Hola Arepa: In Minneapolis, the best vegetarian food truck isn’t exactly vegetarian, but this food truck made the list because of its arepas. An arepa, for the uninitiated, is a Venezuelan sandwich made of cornmeal griddlecakes. The black bean and sweet potato arepa comes with tomato, citrus onions, queso fresco, green onion aioli … and can be made vegan, if that’s your thing.
The Vegan Nom: Speaking of vegan, Austin has its fair share of vegan food trucks, so it’s darn near impossible to pick just one as “the best.” But there’s a gun to my head, so I’ll go with Texas’s first all-vegan food truck – simply because it was first. Not fair? Tough luck. I’m the one doing the writing here. At the Vegan Nom, pick up some breakfast tacos – served all day long! – stuffed with tempeh bacon and tofu.
DC Vegetarian: We’re bouncing all over the U.S. here. Now we’ve come to Portland (if you thought D.C., you’re mistaken). Portland is home of the best vegan steak & cheese sandwich on the Pacific. Yelp some reviews for yourself and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Folks go nuts over this sandwich. The DC Vegetarian food cart makes theirs with cartmade seitan, grilled onions and peppers, Chao vegan cheese (or dairy cheese, cheater), special sauce, and veganaise on a sub roll.
Cinnamon Snail: We heard the East Coast calling and NYC it is. The Cinnamon Snail literally wrote the book on street vegan – called, ahem, Street Vegan – but that’s not really why this food truck made the list. We’ve covered arepas, breakfast tacos, a hearty steak & cheese sandwich … but what about the doughnuts? That’s what you’re asking right about now, and the Cinnamon Snail has ‘em, about 30 different kinds (if you count pastries). So get there early, because they’re on a first-come, first-served basis.
Nectar: We fattened you up with doughnuts. Now we have to clean you out. For that, take a run down to Atlanta, GA, and get a fresh raw juice from Nectar. This food truck won Huffington Post honors as one of the healthiest food trucks in America. It also beat out 50 other food trucks at the Atlanta Street Food Festival for the “best things we ate” award in 2015. With the ginger, lemon & nectar “flu shot,” that’s no joke. Eat as many doughnuts as you want. Nectar has you covered.
And now for the runners-up:
We couldn’t leave you hanging with just five food trucks. There are a few others that probably deserve to be on this list, and for these, we’re hitting the cities of San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago.
Hella Vegan Eats: You know, this one probably should be in the top five, so we’ll give it a pass on “runners-up” status and call it No. 6. You know what did it? The pecan pie doughnuts. (Yes, doughnuts again.) But there’s more than doughnuts. There’s gluten-free cauliflower tacos, shittake mushroom chowder, and “black death” nachos made with totopos, black beans, roasted cauliflower, butternut squash-cashew cheeze, cashew sour cream, pickled red onions & jalapeños, radish, and cilantro. Hungry yet?
Vegan Van: If you’re in Denver and you’re craving something healthy, the Vegan Van is the way to go. Here is a tiny sample of glowing reviews: “Aimee is truly incredible. She makes DELICIOUS food, is always wildly friendly AND she’s truly invested in her community. We all love Vegan Van!” Or this one: “Amie makes delicious food. Whether or not you are vegan, her menu is the bomb.” So, what kind of delicious food can you get? Here’s a special: “The Ludacris,” made of Denver Seitan Co. Chickenesque with Great Divide Double IPA waffles. Um-hmm.
Babycakes: This one isn’t vegetarian or vegan per se. What it is is pancakes. Gourmet pancakes. We saved this one for last because we want you to remember it next time you’re in Chicago looking for breakfast. The Babycakes food truck says, “He who goes to bed hungry dreams of pancakes,” and that very well may be true. Here’s what you’re in for: strawberry cheesecake pancakes, chocolate chip M&M pancakes, rainbow pancakes, root beer float pancakes, cranberry mandarin orange pancakes, blueberry dream pancakes, and the list goes on for a mile (and includes non-vegetarian options like Italian beef pancakes).
If you live in any of these cities, let us know what really should be on this list by entering your comments below.
In the meantime, if you’re thinking of getting into the food truck business yourself, give M&R Specialty Trucks & Trailers a call. If you can dream it, we can build it. Call 904-397-0246.
