Fins on the Hoof

Long lines.
Long waits.
Things sell out.
I know, I know.
But when thinking about my favorite food trucks, & realizing that I haven’t given FOTH the love they deserve yet… well, I had to rectify the situation asap.
One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life was from FOTH. They’re known for seafood, but I went for something else. Pork belly.
Pork belly.
Fried farm egg.
Special sauce.
Artisan ciabatta bread.
It was a masterpiece.
It turned me, an otherwise good, considerate, & thoughtful girl, into a rather unapologetically selfish one. I was supposed to swap half w my man for half of his.
That didn’t happen.
This sandwich was so amazingly good, that while scarfing it down, the whole plan of swapping kind of went out the window. I gave him a couple of bites, & that’s it. I polished that sammie off like a bonafide pro. It was as if I’d momentarily turned into a dude or something. It wasn’t my fault. I was in the midst of having a very serious foodgasm.
Special sauce dripping down my chin, barely sharing w my guy…
Who WAS that?!
Thrilled that they’re now part of the regular rotation at OTG Presidio.
5 stars.

A pretty simple food truck with 3 meal choices that seem to change quite frequently. Feels like an upscale FiDi lunch deli in food truck form. Solid and tasty food, but not really rave/​crave worthy. I’d totally be fine getting lunch here again if that’s what co-​workers wanted, but probably won’t go out of my way for it on my own. OK overall, hence the related 3-​star rating.
Grilled Spanish Chorizo Sandwich: Felt a little too bready compared to the amount of meat. The chorizo sausage was tasty, split vertically and grilled. I liked the tangy mustard vinaigrette sauce, a great way to cut the fattiness of a sausage.
Fries: A bit sub-​par. Some parts were crispy while others were soggy. Had a distinct oil taste which is often more noticeable is soggy parts (which get soggy by absorbing oil).

There food is decent. I tried their grass fed burger and there nothing special about it. The cook seem pretty rude to the cashier and they look piss when I try to order no onion. They seem to hate to do special order. Over priced food that is not worth the price.

FAIL. refused to make me a burger without mayo at a catered event even though they cooked most things continuously. They said it would ruin their assembly line.
Pro tip: your assembly line is already broken. Lots of people don’t like mayo, so how about offering it on the side?
Fries were greasy and undercooked. FAIL x2.
They finally agreed to make a fish taco without mayo sauce. Low quality tilapia tasted like mush on the inside. FAIL x 3.

Got the Lamb Burger with Fries, and was able to sub the fries with a green salad (they were super nice about it!!)
I didn’t really like the bun, the lamb was good, and salad was tasty. Decent food but not to die for.

Having just finished a 4 mile hike along the coast, we ended up at the Off the Grid Presidio Picnic and made Fins on the Hoof our first stop for food. There was one option on the menu which was the inevitable choice we would make. 100% Kobe beef hot dog with Foie Gras. How can you possibly resist ordering that?
It was pretty decent and I was happy with it. In addition to the dog, liver and toasted bun it was topped with some aioli and arugula. The tastes and textures all came together well.
Also on the menu was some sort of beef cheese wiz item. Only in SF will you find cheese wiz and foie gras on the same menu. Crazy food culture.
Overall, Fins is a decent food truck which changes its menu so frequently that it is always a different experience. «A-​OK.»

I came across this food truck at Off the Grid in Foster City and ordered a fried flounder sandwich. And I made a great choice! It is one of the best fish sandwich I have had.

Great food. Horrible service and attitude. The chef yells at the others in the truck. One instance, he made a racist remark at the cashier

The wagyu beef hot dog was tasty, but really didn’t taste that much different than a regular hot dog, though it might have been somewhat more tender. The toppings were disappointingly plain for such a supposedly unique meat dish. The slaw and tomatoes clashed with the taste of the dog rather than complementing it. However, it was a good portion size.

Damn out of poutine! Got a pork sando instead. Good flavors but although the bread was good, the bun was a bit overwhelming and all the filling slid out during consumption. I will have the poutine next time!

This is purely for their pork banh mi sandwich.
It’s okay, but I feel like it is a banh mi more catered towards americanized milder palettes. Somewhat disappointing. Genuine vietnamese places do better sandwiches. The pickled carrots and daikon didn’t seem pickled enough. The pork loin was grillled okay but seemed underseasoned and the slices were too thick. Finally, it just didn’t have the right heat, nor the right dressing. It was more mayo than liver pâté.
To its credit, the sandwich tasted okay enough. I finished it all. And the ingredients were all fresh. And it was really fast.
Anyway, if you’ve never had a traditional banh mi and want an intro to one before biting into a real thing in a real joint, I guess this sandwich serves as a stepping stone.

Gets one extra star (for a total of four) for quick turnaround and very generous portions. I had the lamb burger with side of fries ($ 12).
The burger itself is quite large. Cooked to a perfect medium, the grass-​fed lamb was well-​seasoned, and dressed with pickled onions, arugula and some kind of feta-​based sauce – all on a large, fresh brioche bun. Quibbles: Arugula doesn’t hold up to heat very well (wilts instantly). So I would have preferred a different lettuce. And between the feta sauce and the seasoned lamb, the burger was a bit too salty. (And I’m the type who always complains when food is under-​seasoned.) All that said, it was a great Mediterranean twist on the traditional burger. As for the fries: Perfectly crispy, well seasoned with salt and pepper, and stacked in high volume.
Overall, it was a creative burger made with top-​shelf ingredients, and I couldn’t even get close to finishing the fries.

Something caught my eye on the menu and had to be validated for authenticity… How ironic.
Greasy Hand-​Cut fries… Checked!
Sqeaky Cheese Curds… Checked!
Gravy… Checked!!!
That’s a legit Traditional Québécois Poutine for you. Will venture into more exotic toppings next time. Promise :)

Tried their lamb burger and fries at Off The Grid, Presidio. Delicious! The patty was cooked perfectly medium, and was very flavorful. Nice brioche bun too. Fries were fresh and piping hot. They were nice enough to give me a little extra aioli to dip my fries too. Wait time was not bad either. There were a lot of choices at Off the Grid and I’m glad I chose this truck :)

Bf and I finally made a return to OTG Upper Haight. We have been craving a California Burrito from Señor Sisig so we shared that. We also wanted to try a new truck, so we chose Fins on the Hoof as well. I heard about their different poutine fries, but that night they had clam chowder fries, and I do not like clam chowder at all. So we got the Chicken Confit ($ 8).
I love duck confit so I was excited to try this. The chicken confit was a thigh and leg and came with fries. It was a very good size portion. They used lemon and some herbs to season it as well as topped it with some red onion. The skin was crispy, but as with a handful of confit dishes, it was a little on the dry side. The fries were a good accompaniment to round out the dish.
I like how Fins on the Hoof is different from other trucks that normally frequent OTG. If the chicken was more moist, we totally would have given them a 4. Hopefully next time I see them, they’ll have a non-​seafoody poutine for me to try.

I’ve tried Fins on the Hoof a few more times since my last review but I haven’t really tried any of their sandwiches or plate dishes. What drew me back was their Poutine. Now after having a good sample size of it, I must say that if there’s one thing that Fins on the Hoof does really well, it’s definitely their Poutine!
They go for the gusto with their gravy and curds. The meat changes from time to time so it can be lamb one week and duck the next. The ones I’ve had with Sausage Gravy and then most recently was their Beef Brisket.
Sausage Poutine with Egg —
Beef Brisket Poutine —
Wild Mushroom and English Pea Poutine —
All of these Poutines were really good! And if you see from the pics, they give you your money’s worth with the all that meat, huge curds, gravy, and fries. It’s total poutine happiness!

Fins on the Hoof — Locale: OTG Alameda Southshore Center
My husband decided to try Fins on the Hoof since the line was not that long. He ordered the crispy chicken wings and received his order (in less than 5 minutes) while I was still standing line for my steamed tofu buns.
The chicken wings were A-​OK. It was moist, but lacked flavor… and from the expression on his face he was not raving about them. I believe he was expecting buffalo wings instead. Suggestion to him: grab that bottle of sriracha sauce and squeeze some on the wings. Result: it tasted better and he ate the rest of the wings without saying too much.
My thought: egads, he paid $ 6.00 for the wings and then had to use the sriracha sauce from the Chairman truck to doctor them up. Uh, I better find a truck that specializes in buffalo wings solely for him.

I’d give it one star, but the ladies were nice and their French accents were pretty.
Do see my photos for credibility.
The line moved painfully slow (it wasn’t that busy) at The Queen’s Day event (a Dutch celebration) and I’d never tried a «Frikandel Speciaal» (or curry ketchup). Or green Tobasco Sauce that I added for that matter. Cost: $ 8.00
I was having a rough time, busy volunteering, and needed to eat. Bit into it and got… no flavor hardly.
The day was cold and windy. I was out of sorts. Good food can fix things like this. A cold meal of unfamiliar stuff does not.
Did the ladies trick me? Was I supposed to get back in that horrible slow line of people who just text and ignore rudely behaving dogs and freeze for another ten minutes to complain? Did they see a sucker and pawned off lousy merch on me???
I didn’t know. But I was hungry. And it was edible. So I ate it.
The tobasco was nice! The curry ketchup was nice.
The bun was fluffy and not really needed, but it was food.
I was also pretty broke and couldn’t afford much more.
I’ll give you another chance, but what a dissapointment to try this food for the first time only to find it barely had any flavor. Then have to go back to work as a stranger in a strange land, shivering the whole time through.
I’ll give them one more chance though if I see the cart around some day.
Hardcore foodie that I am. *Sigh*

I was a little hesitant but the other lines were long and my tummy was grumbling. I ended up with the most succulent flat iron steak sandwich I’ve ever had the pleasure of holding. The blue cheese, roasted onions and garlic aioli were just icing on the steak.
I was also able to snag a bite of the salmon, rosemary and bacon sandwich. The salmon was moist and the cucumber crème fraîche made it a nice, refreshing lunch option.

Saw these guys at OTG — Golden Gate Fields. (
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Fins on the Hoof’s twist is a spin on surf and turf. Meat from land and sea. (
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Being the prince of porchetta just had to try their version. Thanks for the nickname Owen M.
Porchetta — $ 8 — Filled with tender pieces of pork, topped with anchoïade (a paste made from anchovies, garlic, black olives and olive oil), and wild rocket (an herb like arugula). I didn’t get much seafood flavor, more of like a slight saltiness. There weren’t much pieces of edible meat, more fatty pieces than anything. The pieces of pork skin they did include were under cooked and rubbery instead of crispy. (
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They do hook up a decent portion so I wouldn’t mind trying them again.