Street Eat Beat Where to find your favorite food truck this holiday season

The idea of running a food truck during the winter—especially when Accuweather has gone on record that “the worst of winter 2011-2012 is aimed at Chicago”—sounds like a terrible idea. Not according to Joaquin Soler of Brown Bag Lunch Truck. Soler is one of many food truck owners who is finding creative ways to stay afloat during a time when food trucks, as well as the rest of the restaurant industry, lag in business. As the temperature drops and the holidays get close, many choose the comfort of their own home over braving the weather for good eats. 

In addition to its regular route during the Thanksgiving holiday, Brown Bag offered side dish preparation to accompany that slaved over turkey. It’s extending that idea to a catering service aimed toward feeding holiday party goers. Along with La Adelita Food Truck, Brown Bag Lunch Truck will be offering the Ultimate Delivery Combo, where with a five-entree minimum, BBLT and La Adelita will deliver lunch truck fare to an office. The current delivery area is from the lake to Halsted and Division to Roosevelt, but the delivery area can be extended for orders of $100 or more. For those who live in Logan and Lincoln Squares, BBLT offers dinner pick-up from Provenance Food And Wine.

Brown Bag Lunch Trunk and La Adelita aren’t the only trucks getting creative this winter, and although some trucks have already headed for warmer grounds or parked outside their respected brick and mortar establishments, many trucks are still out there braving the weather. With the holidays coming up, don’t let the love for the food truck die. Here are just a few food trucks Chicagoans will still be able to find during the cold days to come:

Bridgeport Pasty Company
Jay Sebastian and Carrie Clark of Bridgeport Pasty are planning on “toughing out the notoriously brutal Chicago winter with our little baby, Patsy the Pastymobile. Our hot savory pies are perfect cold weather food. We’ve got a young, hardy, bike messenger as our driver and he can handle most weather. Our current business model is restricted to lunch runs only, and those will continue.” Sebastian does say that although the ovens are hot, this will be the Pasty Mobile’s first Chicago winter, and the little electric truck has limited range. Because of this, Sebastian and Clark are forced to get creative. “We have yet to see what the cold will do to the batteries,” they say. “Lead acid and lithium ion both have diminished charging capabilities in the cold.” With plans to recycle some of the excess warming oven heat back into the cab and battery compartment, all should be well. Plus, in weather like this, even the Pasty Mobile has a pair of wool socks to keep warm, as the oven warming hoses will be wrapped in special wool socks to trap the heat. In addition to savory pie specials, there will be a few cold weather drinks offered including cider, hot chocolate, coffee, and eggnog.

5411 Empanadas
Prior to its days of food truck stops and Twitter location feeds, 5411 Empanadas was delivering its Argentine pockets throughout the Chicago area. Even with the baby blue food truck’s surge of business this past year, it hasn’t slowed down the delivery service in the least bit. For delivery, an order of 24 empanadas is required and must be placed within 24 hours before the scheduled time. 5411 Empanadas also offers catering service and will go as far as bringing their ovens to a home or office and make the crispy greatness on the spot.

Sweet Ride
A holiday host could go as far as to not even touch the oven this holiday season. For those who have a sweet spot for cupcakes, whoopie pies, puddings, cake pops, and other desserts, consider hiring the Sweet Ride food truck to swing by an event. For $75 an hour plus the cost of treats, Sweet Ride will roll up and provide everything needed for the perfect dessert party, holiday party, ending to a meal, or holiday surprise.

Sweet Spot Macarons
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” says Alice Diec, Marketing Manager for Sweet Spot Macarons. “Since we just started, it seems we have no choice but to try to brave the winter.” Diec says that while she doesn’t know exactly when they’ll change the food truck route, they will probably reduce the number of hours the truck is out, since the sun sets so early. To supplement, Sweet Spot will also work on getting more delivery orders. “We’ve definitely been getting requests for deliveries, which also helps us reach people in areas where we can’t find proper parking without violating food truck laws.” For the holiday season, they are taking orders for holiday macaron gift boxes. Each package comes with either five or 10 macarons, containing one or two of each: salted caramel, chocolate espresso, passion fruit, pistachio, and strawberry. Sweet Spot also supplies macarons to Next Door Cafe in Lakeview.  

Homage Street Food and La Adelita—bar food to soak up the spirits
According to Food Truck Freak, both La Adelita Truck and Homage Street Food have paired up with local bars to expand clientele and bring in more business. The Adelita truck has taken over the kitchen of Kick Off Sports Bar in Albany Park Friday through Monday, and Homage is serving up food at Lizard’s Liquid Lounge (Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri-Saturday 5 p.m.-1 a.m.). Both trucks are also available for private catering.