By Gene Kosowan
If your tummy’s running on empty, a four-wheel food frenzy is your ticket to sate that appetite. Edmonton’s 30 or so food trucks are locked and loaded to hit prime spots this year, from farmers’ markets to festivals. To keep tabs on who’s running and serving every day, download the Street Food Edmonton app or visit them online. [Photo credit: Edmonton Street Food]
You’ll find the odd food truck festival here and there throughout the city in absence of any snow, but the big event is being hosted by A Taste of Edmonton downtown July 20 to 29. Roughly half of the city’s four-wheel vendors will park themselves on the perimeter of Sir Winston Churchill Square providing a wide cross-section of culinary delights from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Once you’ve got your mobile munchies, find a bench and groove to an extensive lineup of live entertainment including I Mother Earth and Hawksley Workman.
Feedback compiled by Street Food Edmonton produces rankings of food trucks in the city, listed according to popularity. While the results change regularly, the top three contenders are usually quite consistent. Drift, which boasts an array of sandwiches from standard roast beef to buttermilk fried chicken, draws a crowd on a regular basis. Not to be outdone is Bully, whose crowd favourite is an in-house mac ‘n’ cheese dish more delectable than the corporate boil-from-the-box variety. Hot on their heels is La Poutine, serving.... guess what?
There’s no denying that in the land where prime AAA beef rules, you’ll get more than your share of bovine from Edmonton food trucks. Take your choice of barbecued brisket southern sliders from Sloppy Hogg’s, a double-pattie, double-cheese and double bacon burger from Bubba’s or a super-stacked burger with a crunch from Jack’s Mobile Burger Shack. Try not to overlook other carnivorous offerings, including fall-of-the-bone ribs from Smokehouse BBQ, sumptuous satays from Sizzling Stick and duck, kangaroo and alpaca burgers from The Crooked Fork.
On any good day during the summer, you have the chance to get a taste of the rest of the world without ever having to venture a block away from the first food truck you hit. It wouldn’t be Edmonton without a few Ukrainian trucks, including Baba Finks and The Purple Pyrogy. You'll find no shortage of Latin fare from the likes of Calle Mexico, Hola La Taco and La Chula and Asian cuisine courtesy of the likes of Rapscallions and Lemon Grass Grill. Mediterranean offerings are served up by Dedo’s and Little Village, and don't miss selections from Explore India and Argentinean meaty morsels from Mr. Chimi Churri.
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Discover more fun things to do in Edmonton:
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Still not quite full? Hold your breath for some waffle on a stick from Blue Giraffe, a choice of a dozen ice cream flavours (including root beer) from The Da Vinci Cone, maple bacon donuts from Jackie O’s or rolled (yes, rolled) ice cream from Scoop ‘n’ Roll.
No doubt the food truck industry in Edmonton is competitive, made even more stressful by the fact that weather permits them to operate only half the year. But with that competition comes a great deal of selection, original recipes and tasty treats. While Edmontonians are happy with the options, no doubt a few of them are hoping for an extended summer – if only to keep the trucks operating for at least a few more months.
