Food Truck Foodie: 3/11/12

Three days of SXSW and I'm beat, but a sweet list of free concerts, free parties and free food spots is what's keeping me going (rough life I know). This has been one of the best weeks of my life and a big part of the experience has been surviving off all of the food trucks downtown. So, a big thank you to you guys for keeping me and the rest of SXSW fed!

Here're the highlights of where I've chowed:

mmmpanadas
THE Mashable food truck (mmmpanadas wrapped in the Mashable logo) was the first truck I spotted last week when I left from my last day of work before Spring Break. I snapped this pic from the balcony of Cohn & Wolfe.

The pic was later posted on the Mashable site as I was informed via Twitter. I didn't actually sample the mmmpanadas though, I'm going to have to catch them soon.

Yumé Burger at Foodspotting Street Food Fest
We braved the rain and stopped by the Foodspotting party Saturday with a wide assortment of trucks including, Surf n Turf Poboy, Yumeburger, Peached Tortilla, One Taco, Lucy's Fried Chicken and others.

Yumé Burger has been on my list for a while now, so naturally I got this bad boy:

The Original with the awesome jalapeno-onion relish and "pink sauce."

It wasn't on their SXSW menu, but I want to go back and try the Chicken Katsu: panko encrusted deep fried chicken, Asian slaw Tonkatsu sauce and Japanese pickles. It sounds so good.

Coolhaus
Can you say free ice cream sandwich!? Not before someone jumps on you and asks where they get their own. Thanks to a startup app, PayGo (for iPhone and Android), a visit to the bing lot and a quick download of the app, and I got a chocolate chip cookie with Nutella ice cream sandwich. FO FREE.

The cookie was tasty and soft, but the Nutella ice cream was a little much for me, I'd get traditional vanilla next time.

This tweet from Coolhaus actually drew me to the truck. #pandalove

Coreanos
The same app got me a free Coreanos taco--which I later was told was a bug in the app because I was supposed to only have a $5 credit-whoops. I made up for it with a second visit to Coreanos later in the week. Seasoned fries + korean bbq chicken taco make for great refuel food.

Sidenote: Coreanos was recently named the #1 food truck in Texas and the 8th best food truck in the nation by Smithsonian Magazine. So, if you haven't tried this food yet, get moving!

**UPDATED**

Chupacabra
I've never ventured inside Chupacabra Cantina off East 6th, but I did visit the Chupacabra stand after I danced my self starving at the Jay Z show Monday (see pics below!).

My order was a version of the Yucatan Pulled Pork Tacos, but on a hoagie roll. The slow smoked pork shoulder, jack cheese, jicama slaw and habanero-sour cream hit the late-night spot.

Squarespace - P. Terry's
Squarespace, a seamless site that allows users to build sophisticated websites for their company, blog or personal business, visited SXSW again this year, but stayed for the full 9 days. So the question I have for myself is, why the heck did I not make my way to their amazing free food truck everyday?

The line up included, The Peached Tortilla, Salt & Time, Three Little Pigs, Izzos Tacos, East Side King, Man Bites Dog, Foreign and Domestic, and others. Clearly, these guys did their research and pulled together some of the best food in Austin.

The first day I stopped by was for P. Terry's, a "local chain" if you will, serving up some of the best burgers in Austin. I was having a momentary bout of insanity and ordered two veggie burgers that I made into one large burger. This was to make myself think I was being 'healthier' than ordering the real beef, which I immediately regretted. My friends all raved about their 100% all natural black angus beef patties, so at least they were satisfied!

Squarespace - FRANKLIN BARBECUE
I had planned on visiting the highly praised Franklin Barbecue (that people have a cult-like devotion to) during Spring Break/SXSW because I thought I'd have the time to wait in the 2 hour long line, but that plan never panned out.

When we went back to Squarespace the second and final time around, I nearly started crying with joy when I found out we were in line for FREE FRANKLIN BARBECUE. Free. And with only a 20 minute wait.

The brisket slider with was my favorite. I probably could have had 12 of those little bites of heaven.

Other nommings
Easy Tiger
I also had the chance to ~~pig out~~ sample the Cooking Channel + Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden party. The garlic sausage on a pretzel bun and the beer cheese were my favorites of the many, many things I tried.

Frank
I'm not sure if the 50 minute wait was worth it, but the Beer Soaked Brat from Frank was delish and held me over for the majority of St. Patty's Day. I also got two free coffees out of it because the bartender felt so bad about how long my two to-go hotdogs took.

And here are a few of my fave pics from the past week: