NY Post Says That New Street Food Sucks

newtrucks

The New York Post weighs in on the new fancy street food trend, and does what they do best: attack for the sake of attacking. The article laughably attacks Le Gamin, Schnitzel & Things, and the newly launched Bistro Truck, despite admitting that the food is pretty delicious.  But my favorite part is where the author blames food trucks for her own slovenliness…

“Who wants to wait 20 minutes for fancy restaurant fare from a cart when half of it is going to wind up stuck in your computer keyboard?”

Uh… and that’s different from eating a plate of old school halal street meat or take out from a brick and mortar restaurant- how?  (Teachable moment: Don’t eat your food over your keyboard, no matter where it comes from!)

Oooh- and it wouldn’t be a proper anti-trend piece without a twitter insult or two…

“And then there are the frustrating hours and annoying Twitter feeds. One second, a truck is headed to Carroll Gardens, 20 minutes later, it’s got better things to do. Would the Kwik Meal Cart guy flake out like this? We think not!”

I follow a lot of trucks on twitter, and you all know I have my issues with the way some of the new vendors use (and rely on) their Twitter accounts. But I’ve never heard of a truck changing directions because “it’s got better things to do.”

The article does attempt to make a few good points, if you can manage to extract them from the snark. Yes, the point of street food is to be cheap, fast, and good.  And there are some new vendors that have lost sight of that a bit, and could learn a bit from the old school vendors (like Kwik Meal). But, in the end the author could have easily written an article praising all the food (clearly she liked it), or just made her points in a less sensational douchey way.  But that wouldn’t have been very New-York-Post-like would it? (Although in April they did publish an article celebrating the same thing that this article criticizes.)

Want to read some thoughtful analysis of the street food issue?   Put down the newspaper, and check out Grub Street or Serious Eats: New York.  Or you can skip all that and go straight to the anger (on Twitter, of course.)

Related:
How Twitter Actually Hurts Street Vendors
Prediction: New Carts & Trucks Are About to See Some Serious Backlash

17 Comments

  • And how clumsy is the author if she can drop half her food onto her keyboard.

  • The carhop waitress almost dropped our bronto ribs on the dashboard of our car!

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Every New Yorker knows that the NYPost is nothing, but JUNK. Pure, sensationlist JUNK. They are the Faux News of newspapers This is the same paper that still refers to Michael as ‘Jacko’ even though he passed away. This is also the same paper that just published an article about how getting a degree from college is nothing, but a waste of time. Which I find funny considering it’s the NYPost.

    If anything, just read the cover of the paper to laugh at their ridiculous headlines and then go somewhere else to get your REAL news. If you keep amusing their sensational articles they’ll be encouraged to write more of them.

  • yeah I mean the only real creative viewpoints in the post are in their headlines. This one: ‘All Trucked Up!’ genius! you don’t need a college degree for that kinda writin’ kids!

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    My favorite one was ‘Rich Bitch’, referring to Leona Helmsley’s dog who inherited her entire estate.

  • I concur with all the posts above that the Post’s headlines are entertaining although I have admit, I do enjoy the sport’s section. The rest of the rag deserves to go straight to recycling.

    BTW, a note to the reporter, you just ended up giving these food trucks more free publicity than they could ever muster on this web page and twitter. Additionally, you might have even encouraged more people to consider opening up a truck now you’ve told the world that business is so good, people are waiting 20 minutes on line for gourmet street food.

  • BTW, favorite all time Post headline (featured on its wikipedia entry), was about a decapitated man found in a strip club:

    “HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR”

  • I will agree with one point in the artice: it’s all too fucking expensive.

  • I think zach’s just upset that NYPOST didn’t bother to interview him on a piece about food trucks =P

  • Those educated types with inquiring minds read the New York Post first thing in the morning — along with their left-over cold slice of pizza.

    OR, if you’re in HOTlanta (like Fred), with your bowl of grits.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    While I think the columnist came off a bit indignant, I do agree with the point of some of these food trucks’ prices being a bit much. And some of their twitter feeds can sometimes be rather uninformative as to their location at times… While I don’t mind the trend of more food trucks, it does seem at times that the next food truck is a tad bit more expensive then the last… Clearly people are seeing these trucks, opening their own and saying, the hell with it, if they’re successful with those prices then lets make ours slightly more to make more money… Who knows…

  • The New York Post: “All the News that’s Fit to Puke on”

  • RT @SabrettsHotDogCart I’ll be at the Corner of 39th and 7th today selling my usual crap.

  • Fave NY Post reference is in the movie Top Secret. “Hans is Blind. He operates solely by touch. Klaus is a Moron who only believes what he reads in the NY Post”

  • Moral isssss….Twitter is for Twatters.

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