ARTDAMAGE.NET » Food Trucks

Category Archives: Food Trucks

Let’s Be Frank

03/25/2011 – 1:21 AM

Located on Helms Ave. in Culver City, between Venice Blvd. and Washington Blvd., is the Let’s Be Frank food truck. As a side note, this is also where Father’s Office is located, and if you haven’t already, you must try the Father’s Office burger.

On one of my visits to Father’s Office, I noticed the above sign at the corner of Helms Ave. and Venice Blvd., and I was immediately intrigued. I thought the sign was cute; the name is cute and so is the cartoon wiener dog . This was a while back, but somehow the topic of this food truck resurfaced, and thus Allan and I deemed this Thursday as “Let’s Be Frank day.” With that, Ji, Allan, and I went on over to find this food truck for lunch.

The food truck was hidden from view, parked in the small lot in the middle of Helms Ave., right across from Father’s Office. Nothing too fancy, Let’s Be Frank is your average food truck. The main difference is that they serve gourmet hot dogs – free of hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, and nitrites. They have five main items on their menu: frank dog (100% local grass-fed beef), brat dog (family-farmed pork bratwurst), “hot” dog (spicy family-farmed pork sausage), bird dog (family-farmed, pasture-raised turkey dog), and “not” dog (vegetarian Italian-style sausage). Each of these items cost $5.01, tax inclusive. I opted for the frank dog and asked for their spicy Devil Sauce on the side. The Devil Sauce is their own name-brand sauce, which is basically a version of Indian chutney. This truck also had a variety of unique types of root beer. I chose Captain Eli’s Root Beer, simply because the bottle looked awesome.

The frank dog (and all their other “dogs,” really) is longer than you’d expect from your average hot dog. I chose to have mine topped with grilled onions, then I added condiments – mustard and relish. I put a little bit of the Devil Sauce on my first bite just to try it, but it didn’t quite hit the spot. I guess I’m not a huge fan of “Indian chutney” anyhow. That aside, the frank dog was pretty good. You could definitely tell it was fresher and more gourmet than your average hot dog. It did, however, still leave me hungry afterward. I finished that hot dog pretty quickly, given I was pretty hungry at the time (we didn’t eat until 2:00PM). I think the three of us agreed that they were indeed delicious hot dogs, but totally not worth five dollars. It’s an interesting thought, too, considering Let’s Be Frank is apparently ranked #3 on the list of restaurants featured in Zagat’s Los Angeles “Best Buys: Bang for the Buck.” We all thought it was definitely worth a try, at least once.

After we had gobbled down our hot dogs, I had a sudden craving for a Taco Bell Mexican pizza. I used my trusty Android phone to find the closest Taco Bell to us, where Ji bought a baja chalupa and I purchased a Mexican pizza. Ji had said, and I quote, “I have never seen someone so excited to find a Taco Bell before.” I guess I was just excited to find a Taco Bell in order to finally satisfy my Mexican pizza craving, which I’ve actually had for a while. We headed back to the office and indulged in our pseudo-Mexican eats.

For dinner, I had Ajisen Ramen in Irvine. I hadn’t eaten at Ajisen in a while, so I didn’t mind giving this restaurant another go. Taking a gander at the menu immediately reminded me of one of the reasons why I rarely eat here – their items are pretty overpriced compared to those at other Japanese ramen restaurants, like Shinsengumi (see the Yelp entry for the Gardena and Rosemead locations) or Santouka. This time, I ordered the beef enoki rolls and the kimchi ramen with a side of spicy pork, thinking that the kimchi ramen probably wouldn’t be spicy enough for my taste buds. The beef enoki rolls were absolutely delicious. I could definitely go for those again. The kimchi ramen with the side of spicy pork ended up being spicier than I had expected; I wish I hadn’t added that side of spicy pork. It still tasted pretty good though. This kimchi ramen had a stronger kimchi flavor than that at Santouka. Their portions at Ajisen are also more plentiful than the portions you’d get at other Japanese ramen establishments. I suppose it’s a good thing they give you more food to compensate for the relatively high price, although I would prefer to pay less money for a smaller portion. My bowl of ramen was way too much for me, and I ended up taking nearly half of it home. I don’t think their food is bad, I just think I could go elsewhere for better, more authentic ramen at a better price. Needless to say, I doubt I’ll be coming to Ajisen more often than I have been. Although I must admit that I do love the statue of their mascot that they have at the front of their store! Very cute.

Tags Ajisen Ramen, Food, food trucks, hot dogs, Let's Be Frank, ramen, Restaurants | Comments (5)

Vesuvio Food Truck

03/16/2011 – 11:04 PM

It’s quite interesting how this is becoming more of a food blog of sorts. It seems like everything I do involves trying out different places to eat! That is not necessarily a bad thing.

Today’s post is about the Vesuvio food truck. During our quest to find a place to eat lunch near work last week, Allan came across the Vesuvio Food Truck. Originally its Yelp review had four stars, but somehow it has gone down to three-and-a-half stars since last week. This Italian owned and operated Italian food truck roams around different areas of Los Angeles on a daily basis. Unfortunately, they were no where near work last week; however, they were scheduled to be just a few minutes away today, at the Skechers headquarters down Sepulveda Boulevard in Manhattan Beach. I sent out an Outlook invitation to Ji, Jeremy, and Allan so that we wouldn’t forget the truck would be around today and so we would be sure to try it out. It was a good idea that I had sent out that invitation as I had forgotten all about it until I received the event alert in my Outlook calendar at work.

Unfortunately, Ji was home sick, and Jeremy had to administer an interview. Nonetheless, Allan and I went ahead and ventured out to try this Italian food truck. They had a variety of items on the menu, ranging from sandwiches, pastas, and various other items to desserts. After taking a few minutes to peruse the menu, we decided to order a few items. Allan wanted to try the Italian hot dog special, which came with a soda. I wanted to try the cannoli with Nutella and the arancini, which is an Italian “rice ball” made of rice, diced salami, parmesan cheese, eggs, salt, and pepper. The rice is rolled up into a ball with a mozzarella core, breaded and deep fried, then dipped in marinara sauce. Unfortunately for me, they were out of cannoli, so being a fan of Caprese salad and balsamic vinaigrette, I decided to spend my money on the Caprese skewers instead. I gave up dessert for a salad in skewer form.

I didn’t think of taking photos until Allan reminded me, but it was too late to get a photo of his Italian hot dog since he had gobbled it all up too quickly. You can still see part of it, though! In my opinion, the Italian hot dog looked flavorful and had a lot of delicious looking toppings. From what I remember, it looked like it had grilled peppers, among other things, and some sauce. When I asked him if it was delicious, Allan said it was, but it tasted like any other hot dog, except fresher.

Here we have the Caprese skewers; just your average Caprese salad, except stuck on sticks and served with two pieces of garlic bread. I think it’d be really hard to go wrong with a Caprese salad. I must admit that the one thing I did not enjoy about these skewers was the inclusion of olives. I’m personally not a fan of olives, but I’m sure others who are would have enjoyed this extra ingredient. Typically, from my understanding, a Caprese salad consists of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, drenched in balsamic vinegar.

Now these “rice balls,” the arancini, were a bit more interesting. I was excited to try these when I saw them on the menu because I had noticed quite a number of Yelp reviewers posting photos of these “rice balls.” Several reviewers recommend the arancini, with one reviewer writing, “The rice balls are definitely a must on this truck.” I must admit, they looked absolutely delicious. Who can resist a deep friend snack sprinkled with cheese? We took the food back to our work building and ate at the tables outside. The trip back didn’t help to sustain the heat to these poor “rice balls,” unfortunately. By the time we tried them, they were a bit cold. Don’t get me wrong; they were still delicious, but they probably would have tasted even better freshly cooked and hot. I would recommend ensuring that your arancini is covered in a good amount of marinara sauce. The inside was flavorful, and the texture was great. Biting through the crispy breaded outer shell and getting to the softer, ingredient-filled inside is all part of the fun.

I would love to try other items from their menu, perhaps a sandwich or maybe the ravioli. Their prices are pretty reasonable. The portions aren’t great, but they’re not too bad. To give you some perspective, the arancini cost $4.00 for a set of three.

If you’d like to find out when the Vesuvio food truck is coming your way, visit their website or follow them on Twitter.