After living in NYC for many years, I was used to being able to walk out my door and down the block to find all kinds of incredible cuisine. And with walking came community. You could find people everywhere. There was a constant flow of energy and a sense of community.
Fast forward 10 years. I’ve been living in Aventura and while I have to drive most places, I expect to be able to hop into my car and wind up someplace where there is good food, there is “life” and like-minded people – and it should be relatively close to home.
For a long time, the food scene has been sorely lacking. And about a year ago, the first food truck appeared on the scene. Loving the concept from San Francisco, I was all about this. It took a while for the concept to catch on (as do most things down South) but now, it is here and going strong.
About 10 days ago, roughly 21 food trucks got together in the parking lot of the Intracoastal Mall. Around 7 PM, my husband and I pulled up to find exactly what had been lacking: a community! There were tons of locals hanging around, meandering from truck to truck, listening to music, talking with one another and eating. It was incredible!
Some of the food trucks there included: Big Kahuna, Che Grill, Cheese Me, Chef on 4 Wheels, Sakaya Kitchen’s DimSsam a Go Go, Divan Bakery, Latin Burger, Latin House Grill, Mac’ n Food Truck, Moty’s Grill, Mr. Good Stuff, Ms. Cheezious, Nacho Mama’s Grill, PS-561, Shao Roma, Slow Food Truck, Sugar Yummy Mama, The Flying Saucer and The Mexzican Gourmet. One offering better food than the next – each wonderful in its own right. I was I heaven.
We started with The Mexzican Gourmet – hello yummy! We shared three tacos – fish, carnitas (pork) and beef. Each a la cart item was between $ and $3 – and so worth it. I waited seven minutes for a lightly fried fish taco. Each bite was filled with flavor. The carnitas, typically fried pork, seemed almost stewed, providing a melt-in-your-mouth consistency, which I loved! The beef (a.k.a. carne asada), was cut in perfect little bite-sized pieces. Nothing was over seasoned or over sauced – just perfectly done and place in small corn tortillas. For a total of $7.50, not only was I sated, but generally happy too.
We walked around, watching strangers talk about food, where to eat, what to purchase – it was my own little utopia. One of my favorites – Ms. Cheezious is always good. You can build your own or choose from a selection of well thought out cheesy sandwiches. Naturally there are side dishes including chili, a variety of fries and even tomato soup. I’d be remiss not to mention the Slow Food Truck, where breakfast, lunch and dinner items are made with love. I did not have the pleasure of eating breakfast, but I can tell you that the slow roasted pork, short rib and dip, make your own burger, chicken or grilled cheese are all out of this world. It could be because you are free o roam as you are eating or perhaps it really is that good, but whatever the case is, food trucks are the way to go. While it wasn’t there, rumor has it there is a new truck on the scene – The Pork Shop, serving up – you guessed it – nothing but pork products. Think pork tacos, porchetta, pork gravy, chicharrónes, bacon and more.
Finally, to finish off my feast on foot, there’s the Big Kahuna, a shave ice truck that also serves yogurt and novelty ice cream bars. Oh the joy of eating cold, sweet desserts in the heat. I can’t wait to do it all again.
Shari Lynn Rothstein has been writing about food, wine, lifestyles and fashion for more than 20 years, in New York and Florida. She resides in Aventura. Shari can be reached at shari@slkcreative.com for comments, questions thoughts.
