Midtown Lunch

The row of trucks along Montgomery Street on Temple Campus is  home to at least half a dozen trucks that specialize in things like chicken cheesesteaks. The recent addition of the Vernalicious truck brings instead comfort foods and  not a cheesesteak in sight. Verna, a former optician, and her boyfriend Dave are the friendly couple behind the truck, and they have a good sense of what the people want.  One important thing to know before you go over: whether or not they can even bring their truck out on a particular day and what foods they have to offer completely depends on their food suppliers, whose schedule isn’t completely finalized yet. So be sure to check on Twitter or Facebook to see if they will be out before heading over.

If a side of bacon is available ($4), you are going to want to go ahead and order it.  This is some fancy pants, thick cut slab of  local bacon cut into small pieces. Do not order this if you will fear the layers of fat that come with each piece. Really though, you should embrace the melt in your mouth experience.  This is equal in quality to pork belly you would find at a fancy restaurant. I asked for mine extra crispy, which was perfect.

A toasty classic grilled cheese with tomato and bacon has the perfect proportion of each ingredient.

It is a safe generalization to say that everyone loves mac and cheese and everyone’s favorite part is the crispiness on top. Vernalicious’ griddled square of mac and cheese has the advantage of being crispy on all sides.To make matters more delicious, your mac and cheese can be topped with a helping of pulled pork($6 for the combo). The pork isn’t so shredded that you can’t tell where the meat ends and the sauce begins; you can actually taste both components. Mix up the bbq sauce with the mac and cheese for added flavor.

With warnings of menu changes, we can be assured that the chicken banh mi will always be there. A double handful of chicken is finished off on the grill and topped with pickled turnip and carrot, cilantro, jalepenos, and a seasoned mayo.

Take advantage of the changing menu and return often;  they love repeat customers and they will probably remember you.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• A varied mix of comfort foods in one place
• Mac and cheese that is crispy on all sides
• Bacon that deserves to be served on fine china

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• You might not be able to get the dish you had your heart set on if they don’t have the ingredients that day

Vernalicious, 12th and Montgomery, follow on Twitter or Facebook to find out if they will be out that day