By Britt Thorson  |  Seattle Refined
On the heels of our Open Letter to The Food Truck Scene, we were a little incredulous to try out the new Mobile Mavens food truck fleet.
Let’s back up. Mobile Mavens is a group of food trucks created by Bon Appétit Management Company with a twist – instead of actual trucks, the foods comes in branded retro campers and bike carts. Aesthetically, they look awesome, kind of like something out of the 70s. One of my favorite food trucks is a taco truck on Rainier Ave. South, and I have to admit – the dilapidation of the truck makes it hard to thoroughly enjoy the tacos. I mean, I still do – but with a little trepidation.
The Mobile Mavens fleet are just cute. There is no way around it. You may have seen their first couple trucks that launched in 2014 around town:Biscuit Box and Pop Up. The success of those two meant that this week they were willing to ramp things up, and add three more.
Lil’ Blu + Half Pint. Wait for it…it’s a mobile bar. Yes! Love this idea. We tried the Moscow Mule and the frozen boozy lemonade, and while both were great, we came away wanting five more of the lemonade. Every time I’m at a beach or a park this summer I’ll be looking around for Lil’ Blu.
Gaibox. It’s funny how the simplest ideas can be the most brilliant. Gaibox serves up chicken and rice bowls, with your choice of sauce. That’s it; just order the bowl and pick your sauce. We went for the Lampang Sauce and it was great – but we’d ask for triple the amount next time.
Picnic. Sandwiches, plain and simple. We tried and loved the Jamaican Meat Pie, but they also have the Alder Smoked Turkey Sammy, Italian Skagit River Ranch Sausage Meatball Hoagie (say that ten times fast), and PB&Js.
While I enjoyed tasting the new items, I walked away being the most satisfied by the original two Mobile Mavens. Pop Up was serving creamsicles and Cupcake Royale Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie + Hazelnut Brittle with Chocolate Ganache Chunk Ice Cream that Stole. The. Show. Hands down.
But my mother taught me well and I didn’t just have dessert for dinner, I saved that for Biscuit Box’s Smothered Ham & Cheese Biscuit. You guys. If you haven’t had it yet, I highly encourage you track the truck down and order it now. It was one of the best things I’ve tasted in a long time.
But Biscuit Box and Pop Up have had time to get everything right, and we have no doubt the other Mobile Mavens will do the same. Good luck to them, and tweet/Instagram us @SeattleRefined with what you think when you try them!
