercely supportive of every new enterprise. The proprietors of the trucks usually answer about 9 out of 10 tweets, and they draw ever more sizable crowds that are friendly rather than snobby. [...]