Pork Sandwich Guide

I love sandwiches, and I love pork. It would follow, then, that I also love pork sandwiches. It is that affinity that inspired the following guide—which is, obviously, subject to change with the introduction of new sandwiches. Yes, the scoring is a little skewed-- it's what happens when there's not really a "bad" sandwich in the bunch.

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Mobile Vendor	Sandwich	Rating (1-10)	Comments
Untamed Cart	Porketta w/ house-pickled onions, arugula and horseradish/Dijon mayo on ciabatta	11	This has to be my favorite sandwich found on the streets of Minneapolis. Served from a modest cart, this sandwich is truly spectacular.
Get Sauced	Kalbi pork w/ chinese cabbage slaw, and wasabi mayo on toasted bun	10	Asian-style pulled pork sandwich from the folks who brought us the amazing apple slaw-topped, award winning sauce-slathered BBQ pork sandwich pictured above. This sandwich is another winner.
Dandelion Kitchen	Porchetta w/ rosemary and orange zest, ancho-chili aioli and purple cabbage kraut on a bun	10	There should be no doubt that the engineers of one of the most amazing roast chicken sandwiches I’ve had would be able to pull off a dazzling porchetta.
Dandelion Kitchen	Smashed pork (beer and lemon-grass braised) w/ house-made tomatillo salsa, pickled onions and arugula on a bun	10	D.K. has long been one of my favorite Twin Cities mobile food vendors, because they’re so friendly and their sandwiches are so inspired. This one is no exception.
Get Sauced	Pulled pork w/ Minnesota State Fair blue ribbon-winning Sweat Heat BBQ sauce, Carolina granny apple slaw on a toasted roll *pictured*	10	New to the streets of Minneapolis, when the cold weather comes—I might miss you the most because we’ve had the least amount of time together.
Twisted Sister House of Hunger	BBQ Pulled Pork Slyders w/ cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon	10	I’m 100% on board with pork sandwiches that include bacon as a garnish.
Fork In the Road Truck	BBQ Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese	10	Magic. Pure, unadulterated magic.
Twisted Sister House of Hunger	Bleu Pig Slyders w/ “buffalo” style sauce, bleu cheese crumbles and celery	9	They pull this off beautifully.
Hola Arepa	Pulled Pork Arepa w/ black beans, cotija cheese and special sauce	8	Adding one of their fresh salsas will bring this sandwich up to a 9, but I feel like their pulled chicken arepa is the biggest winner on their menu.

Parched: A Beverage Profile.

My daily lunch dilemma was further complicated today by Hola Arepa's announcement proclaiming they were serving ginger mint lemonade. Having already set my heart on the crab roll, a special of the day at Smack Shack, I would likely still be thirsty. Lucky for me there was no line at Hola when I was walking by and was able to get said lemonade.

Most of the trucks have some wonderful and refreshing beverages to go with their food offerings-- long lines typically make getting just a beverage at the truck a near impossibility, but there are certainly some beverages worth the wait, and at around $2 each for a 10 oz. cup, are a bargain to avoid the old soda stand-by.

Dandelion Kitchen serves a variety of house-made sodas. So far this season I've seen basil-lime, lemon-ginger, orange-cardamom and my personal favorite: rosemary-grapefruit.

Hola Arepa boasts several different kinds of lemonade, including cucumber-lavender, rhubarb-ginger, pineapple-caraway, and today's mint-ginger-- which tops my list. They also have iced teas: blood orange-hibiscus, strawberry-hibiscus... And if you're serving lemonade and iced tea, you may as well mix them together. So they do, offering an Arnie Palmer.

Vellee Deli serves a watermelon mint agua fresca, Chef Shack offers an Arnie Palmer, get a strawberry lemonade from Fork In the Road, and Barrio Truck serves a variety of Jarritos sodas.

If you want coconut juice, you'll need to go to WSK.

Food Truck Frenzy.

It started one day during the winter of 2009, with mini donuts and a complimentary cup of hot chocolate on Nicollet Mall, from Chef Shack, after work when I was trying to get out of Downtown Minneapolis before the Holidazzle parade started.

And last spring, the thought of escaping the skyways and their "Burger Mondays" and "Taco Tuesdays" was exilarating. The promise of a menu driven by local and seasonal ingredients served from vibrant trucks dotting the Minneapolis streetscape set the tone of the day. I tuned in to Twitter and eagerly anticipated the "windows up" messages, so I could rush down 30 floors to beat the long lines that would inevitably form.

My scheduled vacation this past fall turned into a week long game of find-the-food-trucks-in-St. Paul. And as the weather turned cold, and most trucks went into storage for the season (and their operators ventured off to far off exotic locales), I found solace in Fork In The Road truck, who offered delivery. A recent recreational trip to Los Angeles found me dedicating a day to dragging my good friend and host around town in search of the inspiration for my favorite sandwich from the ladies at Fork In The Road, and an innovative ice cream sandwich truck known for pushing creative boundaries.

This year, with Minneapolis expanding mobile food vendor opportunities, I expect my daily lunch decision to be a pleasant sort of agony, and my weekends to be spent bicycling to local Farmer's Markets to seek out the purveyors that don't yet make the streets of downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul their destination. The food truck frenzy makes finding that lunchtime gem, once an exercise in futility, an absolute pleasure.