We’re rolling through summer at full speed, but don’t forget to brake for Pittsburgh food trucks! These three cruising kitchens are bringing the heat along with culinary delights that range from Dominican empanadas to doughnuts. Check out our previous roundups and mark your calendar for the 7th Annual North Hills Food Truck Festival on Sept. 12 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish.
Zorros, which is Spanish for “fox,” is on the hunt. The Mt. Lebanon-based Dominican restaurant is launching a food truck that will focus on empanadas, which are popping up all over Pittsburgh. Zorros will offer four to five different flavors along with Cuban sandwiches, pressed chicken sandwiches, shoestring fries, sweet plantains and combo options with rice and beans. The owners have applied for a liquor permit extension so they can serve their homemade sangria on the go as well.
Isaac Barreto makes avant-garde plant-based tacos.
The chef is constantly experimenting with different flavor combinations, taking inspiration from different cuisines and from other foodies on social media.
He’s made spicy garlic tacos (inspired by a street noodle dish) and peanut butter and banana breakfast tacos (which may have been inspired by Elvis). You can order a Sleeping Ranchero Taco of the Week online for Sunday distribution.
This week’s feature is barbacoa mushroom tacos with portobellos smoked with applewood, aji verde sauce and lemon pickled red onions.
Barreto regularly sets up shop at Trace Brewing in Bloomfield. Catch Sleeping Ranchero there again on Aug. 5 from 5 to 9 p.m. Don’t snooze on this one, folks.
It’s hip to be square.
Valkyrie Doughnuts aren’t the typical shape, but they’re making the rounds all over Pittsburgh.
The large, egg-free, dairy-free, scratch-made pastries debuted in Florida in 2016, but the pop-up doughnut shop is a familiar sight in front of many local farmers’ markets and businesses, including Allegheny City Brewing on the North Side, Adda Bazaar in Garfield and Millvale’s Curated Flame.
There are usually a dozen varieties at each event, ranging from glazed, churro and apple fritter to key lime pie, French toast and white chocolate peppermint. They sell out fast so get ready to battle for them like the Valkyries from Norse mythology.