Keep on Truckin’ – 11 South African Food Trucks

Food trucks are another hot, up-and-coming food and travel trend, despite the fact that they have been around for ages. Their origins lie in the American West when chuck wagons and pushcarts fed hungry cowboys, as well as urban workers.

Today its function is much the same, but the rise in the popularity of live shows has created another avenue for food trucks to get back in business and sell their edible goods to festival-goers and outdoor-lovers alike; and the best way to stay in touch while they’re on the go is tracking their social tread.

We’ve selected 11 of our favourite South African food trucks across Jozi and the Cape with a uniquely SA twist.

Jumping around Jo’burg

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1. Balkan Burger

Burgers are climbing up the foodie ladder to jostle for position as a gourmet dish. This usually means there is a hefty price attached, but not so when it comes to Balkan Burger.

Hot-footing it across the City of Gold, their well-priced burgers are designed with culinary care and precision to avoid the dismay of soggy buns.

Created by siblings Lidija and Bojan Ivanovic, along with their parents, you can also find these scrumptious servings of Serbian burgers at Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein, Fourways Farmers’ Market and Market on Main in Maboneng.

Follow them at @balkanburgerbus

2. Full of Beans

A three-wheeled Vespa truck serving the needs of quality coffee-lovers throughout the city, Full of Beans was created by Marcio Mordoh. Although his last name bears a striking resemblance to one of literature’s most evil locations, his coffee is anything but. South Africa’s coffee culture is slowly but surely growing and Full of Beans is a great place to start as you’ll be able to fulfil any caffeine-fuelled needs and cap the experience with a confectionary item or two. Follow them at @fullofbeans_

3. Tutto Food Co.

For fans of fusion, Tutto Food Co.’s truck is a must. Serving self-styled Afro-Mediterranean food you can expect to find mouth-watering flatbreads, enormous pans of paella and refreshing gazpacho.

Started by Daniel and Clementine Forsthofer, their boldly-painted black and yellow truck is impossible to miss at the trendy urban hotspots they frequent such as Parktown, Greenside and George Hay Park.

Follow them @tuttofoodco

4. Vuyo’s

Food trucks are becoming so popular there are even franchising options, which is what Vuyo’s does in an effort to provide opportunities to budding entrepreneurs. With brightly painted red and white trucks, Vuyo’s is the go-to place if you’re looking for a local favourite, whether it’s boerewors rolls, chicken wings or potjiekos. The tale behind its origin is quite colourful as well. The owner, Miles Kubheka, was inspired by a fictional TV character in an advert for Hansa Pilsner, called Vuyo. In the ad a young man sells boerewors rolls from a truck and eventually ends up sailing around the world in a yacht. Miles transplanted the story into reality and so Vuyo’s was born, giving us a fine example of life imitating art and providing inspiration to all big dreamers and doers. Follow them at @Vuyobeegdreamer

5. Down to Earth Farm Feast

Best friends Dany Krynauw and Danielle Strydom dreamt up the idea of Down to Earth Farm Feast with the aim of reconnecting people with the origin of food. They took an old Bedford bus and set up shop, so to speak, on farms around Gauteng. However, they do venture into the urban jungles every so often.

Even though they focus on moving around South Africa’s smallest, but busiest, province, you can recommend a farm to them, and they have travelled outside of Gauteng’s borders.

Keeping their food seasonal and local, they also aim to connect people by setting up a communal dining table where people can “arrive as strangers [and] leave as friends.

Follow them on Down to Earth Farm Feasts

6. Treat

The first kind of food truck you ever encountered was probably an ice-cream van. Who can forget those lazy afternoons when the tinkling tunes of the approaching truck promised respite from the heat? They’re still around, but have expanded to include options such as frozen yoghurt and roll down more than just your usual neighbourhood streets. Treat, a pink and white van serving frozen yoghurt, can be found at big events around the city, as well as at the best food markets. Follow them on Treat Real Frozen Yogurt

Post by TREAT Real Frozen Yogurt.

Cape Cuisine

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7. Cafeteria Guerilla Gastronomica

Spending weekdays around and about the city, and their Saturdays at Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill, Cafeteria Guerilla Gastronomica offers a variety of flavourful comfort dishes such as pan-fried banana bread served with double thick Greek yoghurt, fresh berries and cinnamon sugar; Thai-curried roast butternut soup; slow-roast leg of lamb; boerewors meatloaf open sandwich, and sourdough bread with wholegrain mustard – all of which they make from scratch.

Follow them at @cafeteriamobile

8. Limoncello

Having closed shop on his Cape Town restaurant of the same name, owner Luca Castiglione decided to open a food truck instead. He took the concept a step further by developing and trademarking Cape Town Food Trucks, which aims to help other restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs set up and run branded food trucks. His own truck, Limocello’s, serves a mouth-watering variety of Nepalese cuisine such as calzones and Paninis. The truck can be found frequenting Harrington Street, Oudekraal and various other spots around Cape Town, as well as festivals and events such as Rocking the Daisies and First Thursdays. Follow them @CTFoodTrucks

9. Detour Espresso Bar

Coffee along the coast doesn’t get any better than Marck Barter’s Detour Espresso Bar, situated along the Llandudno to Camps Bay Road. He opens shop at 7:00 with his canine compadre Tokoloshe, perfectly primed to serve commuters their daily dose of caffeine.

He then closes shop at 12:30 to hit the waves and spend the afternoon surfing with his other love: the deep blue sea.

10. The Good Life

If you thought mobile dining was all about keeping it quick and simple, think again. The Good Life veers away from the kind of fare you would expect to find and serves top-notch dishes fit for the most fastidious fine diners. Their notable dishes include prawn tempura with sumac aioli, designer beef burger with truffle infusion, venison burger with bourbon-poached pears and brie, Thai crab salad wrap, Moroccan chicken and vegetable cous cous pita. Regular haunts include Oudekraal and Harrington Street, and they’ve also been seen Rocking the Daisies and Kamers Vol Geskenke in Stellenbosch. Follow them at @thegoodlife_ct

11. The Soft Machine

This ice-cream truck is nothing at all like William Burroughs’ book of the same name, but just as the author experimented with literary techniques, so does Kobus van der Merwe experiment with soft serve.

Many ice-cream makers have become creative when it comes to their concoctions and The Soft Machine joins the flavourful fun by offering a variety of taste sensations including moerkoffie with cinnamon spice snaps, melktert, and real strawberry with meringue.

They can also be found at Neighbourgoods Market and Oudekraal.

Follow them at @thesoftmachine1

Feature image by downtoearth.travel