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Updated May 31
You chowed. We listened.
Out of hundreds of nominations for the Ultimate Philly Food Truck bracket presented by the Philadelphia Contributionship, dozens of vendors were submitted.
Local fan favorites Stuff’d Buns and Cupcake Carnivale led with the most nods, which leads us to conclude that whoever is doing their job managing these mobile restaurants’ social media pages is probably deserving of a raise, or should move on from tweeting about food truck brackets and pursue a career in political campaigning. (Good job, truly.)
Those two were followed by Halal Gyro King, which received the second-most nominations. This cart on 12th and Chestnut is apparently considered to be the OG halal truck in Philly by many ardent admirers.
Notable mentions include Hawker: East Inspired Eats, Bangin’ Curry Franklin, Sweet Lavender and Dump N’ Roll, who all were accorded significant praise and emphatic recognition by their loyal regulars. Bangin’ Curry Franklin, according to one entry, has “the best furikake wasabi fries!” while another entry divulged that Hawker has “the best handmade bao and the friendliest owners.”
One person — who, in all likelihood, was probably trolling us — decided to submit every single food truck that haunts Temple University’s campus and surrounding areas. Every. Single. One.
It was a daunting task to narrow the field down to 32.
In the end, we made sure to give preference to the vendors that have stayed gracing the streets and haven’t gone “brick and mortar,” to the vendors that weren’t getting as much publicity as customers say they deserve, and to the operators who regularly vend in Philadelphia proper (we’re truly sorry, lovers of All Aboard Cafe).
We split all the contenders into four main categories: Handheld, Hearty, Sweets and Snacks.
Vote for your favorite in each matchup to narrow down the competition to a Sweet 16, which we’ll present next week. After that, we’ll see who makes it to the Elite Eight, the Final Four and the Championship Round — which will determine the winner of the glorious title of the Ultimate Philly Food Truck.
We encourage you to try all of these 32 food trucks so you can make informed judgments — you needed an excuse, right? Also, stay tuned for our related food truck event, details coming soon.
For now, cast your votes below until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 5.
