By Lisa Herrick
The mobile kitchen craze surged in trendy urban locations with talented young chefs, hipster eaters, and the buzz of social media tracking where the trucks were located and the creative menu of the moment. It was only a matter of time before the food truck concept spread to smaller cities. Thurston County’s innovative chefs, entrepreneurs and foodies were not to be left out of this trend. It has been a glorious week of eating. These mobile kitchens are serving up some of the best and diverse food in town. I encourage you to go eat and enjoy.
Owners Steve and Marianne Kirsch are choosing to serve up barbecue in their retirement. As a first timer, I logically ordered the Sampler Platter with pulled pork, tri-tip, chicken and a spare rib. All delicious. I understand how one of their regular customers, Troy, could never decide between the German Sausage on a Roll or the Pulled Pork Sandwich as everything on the menu is scrumptious. So in honor of his indecision, the Kirschs created the Troy Dog which is a German Sausage on a Hoagie Roll smothered in Pulled Pork and BBQ sauce – one of their top sellers. Heavenly Hog BBQ and Smokery is truly a mom and pop shop who believe in making great food from scratch, the slow way, using only fresh quality ingredients.
360-561-9577
Located at 93rd Avenue just off Exit 99
Husband-wife team Ian Shulman and Angela Isaacson brought their dream to reality two years ago when they started their food truck venture with All Fed Up. Shulman comments, “We were on the front end of the food truck trend here and it was a good time to go off on my own. It has been fun and exciting – especially the prospect of creating new food.” All Fed Up uses fresh, local, and organic ingredients in their breakfast burritos (served all day), sandwiches and soups. Trained at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, the menu at their curbside kitchen is delectable.
360-456-5757
4th & Plum Downtown Olympia
Likely the newest addition to the 4th and Plum group, Arepa food truck arrived in December and has had a consistent flow of customers lining up for their traditional Venezuelan street food. Chef Luis, whose background was as a corporate chef, wanted to bring his roots and food to Olympia through his cooking. “We grew up with this food and want to share it with others,” said the husband-wife team. They explained an arepa is a grilled corn flour bun which is crunchy on the outside and moist in the inside, halved and filled with a variety of meat, beans, vegetables or cheese. I tried the arepa filled with black beans, caramelized onions, sweet plantain and avocado which has me craving to back to try more of their menu.
360-207-5774
4th & Plum Downtown Olympia
Lisa David and her brother Jacob opened the food truck Nineveh after recognizing that there were limited options for Middle Eastern food in Olympia. Having grown up working in her parents’ restaurant, David now blends traditional Middle Eastern cuisine with local offerings of the Pacific Northwest. The result is scrumptious falafel, shawarma, and fresh salads. I ordered the shawarma salad which tasted so fresh and an exotic mixture of flavors perfectly seasoned with a tahini dressing-absolutely delicious.
360-513-7072
4th & Plum Downtown Olympia
Tacos California may have been one of the first food trucks to roll in to town and now they have four trucks throughout Thurston County. Many claim they have the best tacos in town, which means they are a must try if you have not yet. Tacos California uses the freshest ingredients in their unique and authentic Mexican food. Just as good as the food is knowing you can find them in two Lacey locations, West Olympia and downtown Olympia – a good burrito is never far away.
360-923-1700
Tamale Fusion (Editor’s Note: Tamale Fusion is now closed)
Technically a food cart and not a food truck, Tamale Fusion is too good to not be considered as part of the food-on-wheels occurrence. When Devon McCabe moved to Olympia from California he asked himself, “Where are all the tamale carts?” In this absence, McCabe and wife, Melanie Gary, along with manager Nina Grace opened a fusion, gourmet, farm-to-fork cart located at the Olympia Downtown Commons in the luscious gardens at Fertile Ground. They specialize in making tamales by hand with fresh, local and organic ingredients such as organic blue corn masa and steam them in banana leaves rather than corn husks. The fillings are a fusion of cuisines from around the world such as a customer favorite-Ethiopian-Spiced Beef with Ricotta and Mint. The sauces all are homemade, which can also be purchased at the food co-op. Read more about their food cart here.
888-801-0315
911 Adams Street SE, Olympia
