Street Food

Everyone in Cincinnati likes to look to Portland for inspi­ra­tion on issues like pub­lic street­cars.  We at HighStreet have always envied their food carts. Located through­out the down­town area and in pock­ets in the sub­urbs, the Portland food trucks gather together in lit­tle enclaves offer­ing every­thing from Mexican and Thai to Polish del­i­ca­cies. Everytime we go there we come home with foodie stars in our eyes.

Well the food trucks have finally arrived in our city and we are jump­ing for joy. These trucks have caught on in pop­u­lar­ity recently due to the severe reces­sion. Simply put, the food trucks do not have as much over­head as a tra­di­tional restau­rant and can offer a cheaper prod­uct. The food is of a good qual­ity and the only con­ces­sion the con­sumer must make is to eat on foot or in the car.

The Cincinnati food trucks have seem­ingly popped up overnight. Currently there are three trucks oper­at­ing with another sched­uled to begin ser­vice in the next few weeks. Habanero restau­rant, long a sta­ple in the Clifton area, has a truck that cruises the streets and spe­cial events serv­ing burritos.

Senor Roys is another Mexican food truck most often parked dur­ing lunch at Main and Central Parkway down­town.  Their web­site announces their loca­tion sched­ule but it is advis­able to fol­low them on twit­ter as well for any changes that may come up. The food is decent and there is always a line of cus­tomers which bodes well for them.

Our favorite so far is Cafe de Wheels. Usually for lunch they are located at Walnut and Court Streets down­town. At night, they seem to migrate to the Clifton area. The fare for this truck is mainly of the burger vari­ety, how­ever, they also serve a wicked porta­bello mush­room philly and an incred­i­ble Cuban sand­wich. The accom­pa­ny­ing french fries are served scald­ingly hot and come in a few dif­fer­ent ver­sions from plain or sweet potato to feta cheese cov­ered. This truck also offers deserts from apple crisp to home­made pud­ding.  Following these guys on twit­ter is also advis­able for the lat­est updates.

A new truck on the hori­zon promises an authen­tic Mexican menu. Taco Azul food truck is gear­ing up to serve food well into the early morn­ing hours in town and may well hit it big with this con­cept. We can’t wait.

With the weather get­ting warmer there is only one thing to do…hit the streets.  Bon apetit!

Michael Spurrier. HighStreet. Cincinnati