The Truck Stop

Not an actual truck stop, and just a gas station so a little disappointed. Buck almost got stuck! But they had some tasty treats. Buch of little food trucks with some $ 10 — $ 12 dishes, man I pigged out. No one to wash my truck though, which knocks it down a star. NOT A REAL TRUCK STOP.

Last night, my husband surprised me on our date night by taking me to the Truck Stop.
It’s basically a gas station that they allow 5 food trucks to pull in and set up shop. Last night they had the Grilled Cheese truck, Lobster truck, Iron Skillet, and a few others were there.
I headed straight for the Lobster truck… lobster meat loaded into a butter dipped roll. What more could you ask for? It was Perfection! We showed up around 8 and it wasn’t too crowded, the longest line was for the Grilled Cheese Truck which makes sense because it’s amazingly delicious but I was in the mood for something expensive. My lobster sandwich was $ 12! Not cheap if your dining on a budget but it was mighty tasty.
So if you need a quick bit and you find yourself on La Brea and Beverly, why not have a Truck Stop!!!

Tonight was one of those magical Los Angeles moments: those «only in LA» moments where you say that with wide eyes and a sense of wonder instead of with an eye roll and fist shake. Tonight Mr. Pink and I went to grab some videos at Rocket (yup, some movies just never made DVD), and found the alley shockingly congested! Was there some event at the video store? Nope! Whilst driving past, a «road stove”– a gourmet fancypants food truck– caught my eye at the gas station. Curious about the crowd, I suggested we mosey on over there instead of our usual «dinner and a movie» dates.
Huh. Turns out there wasn’t ONE food truck, it was a Road Stove Convention! YAY! No, let me correct myself: it was an urban community neighborhood picnic! No, wait – it was a corner hangout – no, no (nomnom), a BLOCK PARTY!
About a month ago the Valero gas station closed down. Boo for the lost jobs, but strike one for the little guys bringing community to the people. Apparently (via their facebook page) they’re open every Wed, Thurs & Sat night and everyday for lunch. Which is fannnnntastic. My very favorite part of the night was watching this tough looking cop excitedly pointing out his favorite fsushi choice to someone else in line– «…and it’s FRIED! «he said with a grin, waving his arms around wildlly ;)
Fancy or grungy, finding your favorite food truck can be a bit of an adventure, which admittedly is often half the fun! What made this great – and different from the other «truck stops» wasn’t the variety (although hot dog, grilled cheese, breffast, pancake and fried sushi isn’t a bad combo-​for-​all). It was their fantastic use of space! There were picnic tables and little bistro sets strewn about the parking lot with people sitting and chatting under the harsh glare of the gas station lights, guys leaning out of stove windows enticing you in with carnival flair (this the delicious dogtown dogs, which we had seconds of immediately). There were people in line politely waiting without pretention but perhaps a bit of drool.. and those people wating, they were TALKING to eachother! Perfect strangers! In the streets of LA! It’s probably gratuitous at this point to point out that I’ll return,; but return I will, with a mission, and that mission will involve tater tots. err, I meant COMMUNITY!