Midtown Lunch

Today Luncher Alex is at a fusion food truck for lunch.

By now, any food-obsessed Philadelphian probably knows that the Drexel campus is a hotbed for top-notch truck food. There’s killer falafel, juicy steak sandwiches, thin-crust artisan pizza, and a whole lot more. One of the most exciting entries in the scene is Cucina Zapata, which offers a departure from the now common combination of Korean and Mexican (set off by Los Angeles’ trailblazing Kogi truck), with Thai-Mexican fusion. Happily, the results are delicious.

The truck itself, covered in colorful graffiti with Zapata’s name, might remind you of Tyson Bee’s, the similarly graffiti-ed outlet on the nearby Penn campus, whose menu has more of a pan-Asian bent. But your buck goes farther in quantity and quality at Zapata, where plates from a small menu of curries and tacos are filling and cost no more than $6. It parks on the food truck-filled alley that is Ludlow Street between 31st and 32nd. We entered through a pedestrian plaza on 32nd between Chestnut and Market – just look for the opening between the two academic buildings and walk all the way down – this guy is the easternmost truck.
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The Lucky Old Soul truck is all about fresh ingredients.The menu is small; burgers, veggie burgers, fries, sodas, and shakes. I waited a really long time at the LOVE park stop to finally dig in to the goods.

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Last winter Craig LaBan wrote an article about different food trucks around town, most I had visited or at least heard of but one truck mentioned was totally new to me- the Vegan Truck on Temple’s campus. This struck serves Asian style vegetables and soy proteins.  Looking at the menu, it seemed that the fully loaded “hot pot” was the best way to check out how the truck handles their different non meat products.

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The 2nd Annual Vendy Awards will be here before you know (July 28th), start getting excited. Nominations for your favorite Philly food truck CLOSE TODAY!

VOTE HERE.

I was unaware, but Sammy Chon opened a truck on Temple’s campus in April. The menu is an abbreviated version of their other locations, including appetizers, Korean burritos, Korean tacos, and Korean hoagies. I figured since I was on a college campus, I might as well get real college with it and order the fully loaded meaty, cheese fries.

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This week,  Luncher John tries 3 sandwiches from Lil Dan’s truck. Lil Dan is one of the competitors in tonight’s food truck cheesesteak battle at Yards Brewery in conjunction with the John T Edge cookbook event!

Compared to other food trucks, Lil Dan’s Gourmet Truck looks rather plain and nondescript. It’s simply a white trailer with two boards listing its menus. Even the truck’s name is only noted on the top of the menu boards in relatively small print. Then again, it would be a mistake to judge it by its appearance. (Ed. Note- Dan is in the process of getting a fancy wrap to up the pizzaz)

Lil Dan’s, which parks at LOVE Park two to three times a week, serves up some complex and tasty sandwiches to sizable lunchtime crowds. In addition to standard grill fare of breakfast sandwiches, burgers, steak sandwiches and fries, Lil Dan’s also offers ten different gourmet sandwiches and rotating daily specials. The sandwiches are also very reasonably priced at between $5.50-7.50, and the staff is extremely considerate.

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• Shake Shack is opening at 11am at 2000 Sansom St!
• From 6:30 to 9:30 food writer John T Edge will be having a little fiesta for his Truck Food Cookbook at Yards Brewery. There will be a cheesesteak competition between 2 local food trucks (Lil Dan’s and Spot). Cheesesteaks will be $5 and Yards Brawlers are $4
• And Center City Sips begins today to wash it all down