Partly Cloudy   64.0F
Bookmark and Share Email this page Email Print this page Print Feed Feed

Food Trucks Hit Charlotte

With the recent arrival of a veritable fleet of food trucks, some of the Queen City’s tastiest dishes are being served from the sides of parked vehicles.

Harvest Moon Grille’s bright orange cart was one of the first to hit Charlotte’s streets.

Harvest Moon Grille’s bright orange cart was one of the first to hit Charlotte’s streets.

Chris Edwards

These chefs of the road are updating Twitter feeds and websites to share where you can find their roving kitchens, which offer inexpensive—and often gourmet—food. Whether you’re looking for an afternoon cupcake snack or tacos for dinner, we’ve found nine trucks worth tracking around town.

Napolitanos

The Food: Old-school Italian
Best Dish: The caprese sandwich, featuring fresh mozzarella, tomato salad, and basil on garlic bread 
Fun Fact: The truck’s owners use recipes that go far back in their Italian family.
Find It: On Twitter at @NapolitanosMkt or napolitanositalianmarket.com

Cupcake Delirium

The Food: Cupcakes and cake pops
Best Dish: “The Elvis,” a banana cupcake with peanut-butter frosting and brown-sugar candy bacon
Fun Fact: The owner’s truck, which she calls “Baby Blue,” is a converted van with a raised roof.
Find It: cupcakedelirium.com

Harvest Moon Grille

The Food: Fresh-from-the-farm dishes like deviled eggs and bacon
Best Dish: The carnitas: braised pork shank served with Ashe County cheddar cheese on a tortilla
Fun Fact: People know it as the Big Orange Truck and, since it was the city’s first real food truck, it has a loyal following among local foodies. 
Find It: harvestmoongrillecharlotte.com

Southern Cake Queen

The Food: Cakes and cupcakes
Best Dish: A strawberry cupcake with fresh strawberry puree and hot pink vanilla butter cream icing
Fun Fact: A financial planner by day, the owner can often be found selling her cupcakes at Price’s Chicken Coop in her pink former UPS truck.
Find It: On Twitter at @southerncake or southerncakequeen.com

Holy Matrimony Wingzza Truck

The Food: Wings and Pizza
Best Dish: The Carolina Buffalo Wings offer a local, barbecue-flavored twist on the traditional buffalo wing sauce
Fun Fact: This former corporate executive creates six different sauces from scratch for both the wings and the pizza.
Find It: On Twitter at @WingzzaTruck

Roots

The Food: Fresh and local fare
Best Dish: Braised pork tacos in a crisp flour tortilla with cilantro and spicy peach salsa
Fun Fact: The truck owner is a classically trained chef who often joins with local farmers to host farm-focused catered dinners.
Find It: On Twitter at @rootsfarmfood or rootsfarmfood.com

Outdoor Feasts

The Food: All things pork
Best Dish: Boudin French sausage and rice with pork, bell peppers, and onions
Fun Fact: The owner, who goes by Dan the Pig Man, often serves his award-winning Carolina Pig Pucker BBQ sauce.
Find It: outdoorfeasts.com

Roaming Fork

The Food: SoCal-style tacos
Best Dish: Blackened fish taco with roasted corn salsa and cilantro lime sauce
Fun Fact: This oversize green truck with a fork painted on the side can occasionally be found on the streets of Gastonia and other nearby towns.
Find It: On Twitter at @roamingforknc or roamingfork.net

We invite your responses and discussion. Please refrain from personal attacks, profanity, commercial promotion, or non sequiturs.

Reader Comments:
Old to new | New to old
Jul 25, 2011 04:30 pm
 Posted by  bigdog

Most of the food trucks are really good and not expensive so if you just want something different these trucks rock.You have many to choose from.There is another food truck Jim's South Philly Cheese Steak,everything is from Phila. Soooooooo good! I can never wait for them to roll in.Thank you all of the food trucks. You all rock!!!Keep up the good work..See you around

This has been flagged
Jul 26, 2011 11:13 pm
 Posted by  Frances Union

I have been to several of these trucks.... and they all rock! Big Dog is right though. Jim's South Philly Steaks got left out, lol. I have seen them with Napolitano's at the lunch lot. SO GOOD! Not sure why someone flagged Big Dog's post...

This has been flagged
Feb 14, 2012 11:46 am
 Posted by  just wishing

I am looking for a food truck that goes around to various businesses on a daily basis. Not one that cooks food, just delivers already made sandwiches, drinks, and snacks. Can anyone help me find one?

This has been flagged
May 4, 2013 08:03 pm
 Posted by  Truth

I recently attended an event that was catered by the Roots truck that was mentioned above. It was on the farm/home of friends of mine who supply Roots with fresh organic produce. The food was absolutely outstanding and unbelievably fresh. The guys running the truck are superbly talented and very nice people. Absolutely a truck to look for.

Add Your Comment