Apr 18, 2012

Food Cart Heaven

Had a great experience with some food cart, um, food last week.  A place called Garbo's Grill in Key West.  I had done a little web reconnaissance before heading there, and I was surprised to see that this little food cart was the highest rated "restaurant" in town on Trip Advisor.

I wasn't surprised for long.

I got down there a few hours ahead of some friends on Tuesday, so I decided to check it out on my own. Figured if it was good, I could be a hero to my buddies by introducing it to them. If it sucked, well...only I would be worse for the wear.

Turned out to be a huge mother-fucking win! Of epic proportions. I was there for 5 days and ate lunch at this food cart 4 of those days. Wish I had eaten lunch there the other day too. Plus some snacks here and there. All of the rest of the crew ate there at least once as well, most of them multiple times. Everyone loved it. Check out this menu:

click for mouth-watering goodness

Very simple, but with the freshest ingredients possible. Everything was stored in coolers that served double-duty as seating for the crowd waiting for the delicious goodies.  I had the Cayo fish tacos twice, the Yum Yum shrimp tacos (Cayo-style again) once and the Mango Brie quesadilla with Jerk Chicken the last time there. All were awesome.  I also tried some of the Kogi Korean BBQ tacos that another friend ordered. Incredible!  And the couple that own the cart are some of the nicest folks you will ever meet. On my second day there, I already felt like a regular with them yelling out my name when they saw me every time afterward. Good stuff.

I think I love a good food cart. Especially when it's run by a couple of foodies like this one here. And there are a TON of supposedly great food carts in NYC, but I really don't frequent them. I really think I should, based on this experience. At the very least, I'm going to do some research into the ones that are getting some good press.

But Long Island is a barren wasteland for delicious food cart, um, food. I've just never seen nor heard of any really good food carts out here.

I think I'm going to make it my new obsession. Find a great food cart here on the island, or find someone willing to open one. Because this kind of food? It's my kind of food. And I don't think I can ever go back to a world that doesn't have this kind of food in it anymore.

How about you? Any good food carts near you that you love?

12 comments:

Jadzia@Toddlerisms said...

There's nothing like a good food cart. We only have one in our tiny village, a pizza guy who comes to town on Tuesday and Saturday nights. But it is GLORIOUS. Prosciutto pizza, Basque pizza, magret pizza, every-weird-French-cheese-you-can-think-of pizza. And he'll talk your ear off during the 20 minutes you'll be waiting for your order. YUM.

sybil law said...

I LOVE food carts, but nope -not a ton here, unless you're going to a huge event or game or whatever. My friend is thinking of starting one, and he's a fantastic chef, but who knows.
The mango brie is making my mouth water!

Verdant Earl said...

Jadzia - Wow...a pizza food cart. Never would've expected that. Very cool!

Sybil - That was my last day. I had a big breakfast and wasn't planning on ordering anything. Went with the rest of the crew while they ate, and I started talking to one of the owners. She talked me into it. hehehehe. It was awesome!

Damon Peter Rallis said...

I don't think we call them "food carts" on the East End of Long Island (which is where I am), but food trucks. We have two that you need to check out if you ever get to the North Fork:

1. "The Lunch Truck" behind North Fork Table in Southold. Gourmet hot dogs... really good, but rally expensive. They think its the Hamptons I guess.

2. The "Rolling in Dough" pizza truck. The pizza AND the truck are off the fucking hook. It travels between wineries, though, so you have to know where to look. I think they have a Facebook page.

Verdant Earl said...

Monkey - Thanks! That's awesome information. Yeah, I consider food carts and food trucks to be in the same category. Those look like two good ones.

Heff said...

Small town resident here, so I'm "Food Cart Impaired", but I'd LOVE to try both the Mango & Kogi Dawgs, if nothing else.

Paticus said...

I have never eaten there, but there exists a grilled cheese cart that goes by the name of the Grillenium Falcon, and that wins on name alone.

Dr Zibbs said...

I wish there were food trucks around me. But can you imagine if you owned a restaurant and food trucks started showing up on your block? That would suck!!

Verdant Earl said...

Heff - Next time I'm trying the dogs and burgers.

Paticus - Total win!

Zibbs - There are strict rules about when and where they can set up, from what I've heard.

marty mankins said...

Salt Lake doesn't have too many food carts, although there are a few that have cropped up in the last 6 months that are pretty good. Most are all downtown, and I rarely make it downtown these days.

Dave2 said...

I just wish they had some vegetarian options!

Verdant Earl said...

Marty - Same here. Most are in the city.

Dave2 - The Mango Brie Quesidilla is veggie. You do cheese, right? I added jerk chicken to mine, but the regular looked pure awesome too.