Food Truck Throwdown

Back when I lived in NYC, I'd often zip down from my WCBS 880 office to grab a quick lunch from a street vendor outside the building.  Hot dogs and pretzels were standard fare. But food trucks have gone seriously upscale since then!

Just look at this list of options in Wash DC -- bratwurst, burritos, pies, crepes, pot stickers... you name it, there's a food truck somewhere that has it. The Food Truck movement has taken off in cities across the country, and it's gaining ground here in Birmingham as well.

This weekend, local food trucks will face off in a Food Truck Throw Down in Woodlawn.  The event pits food truck operators against one another to create the best dish using the signature ingredient, strawberries (which are at the height of season in May - yay!)

The event is sponsored by Main Street Birmingham . You can sample dishes from Shindigs...

Fresh off the Bun...

(check out their mobile app!)

And Dreamcakes...

A panel of local food bloggers (what, no Necessary Pleasures?!?) will choose their favorites.

And, as if great food isn't enough, there's also music from indy rockers The Great Book of John (click here for a WBHM interview and free downloads of their music), hip-hop collective The Green Seed (listen to an interview and music here), and muslim rapper Shaheed Ibrahim Tawheed (download his music here).

The event is Saturday (May 12th) from 3-6 p.m. on 55th Place in Woodlawn (see map below).


View Larger Map


When it comes to Food Trucks, one thing that matters (besides the food, of course) is location, location, location.  NPR's Planet Money team recently went on a hunt for The Mystical Spot in NYC.  If you're looking for trucks in Birmingham, several have posted their schedules on their websites and some even have mobile apps.  Here are a two more trucks you might want to check out:

SpoonFed Grill
Los Dos Hermanos (aka The Taco Truck)

Still hungry?  Check out Birmingham Weekly's article The Rise of the Food Truck and Weld's post about Atlanta's Food Truck Park

I hear Weld recently published a list of all Birmingham-area food trucks, but I can't find it on the site. Anyone know where that list lives?  There are still a lot of lunches left in May!

(header photo credit)