Now that the weather is starting to turn, many food trucks are on their way to being winterized until Spring. The two things I love about Denver is how well the food truck scene has evolved over the past few years and how much the people of Denver have preferred food trucks over restaurants. Westword and the City of Denver have done an amazing job at contributing to their success by hosting Civic Center eats in the summer every Tuesday and Thursday. If you have not been, it is a must-do for lunch. Essentially, it's a rally of several food trucks in Civic Center park and the people who work in the city can walk there, dine on the grass or several tables provided, and listen to live music. It's a great way to get out of the office and recharge over lunch.
QUIERO AREPAS:
My absolute favorite food truck! I bet you couldn't persude me to like a different one. I had never experienced an arepa before until this extremely tall Venezulan man, Igor, handed me the Reina Pepida. This arepa is made with chicken, guacasa sauce, and much more, served on a handmade (literally with their hands) grilled pita. I was going to visit a couple of food trucks that day and split the arepa with Neil but after my first bite I NEEDED my own. It was for the survival of our relationship...if Neil took that arepa out of my hand that might have been the end to our 6 years (hint: sarcasm). I waited another 20 minutes in line for a second one and ordered Igor's famous, fresh-cracked coconut drink too. My life felt complete!
I couldn't be happier that Quiero Arepas has a standing location at Avanti F&B Collective Eatery so that I don't need to stalk the food truck. However, if Avanti didn't exsist I would stalk them without a second thought.
Small Bites: They offer Vegetarian arepas and all arepas are Gluten Free!
BARBED WIRE REEF:
If you are looking to taste something on the wild side then this is the truck for you! The main photo of this blog features Barbed Wire Reef at one of the most common places they set up shop, The Big Wonderful.
Neil had the Wild Boar Burger and I got the Fish & Chips with Sweet Potato Fries. Everything was so good and I love that they offer seafood, bratwursts, wild game burgers, and a ton of homemade sides and sauces. The Jalapeno Cilantro Aioli is worth getting. I ate all of mine and wished I had ordered more ailoi. Now I can't tell you how good the food is without telling you about the employees working on the truck. They are hilarious and almost cat call at random people to get them to stop and sample their food. One employee had dared someone to try the Sriracha Ailoli and the passerby said "no way, I hate sriracha" and he continued with "how about something spicy and sweet? I'll give it to you on a sweet potato fry and if you don't like it I'll buy you something you do like." Well she loved it and ended up ordering about $40 in food. Talk about a great technique when you know your food is too good to pass up.
Small Bites: Gluten Free, Vegan, and Vegetarian options.
FAT SULLY'S SLICE TRUCK:
This New York Style Pizza Slice truck started with Fat Sully's passion for NY pizza and his realization that Denver needed to experience it. Up popped the Slice Truck, it was parked all over the city from outside the late night clubs to the Santa Fe Art District and anywhere that something huge was happening. Fat Sully's is so good that now you can find multiple permanent locations throughout Denver. I love that I get a slice bigger than my head for just a couple bucks. The other great this is that I get to pick my toppings and the pizza is out within minutes. My go to slice is Jalapeno and Pineapple! YUM!
BITES DONUTS CO:
Bites is a dessert truck so it doesn't really need to compete against the other trucks. It sells itself! If you are looking for something to cure your sweet tooth then you will be drawn to this They make the donuts right there in the pink truck.
I ordered the cookies n' cream medium size donuts. I ate all 8 mini cake donuts drizzled in chocolate and cream follwoed by a cookie crumble. I actually have a funny video of me just chomping away on these. One place you can always find Bites Donuts is at The Big Wonderful on Saturday's when it is available. They also have a great social media manager who posts their weekly schedule. Just follow the little pink truck!
BEAN MACHINE:
This is another truck that sells itself to the java drinker. Inside of this once VW Van, there is a really sweet girl just grinding espresso beans and steaming milk. Of course she has iced lattes, coffee, and other beverages for the summer coffee drinker so she still attracts a great crowd.
FINAL BITES:
I owe an apology to the other food trucks for always choosing Quiero Arepas when they are in the same location of trucks I have been waiting to find. There are still a few I am dying to try but I will have to wait until Food Truck season. Those trucks are: King of Wings, Keenwah, Fire Truck Crepes, and a few more.