Summer 2024 Food Truck Guide: Where to Find the Best Food Trucks in Vancouver

We’re on a roll: thanks to a flood of food truck nominations in the Readers’ Choice division of our 2024 Restaurant Awards, we had a rich database of incredible eateries that we couldn’t fit in one magazine. So, instead, we’re recognizing some of your favourite mobile foodies here. This is your stop for top trucks: what to order and where to find them… most of the time. Hey, that’s the nature of the biz—great food is always on-the-go. Truck yeah.

Extra Credit

The Truck: Burdy

The Parking Spot: By Container Brewing on Franklin St.

Track It Down: @burdyfoodtruck

We dare you to find a spot with more impeccable vibes than the Container Brewing parking lot on a sunny day. High-spirited friends gather around picnic tables and barrel-shaped high-tops sipping IPAs, pilsners and sours out of mason jars. Joyful shouts can be heard from the Good Sauna, the pop-up hot-and-cold therapy spot that lives in the lot. And, of course, there’s the heavenly smells coming from Burdy, the cheery yellow truck-slinging chicken parm sandos (and eggplant parms, too).

Burdy’s hefty fillings require a strong foundation, a challenge that Tall Shadow Bakery’s brioche buns are happy to take on. The chicken parm sandwich ($14) holds a gloriously crunchy fried chicken thigh topped with tomato sauce and mozza—and parm, obviously—a small, if mighty, ingredient lineup. What’s even more shocking than the cold plunge across the lot is that Burdy’s add-ons (arugula, serrano peppers, pickled fennel and onion) are all under $1 each. Why not load it up with some bitter greens and crunchy tang to balance out that kickass fried chicken?

 

Side-Kick

The Truck: Rosie’s BBQ and Smokehouse

The Parking Spot: Farmers’ markets around the city

Track It Down: @rosiesbbqsmokehouse

It’s hard to miss this truck—in part because Hank, the 15-foot-long “big ole smoker,” is about as conspicuous as it gets, and in part because the smells of said smoker attract passersby of both the human and canine variety. Excited people and wistful dogs make up the line at Rosie’s, the Texas-style BBQ truck serving sandwiches, brisket, ribs, poutine and more.

Meat-wise, the thick, juicy cuts of the “4 a.m. brisket” are the low-and-slow winner here. It’s served in a bun ($17) alongside ribs and slaw ($26) or on a platter (starting at $45 for two meats and two sides). But speaking of sides, here’s a hot take (we think the grill gods can handle the heat): the cornbread ($6) here is so good that it outshines everything the smoker dishes out. Indulgently moist, surprisingly sweet and with just a hint of chilies, this side does not deserve to be treated as an afterthought. The bread’s the real smoke show.

 

Rainbow Road

The Truck: Planted Love

The Parking Spot: Cambie St. and West 8th Ave.

Track It Down: @plantedlovefoodtruck

Most of the other trucks on this list have set up shop on busy downtown streets, but Planted Love has, well, planted itself on Cambie just north of City Hall. It’s a neighbourhood well suited to Planted’s unique (but delicious) food truck fare: think fried oyster mushroom sandwiches on challah bread; sabich and falafel bowls; and house-made pita.

The classic falafel bowl ($17) bursts with vibrance: deep purple pickled cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes provide a concert of crisp colours, and the delicious green falafels are just as bright. That said, take your photos before you dig in, because that pickled cabbage mixed with generous helpings of sauce (hummus, tahini, shifka pepper and zhoug, a cilantro sauce) will turn everything purple. While burgers and fries have a special place in our heart, it’s worth noting that the vibrant freshness of Planted Love is a welcome change of pace from other trucks: this is where you go for an energizing pick-me-up, not a pre-food-coma chowdown.

 

Get That Bread

The Truck: Il Saltimbocca

The Parking Spot: Downtown at Burrard St. and W Pender St.

Track It Down: @saltimboccayvr

When rolling out a food truck, you have to accept that your wheels can’t possibly carry all of the equipment you’d have at your disposal in a traditional restaurant… right? Well, that’s not the case at Il Saltimbocca, the truck that hauls a massive red-tiled, wood-powered oven wherever it goes. The team behind east-side legend Via Tevere won’t settle for less.

But Il Saltimbocca isn’t slinging pies—instead, hot Neapolitan sandwiches are served wrapped in unfussy brown paper. One could argue that the saltimbocca has basically the same genetic makeup as a pizza (dough, meat, cheese, tomatoes, arugula) but these flavour-packed, delightfully transportable sandwiches have their own unique charm. The fan-fave piccante is filled with spicy-salty cuts of soppressata and capocollo, melty fior cheese and a homemade basil mayo that goes perfectly with that charred fresh bread. At $13, it’s a lunch deal that has downtown suits lining up at noon and ordering sandos for the whole office—or, at least, for the coworkers they like.

Hunger Crusher

The Truck: Disco Cheetah

The Parking Spot: Downtown at Robson St. and Howe St.

Track It Down:  @discocheetahyvr

An extensive menu is a sign that an eatery isn’t focused—sorry, Cheesecake Factory—and Disco Cheetah’s options are exactly the opposite. Pick a protein (there are only two choices), pick a base (rice, salad or fries) and drizzle on some sauce. Done. Instead of trying to be a jack of all trucks, Disco Cheetah is a master of two: Korean fried chicken and gochujang-glazed tofu and cauliflower. The hefty pieces of juicy chicken are crave-worthy, but don’t sleep on the vegetarian option—the sweet and spicy tofu and cauli mix will challenge even the most loyal of carnivores to go plant-based.

Disco Cheetah’s menu may be limited, but the flavours and colours aren’t. The rice bowl presents a rainbow of hue and texture (corn, edamame, pickled red onion) and even the fries are dusted with a spectacular zing. Oh, and the portion sizes are impressive, too—there’s regular ($17) and large ($20) size options, but if you ask us, even the regular has more than enough to share with the friend who “didn’t want any.”

Hot Ones

The Truck: The Frying Pan

The Parking Spot: Downtown at Burrard St. and W Pender St.

Track It Down: @thefryingpan604

How many people can you fit inside a food truck? If you’re the Frying Pan during lunch rush on a Tuesday, the answer is five. And despite the lack of elbow room, the team moves like a well-oiled (fried chicken pun intended) machine.

The Frying Pan’s chicken is hardly sandwich-regulation—instead of being patty-shaped and sized, this battered behemoth is more meat than bun (and we know that most of the $14 price tag goes toward that free-run local chicken breast). Available in four different spice levels—“no heat” to “911 hot!”—these chicken sandos are worth lining up for. And odds are you will have to queue. This is one popular truck. Crunchy pickles and a light, fresh coleslaw round out the burger, which we confess can be a bit tricky to eat. If you’re planning a lunch date with someone who won’t be able to handle bits of cabbage and fried debris occasionally escaping the adorable picnic-printed packaging, this might not be the truck for you. The Frying Pan is parked in a judgment-free zone.

 

 

For a Gouda Time

The Truck: Mom’s Grilled Cheese

The Parking Spot: Downtown at Robson St. and Howe St.

Track It Down:  @momsgrilledcheese

Mom’s Grilled Cheese has a lot to prove. The minty green, retro-checked truck specializes in a dish that anyone with a stove and a few brain cells could make at home for a buck or two. Why would we spend roughly 15 times that to have someone else do it?

Because mom knows best, that’s why. Lasting 14 years in this industry isn’t luck, and Mom’s Grilled Cheese truly does bring it when it comes to levelled-up comfort food. The “So Gouda” ($16) is perhaps the best example of this: essentials aside (fresh sourdough bread that’s perfectly grilled golden brown and crispy, oozy gouda that makes for a very Instagrammable cheese pull), this sandwich brings balanced sweetness and umami to the table thanks to slices of caramelized apple and a savoury eggplant jam that has a spicy little kick. Served with a handful of chips and a spear of pickle, it’s probably the most delicious “I told you so” you’ve ever had.