Food Truck Rodeo - Rebus Works

As the battle rages on between food trucks and the City of Raleigh, businesses continue to bring food to the victims of the whole fight, the people. To kick off their new Saturday Market, Rebus Works hosted a Food Truck Rodeo. These events have been becoming increasingly popular in Durham but only a few of those events are ever hosted in Raleigh.

Traditional Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

I've seen the talk about the Grilled Cheese Bus pop up in my FaceBook newsfeed for weeks. The anticipation to finally get this food truck on the road was thick, as was my anticipation to try the food. We arrived at the rodeo only an hour into the event and the Grilled Cheese Bus had sold out signs covering up the front of their menu. Disappointed, I stood in the in line for the Bulkogi Taco Truck which was so long it merged into what would be the Grilled Cheese bus line. As we slowly tip toed forward in the Bulkogi line a voice in the Grilled Cheese Bus yelled out, "Four more sandwiches left!" My ears perked up and I frantically called Sara, who was taking care of the scared puppy (darn loud generator), to take my spot in line.

Once the sandwich was purchased I heard a lot of people questioning the price. "$4.50 for a grilled cheese? I mean how hard is it to make a grilled cheese?" To be honest I questioned it myself. But the products are all local and the taste was delicious. The bread had a great crust and had a nice chew. The whole sandwich was complimented by the a nicely done tomato soup.

Gunmandu

After the sandwich was all but gone we were still slowly moving forward the line for Bulkogi Taco Truck. Sara and I were fortunate enough to enjoy their food before so we were excited to have them again. Yet unfortunately the trucks were unable to handle the crowds, it seemed. Despite having 6 food trucks there, everyone had a huge line. With these huge lines came with long waits and rushed food. This is were the Food Truck Rodeo idea fails. Part of the experience of dining from a food truck is great food on the run. Also most of the trucks were running out of food quickly. Almost as important, the beer ran out before we even arrived.

Bulkogi typically puts out great food. Since the rodeo I've order there again and the food was delicious. But while the gunmandu was great the kimchi quesadilla was horribly burnt. So much that Sara couldn't enjoy even one bite of the food.

Kimchi Quesdilla

I look forward to the day that the City of Raleigh relax the rules on food trucks so we as patrons do not have to rely on these types of events to enjoy their food. Because as of right now I'd rather catch one in the middle of the night on a street corner than suffering the waits of a food truck rodeo.

"Loud noises scare me... but I love grilled cheese!"

Rebus Works

301-2 Kinsey St Raleigh, NC

919-754-8452

http://www.rebusworks.us/

Grilled Cheese Bus

http://grilledcheesebus.org

Bulkogi Taco Truck
http://twitter.com/#!/ncbulkogi

PieBird

I think you know your town has made it culinary-wise when restaurants start opening that focus on one dish. I remember browsing the streets of Philly and being impressed with how many of those types of restaurants were able to survive. Could you imagine a place that just did Pad Thai surviving in Raleigh? Not yet anyways. That's what I found intriguing about the opening of PieBird-- would Raleigh be able to keep an pie place alive?

Black Bottom Pie

Ideally I wanted to grab a couple of pieces of pie and head back home. But once we arrived at the cozy location off of Peace St., there wasn't any counter for slices to go. What else surprised me was the fact there was a hostess who sat us rather than us grabbing our own seats. Listening to the seats around us it appeared that the service was still trying to work out its opening week kinks. There were a lot of apologizes from the staff to those patrons and even our server wasn't exactly sure of the whole dessert pie menu.

Listing off the pies, I inquired about what Black Bottom pie was. Once she said the words Oreo cookie crust, I knew that Black Bottom would be my choice. The custard had an interesting texture, it was very firm. The meringue on top was extremely soft and sweet. I had it mostly by itself because combined with rest of the pie made the flavor too sweet even for myself. Of course my favorite part of the pie was the crust. In the end I regretted not trying out a traditional pie crust pie because it would truly showcase the "pastry angels," as they like being called, skills.

Blueberry Pie

Lucky for me Sara decided to go with the Blueberry Pie. When it first came out surrounded by a bright yellow sauce, I immediately thought it was a very weird shade for a caramel sauce. I dipped my finger in the sauce and to my surprise it was mango sauce surrounding the pie. I wasn't quite sure how blueberries and mango would compliment each other but it ended up to be a delicious piece of pie.

We have cupcake places, we have hot dog places, but is Raleigh really ready to expand their repertoire to accept a pie place? I hope it is.

PieBird
618 N. Person Street, Raleigh, NC 27601

919-508-7612

http://piebirdraleigh.com/