Wandering New Orleans – Food Trucks

Even on vacation, I find myself wandering for their mobile cuisine

When I traveled down to New Orleans, food truck La Cocinita alerted me of a Local Love Festival going on with restaurants and shops on Magazine Street.  That morning, I jumped on the St. Charles Avenue street car, got off at Felicity (for a detour to Hi-Volt) and walked down to a Wandering Love Fest on Food Trucks.

La Cocinita

The name translates to “The Little Kitchen” and serves authentic, Latin American Street Food.  La Concinita’s menu is very simple with choose your vessel, choose your meat, and then your sauce.  I prefer arepas, because of their pocket shape, which makes eating on the go convenient.  You get two arepas per order, so we ordered one Chorizo and one Lechon (Braised Pork).  We also alternated the sauces with Roasted Poblano Sauce and Chipotle Crema.  We split these two arepas, but one was pretty filling.

Empanada Intifada

Blame the catchy jingle, but anything that has meat and in a pocket, I’m all for it.  That microwave meal actually stole its origin from the empanada, but unfortunately empanadas can’t sue for royalties.  I enjoyed empanadas off a truck in Chicago (with the popular 5411 Empanadas), so I wasn’t shy trying Empanada Intifada.  We enjoyed the Mestizo Meat Pie and a Satsuma (orange) Glazed Pulled Pork empanadas.  We also added a little salsa to our basket, which gave it some nice flavor.

NOLA Girl

Last food truck we tried was NOLA Girl, which served local New Orleans and Southern cuisine. Since we had a lot today, I wanted to get something smaller that she offered.  The Bacon Mac & Cheese looked like something that could be shared.  This Mac & Cheese reminded me something of homemade and Southern.  I had to grab the fork out of my wife’s hands in order to get more than the obligatory taste.

Brigade Coffee

Also at this event was Brigade Coffee.  The ’79 Citroen H-Van is something you would have found on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Though somehow the owners found the van and decided to bring it New Orleans.  The light khaki color makes the van look menacing and, to the uneducated (which includes me), battle-tested.  Though the theme is used throughout as the employee manning the van is dressed in a camouflage shirt.  I visited the truck during the last minutes, but I was still able to try an Iced Coffee. The truck uses its own beans, and based on some research they use Latin American beans.  After walking Magazine street all afternoon, this was the perfect drink.

Missed Opportunity

I try to live a life of No Regrets (always move forward).  But, this might have to go in that “Could Have Been Love, But It’s Over Now” list.  The King Cake Burger is, in the words of Food Drunk’s Facebook Page: “…It’s House Ground Black Angus Brisket –Aged Sharp Cheddar–A Custom Made “KingCake Bun” ( which we have been working on with a local Baker) Thats it: 3 Ingredients, It’s a not your everyday Burger ..Buuuut it is Damn Good!”

“@cupcakeblog: RT @djsoulsister: Don’t forget @fooddrunknola‘s King Cake Burger. pic.twitter.com/o9631JFcuZ” Crazy but cool :)!! #kingcake #NOLA

— Feeona Carbonara (@FeeonaCarbonara) March 2, 2014

That picture will make you want find them in New Orleans.

Keep Wandering,

@RUWandering