Sam's ChowderMobile
Photo: courtesy of the truck
For a city whose residents were weaned on taco trucks, it’s no surprise that San Francisco’s street-food culture has taken off. To wit, the Bay’s hosted street-eats food festivals in the last two weeks, and the latest issue of 7x7 magazine features a four-page spread of high-fashion models posing in front of food carts. The number of vendors grows daily, but here’s a list of the most popular "twitterestaurants."
Kung Fu Tacos: This truck slings tacos stuffed with cha siu and roasted duck, topped with sundry Asian salsas and condiments, to lunching FiDi workers in the parking lot at the corner of Sansome and Jackson Streets (twitter.com/kungfutacos).
Magic Curry Kart and The Crème Brulee Guy: Brothers Brian and Curtis Kimball pioneered the fancy-food cart trend with side-by-side mobile carts parked around the Mission offering somewhat unexpected street fare. Brian ladles up $5 bowls of comforting Thai-inspired curries from his Magic Curry Kart (it's usually parked around 19th Street and Linda in the Mission, but look for its daily whereabouts at twitter.com/magiccurrykart). Not far away, his brother, Curtis, hawks $3 mini French custards from a pushcart in and around Dolores Park and various other Mission locations (twitter.com/crèmebruleecart).
Salumi Cylce: Incanto’s chef Chris Cosentino uses this cart as a literal vehicle to sell his "tasty salted pig parts" – think pork sandwiches and lard cookies, washed down by cucumber sodas – during lunch hour around tSoMa, the Mission and the FiDi (twitter.com/boccalone).
Sam's ChowderMobile: Down south, fish ’n’ chips, clam chowder and lobster rolls are some of the seafaring treats rolled out in this mobile offshoot of Half Moon Bay fish restaurant Sam’s Chowder House (www.samschowdermobile.com).
Seoul on Wheels: After a two-year stint in SoMa, the original Korean taco truck can now be found in Emeryville, where its menu includes spicy barbecue pork, rice bowls and kimchee fried rice. Its owner, the self-professed "BBQ Princess of Yoon," hopes to return to a static SoMa locale near Second and Mission Streets in the coming months (www.seoulonwheels.com/Seoul/yum.html or twitter.com/seoulonwheels).
Sexy Soup Cart: This cart hawks luscious organic soups fashioned from fresh farmer’s market ingredients, accompanied by organic baguettes from Mission Pie (twitter.com/SexySoupCart).
Spencer on the Go! When Laurent Katgely isn’t coaxing wild boar from his wood-fired oven at Chez Spencer, he’s grilling up sweetbreads, frog escargot puffs, curried frog's legs and other Gallic munchies for under $12 in his Parisian-inspired converted taco truck. It's parked outside of the Terroir Natural Wine Merchant & Bar on Wednesday–Sunday evenings (and soon at the Ferry Plaza’s Farmer's Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Follow his every move at
spenceronthego.com or twitter.com/chezspencergo.
– Meesha Halm