Saturday, July 20, 2013

Food Trucks: Solo Travelers need no reservation


Everyone was warm and friendly
Food Trucks, can they solve the solo traveler’s challenge of eating alone……
Nana G's chicken and waffles is already 'famous'

  Not all solo travelers freeze when entering a restaurant. 
            Some solo travelers do not think twice before entering a bar where no one ‘knows your name’

As a shy, solo traveler, eating out can still send a wave of dread through me.  


Food Trucks, an upscale version of street food,  allows a solo traveler to mingle, sample local fare and NEVER worry that they don't have a companion to eat with.
     

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Now I have discovered FOOD TRUCKS


Food Trucks are not new.    Hot dog and pretzel carts even the traveling ice cream truck are part of many small towns and cities.  
 


The Food Trucks in Atlanta now offer gourmet foods, ethnic treats, comfort foods, unusual ice pop flavors, cupcakes, candy from New Orleans, meatballs:   a wonderful assortment that makes a selection difficult.



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The gathering of the trucks at the Howell Mill Food Park in Atlanta, GA

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The festival atmosphere of the Food Park encourages browsing and sampling many different foods.  Music plays from many of the colorful trucks.   Amazing how full meals can be produced from a metal box on wheels.....

   ‘Pop-up’ truck locations, posted on social media, allows followers know where to find their favorite food.    Atlanta also has a FOOD PARK.   Just off the main highway this gathering of a variety of different foods is a smorgasbord of international and local comfort foods.

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When you don’t know what you want for lunch or diner, the food park allows you to stroll among the trucks until you find the perfect meal.  Or you may have your favorite that you follow all over the city.

 In the next few weeks I will sample a variety of foods from the local trucks.   I have already tried waffles with  'infused bacon' at Nana G's, praline covered pretzels at Cjay's  (my diet has been destroyed)   and will return to sweet Georgia Brown's FIAH (Food in a Hurry) truck.  

The food may the 'return factor' but the personalities of each truck owner is far more enticing.
Watch for future profiles of who is behind a favorite food truck...

   





 Are Food Trucks the USA equivalent to
Street Food in foreign countries?

If you are traveling in a city or across the USA, there are far more choices for casual dinning:  the infamous diner,sit down fast foods and some healthy take away foods.
Americans often grab lunch while doing errands, eat in our cars and consider food as a necessity not a pleasure.  Food trucks offer tasty food, quick service and great variety without the necessity to travel far.
Shy solo travelers can find a hot meal while on business trips, vacations or exploring new  towns and cities.





2 comments:

  1. That's a good questions - are they the same as street food in foreign countries! Hard to compare to the grill on the street in Guatemala but it is a little like the first world version! Either way, I am a fan!

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    1. This will be a theme I hope to follow as I drive across the USA..... i live in a town with a HUGE food truck presence and just discovered them!
      shows you, you MUST get out of the house..

      as i profile some of the owners I am tracking "can you have lunch for $5,00 or $10.00" it shall be interesting if not fattening!

      where do you food truck in the USA?

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