Food Carts: Love ‘em or leave ‘em??
Shane of Blogging.LA wrote this:
“For ten years, I’ve never given food cart vendors more than a casual glance during my time in Los Angeles. They were scenery to me, in the same league as bus stops, panhandlers and sidewalk prophets. I’d have sooner accepted tickets to a “free show” on Hollywood Boulevard than have stoppped to patronize a street vendor in front of a Bank of America.”
As I read that entry, my heart slowed a bit and my eyes got misty. I felt a little like I was punched in the stomach.
I mean, sure, he goes on to talk about eating at a fruit cart…but dear sweet Jesus! How can you not eat at food carts? How can you ignore them?
My little Philly heart swears by these things. No, really. If I need to eat cheap and quick, a food cart is my #1 choice. If I want a snack, food cart. If I’m interested in walking and enjoying my food, food cart. If I want to sit in a park, food cart. If I want something for lunch later, food cart.
Before I moved last summer, my best friend and I bought breakfast sandwiches from…you guessed it: A food cart. They were damn good, too. Melty egg and cheese on long toasty buns with ketchup and sausage for him. Really now…what’s a better way to start a moving day?
I seem to think the tradition of eating from a food cart on a regular basis is an East Coast thing. New Yorkers seem to do it with real gusto, and Philadelphia has it’s own breed of venders. My favorite carts are the R.D.D. Is Having A Fish Fry! ones in front of the 30th St. Post Office (if he’s even there), but there are highlights for me all over the city. The Belly Boys in front of the Social Security building on Spring Garden…the old man in front of the escalator at 15th St…the falafel cart at 40th and the very end of Locust Walk…the Greek Lady cart…Annie’s Hot Dog Cart on Spring Garden because she’s “Aye-shun”. Cory swears by the carts around La Salle, and UPenn friends (I know…it’s shocking, even for me) will gladly admit to enjoying a meal or two from their local food carts.
They’re just normal around here. And they are a good meal.
Why not eat at one?
Who’s right here: me and my love of the quick and delish dish or Shane and his fear of the food cart?
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LA’s more of a driving city than a walking city, so I can see food carts there having a stigma.
As for me, I get eats at the 4th and Spring Garden carts twice a week.
at drexel i used to love this one dude’s BLT hoagies. he hung out by the creese center and seriously i could not find a better lunch. i loved that stuff. and the one chinese lady who made the best kung pao chicken i EVER had in my life… and then the felafel place i found when i wandered onto penn’s campus (they looked down on me cuz i went to drexel)… man i wanna venture back into the city now just so i can get a cart meal again.
here on penn’s campus, they’re an institution. delicious, cheap, and fast. great stuff.
also, i think philly is unique in terms of the popularity and quality of food carts. i’ve never been to any other city with anything quite like it. anyone else?
Count me in - I’m especially addicted to the fruit carts. It’s all a matter of knowing who’s good and who’s not (and I’ve always been willing to put in the fieldwork…)