On July 26th, Gainesville will be having its monthly food truck rally at High Dive, with twelve different food trucks/stands in attendance. For the past few years, food trucks have been growing in both popularity and demand, with trucks offering specialty cuisine not found anywhere else. When grouped together, food trucks can be overwhelming with their wide array of culinary choices, so here’s a comprehensive guide to some of the main vendors at Gainesville’s rally.
Soup to Nuts
This was my first stop during the rally due to one specific item that popped out to me: a pulled pork mac and cheese sandwich. A cross between a pulled pork sandwich and a grilled cheese sandwich, this is what I would call a stroke of culinary genius. This sandwich took an entire meal and placed it into one easy-to-eat sandwich that is both delicious and hearty. I would highly recommend it to anyone attending the rally and would happily order it again.
I also ordered their truffle and parmesan fries, which were pretty tasty. However, with all the food available at the rally, I would either recommend splitting the fries with friends or just forgoing the fries all together in order to save room for all the rest of the delicious food the rally has to offer.
Pelican Brothers
One of the most interesting dishes I saw at the rally was the chicken and waffle sliders.This dish wins my award for the best item at the rally. Though sliders tend to have a reputation for being small appetizers, this slider defies all its predecessors. It easily serves as a meal– a delectable one at that. Bursting with flavor, this slider is essentially a deep fried chicken breast smothered with maple gravy and sandwiched between two quarters of a waffle. The chicken had a crispy, thick exterior fried to perfection, and the maple gravy tied the entire slider together, adding that bit of sweetness needed counteract to the saltiness of the chicken. If I could recommend one item to readers, this would be it.
Humble Pie
This pizza truck may have the name “Humble Pie”, but the pies this truck serves are far from humble in taste! The prices can be a bit high for a pizza, but the amount of food given and the quality of the pizza itself makes it a worthy splurge. I ordered the sweet and savory pizza, which is topped with Granny Smith apples, candied walnuts, bleu cheese, mozzarella cheese and local honey. I was hooked after the first bite. This pizza had the precise amount of tartness from the apples, and the cheeses to counteract the sweetness of the walnuts and the honey- it was highly addicting. My mouth still waters at the thought of it. The pizza was a decent size for one person, and if eaten alone, could serve as a filling meal on its own.
Baboyz
Being a Filipina, this Filipino food truck from Orlando caught my eye right away and I knew I would have to make a stop at it. I ordered one of my favorite Filipino meals: a barbeque kabob with rice and lumpia (eggrolls). Filipino barbeque is extremely different from American barbeque in taste and presentation. it usually isn’t served with a sauce and has a smokier taste with just a bit of Asian infusion to it. I have to say it wasn’t the best Filipino food I’ve eaten and was just so-so for me, but I have a pretty high standard for Filipino food, growing up around it my whole life. Both the barbeque and the lumpia were pretty good, and seemed popular around the rally. If you have adventurous taste buds that long to sample global cuisine, this would be the truck for you.
Sherri’s Pop-Up
This gourmet popsicle stand was one of the more popular stops at the rally and a personal favorite. The owner makes these popsicles herself and creates some pretty unique and delicious flavors. I wanted to try them all! I ended up getting the salted caramel popsicle and it was the perfect way to end my trip to the rally. It was very creamy and extraordinarily rich in flavor. These popsicles are more expensive than the ones you would typically buy in the store, but I would happily buy more of them!
Happy eating!
