Popular food trucks to come to KXSC Fest

DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn won’t be the only big names hitting the sixth annual KXSC Fest this Saturday. Adding to the list of vintage clothing, art and record vendors are three of L.A.’s most popular food trucks, The Grilled Cheese Truck, Kogi Truck and Coolhaus, bringing a tasty treat to the evening of music in E.F. Hutton Park.

The Grilled Cheese Truck

Pastrami melt from The Grilled Cheese Truck. – Photo courtesy of Flickr

What’s not to love about America’s ultimate comfort food?

What started as a plan to enter their Cheesy Mac and Rib Melt in LA’s 7th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational in 2007, the Grilled Cheese Truck has gained national recognition and widespread popularity. The craze for these sandwiches shows no signs of stopping, with food truck-goers waiting for as long as two hours for a sandwich during high-traffic meal times.

Putting a spin on the classic bread, cheese and butter sandwich, the Grilled Cheese Truck offers a classic plain and simple melt with eight cheese options and a variety of savory and sweet additions. Flavors range from the Sweet Sriracha Chicken Melt to the Cheesycake Melt, but the original Cheesy Mac and Rib has remained the truck’s bestseller.

Kogi Truck

When Mark Manguera and Roy Choi first thought of combining Korean and Mexican food, they didn’t expect much to come of their Korean barbecue tacos. Six years, and more than 2,000 Yelp reviews, later, Kogi Truck has become an icon of LA’s street food, offering a short and simple menu mixing the two very different cuisines.

Signature dishes, like the short rib tacos (corn tortillas topped with Korean-Mexican caramelized BBQ short ribs, salsa roja, cilantro-onion-lime relish and Kogi Truck’s signature soy Kogi slaw), are an LA staple, and other dishes, like the kimchi quesadilla and the Sriracha dessert bar, highlight the innovation behind Kogi Truck.

Coolhaus

Four words: custom ice cream sandwiches.

Sea salt caramel ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus. – Photo courtesy of Flickr

In 2008, Natasha Case and Freya Esteller found a way to combine food and architecture by baking cookies, making ice cream and naming flavor combinations after famous architects. In 2009, the two presented their Craigslist-bought food truck at Coachella and returned to L.A. with a huge fan base. Five years later, Coolhaus has 11 trucks, a store in Culver City and sandwiches in Whole Foods nationwide, all while maintaining its all-natural, handmade and organic reputation.

Coolhaus offers 16 different cookies and 65 rotating ice cream flavors (including vegan and gluten-free options for both), including classics like Mies Vanilla Rohe (vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookies) and Frank Berry (strawberry ice cream, snickerdoodle cookies), and some atypical options, like fried chicken & waffles, lychee martini sorbet and nutella rocky road and cookies comme chocolate chunk pretzel and potato chip & butterscotch. Customers can mix things up more by requesting different top and bottom cookies, and all wrappers are 100 percent edible and environmentally friendly.

Editor’s note: Olivia Jong is an intern for KXSC Radio.