It was just a regular, boring Wednesday, but Fran had other plans for Betsy and I. Together, us three hardy Minnesota women braved the misty, chilly and grey day to venture downtown and explore the food truck scene. No sit down restaurant, or table service for us today, not even a bench! When we got there, Nicolette Avenue was lined up with EMT trucks; bomb squad equipment and horse-mounted police officers. Was the food that explosive? Dangerous? And where did the food trucks go?? We found out that Hennepin County emergency services were having an open house that day, so we trudged over to Marquette Avenue and were delighted to find a long line of food trucks, doing brisk business. With so many trucks, such delicious choices, how are we to satisfy our curiosity and taste buds? So, we made a pact: we order, we bite, we SHARE! Yum!! But first – a strategy: we walk, we scope, we choose then chomp! Half way down our hungry stomachs protested the wait, while the aromas from Get Sauced crumbled the rest of our resolve to stick to the plan. We shared our first selection – an Asian chicken taco with a wasabi sauce, avocado and gingered slaw. The flavors were fresh, full and delicious. Betsy and I added some hot sauce and our mouths were happily burning… Not bad at all for a thrifty $7!

Next stop was Hola Arepa, where we shared the Chimichuri Chicken Arepa. A crunchy corn pita-like pocket nestled inside it tender shredded chicken with a zesty chimichuri sauce. We all went through napkins like crazy as the sauce dripped down our chins (and onto Fran’s white shirt… oh, well, got to pay a price for flavor!) The girl at the window had great dimples, warm smiles and was gracious enough to take our garbage, since there was no garbage can in sight – what’s up with that???

MidNord truck was to be the lowest point in our experience. The Tostones (fried plantains) with the mango jalapeno sauce were yummy. However, the empanadas we chose, though creative, were disappointing. Betsy was telling us about a delicious macaroni and cheese pizza she had tried, so of course we had to try the macaroni and cheese empanada. Dry and flavorless macaroni wrapped in over fried dough was not what we expected. The empanada take on the Juicy Lucy followed the same sad path: bland, bland, bland. The best part were the sauces – though not enough to make up for the entrees…

Since our tummies were getting happily full we chose a last stop: The Moral Omnivore. There we shared 2 sliders: a Beef Wellington interpretation and a BLT interpretation with a crunchy fried tomato. Good meat flavor, soft buns, but again – no zing, kind of bland. The cost was a little higher, but still reasonable, in the $8-9 range.

Betsy, Fran and I unanimously voted Get Sauced as our number one experience for flavor, appeal and cost. We did try to save some room for dessert from A Cupcake Social, but by the time we were done, they had already packed up and left. I guess dessert was not in the cards for today…

Check out the fun for yourself before the weather determines life for us yet again. For info go to:

http://roaminghunger.com/msp or http://www.visitsaintpaul.com/Food-Drink/Food-Trucks