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They’re always there for us.

By the park for an impromptu taco picnic. At the corner of the office building, breaking up cubicle life with the comforts of mac and cheese. Past the Parkway concert stage at 1 a.m., when our bodies dripping with sweat, beer and dirt need nothing more than a couple fried cheese curds to feel human again.

Food trucks can be lifesavers, or at least a very welcome sight. Luckily for Philadelphians, the city has a robust repertoire of mobile food vendors.

The breadth of diverse cuisines and crafty bites our trucks offer have even received national attention. Food Truck Nation, a project of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, ranked Philly No. 4 out of 20 top food truck cities. There’s an in-depth, 64-page report on how we got there if you’re interested in some light reading.

Philly used to have the annual Vendy Awards contest to help guide us through the fray, but the event was cancelled in 2016 and never returned. Also, not all vendors were able to participate in that event, since it required giving up a whole day of vending to contend.

We’ve got a new way to suss out the best of the best. Welcome to our Ultimate Philly Food Truck bracket.

We need your help to narrow the field to just 32 contenders to populate out an NCAA-style ballot. You’ve previously helped us find the Ultimate Philadelphia Neighborhood, the Ultimate Philly Sandwich and the hotly-debated, always controversial Ultimate Philly Cheesesteak, so we know we can count on you.

Here’s how it works:

  • Nominate your favorite food truck.
  • If you want to nominate additional trucks, feel free to fill out the form multiple times.
  • We’ll use that list, along with our research, to create the Ultimate Philly Food Truck Bracket, presented by The Philadelphia Contributionship.
  • Come back and vote your favorite into each new round, so it can eventually be named the Ultimate Philly Food Truck.

Also worth mentioning:

  • All food trucks that regularly vend within Philly’s city limits are eligible (but try to keep it locally-owned).
  • Base your nomination on the quality of the food and the overall experience.
  • Yes, we are including carts (mobile operations that don’t have their own engines and are pulled by a trailer).
  • If you want to nominate a “halal cart” and don’t know its name, you can identify it by location.

Nominate your favorites by 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 29, using this Google Form.

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