El Rincon del Mar: Food Truck in Hatillo, PR.

​The food truck craze that has taken over the United States may have well started in Puerto Rico. On La Isla del Encanto, food trucks are everywhere. "Food trucks have been in Puerto Rico for at least ten years," my travel companion explained.

El Churry, in the city of Rio Piedra, is one of the most popular food trucks in Puerto Rico. It stations itself in the evenings on a grimy city street by the metro campus of the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico and stays open until 3 or 4 a.m. with lines that stretch almost a full city block.

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Cooking Channel

James Cunningham is the food truck guy.

​Food trucks are a natural fit for TV -- part restaurant and part carnival attraction. Each chef and rolling kitchen has a unique story. As host of Cooking Channel's Eat Street, the new series that follows the street food craze around the country, James Cunninghan has his work cut out for him -- namely eating his way through miles and miles of burgers, tacos, schnitzels, perogies and sandwiches. James told Short Order about his adventures on the road, naming his craziest finds and inventing his own truck.

New Times: You're a stand-up comedian, but don't really have a food background. How did you get the gig hosting Eat Street?

James Cunningham: I auditioned for a completely different show. Apparently, my audition was passed around and I got a call from Vancouver. The production company that was doing Eat Street said we have a new food show on the Cooking Channel, would you like to try out. They wanted me to fly out to New York and do a test shoot that weekend with The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and Schnitzel & Things. My girlfriend lives in New York, so I thought, sure! We shot some test segments and it went so well and there was so much chemistry between everyone that we shot the first couple of segments right then and there!

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Try Giuseppe's Italian Sausage at the Biscayne Triangle Truck Roundup tonight from 5:30 to 10 on NE 127th Street and Biscayne Boulevard.

It's hard not to love sausage and peppers. Even vegetarians drool a little when they pass peppers sweating on the grill, even if they're next to links of savory meat.

Owner of mobile unit Giuseppe's Italian Sausage, Joseph Messina knows his sausages. A New York native of Sicilian descent, Messina began working in the business of grilled meat at his uncle's sausage trailer before he was old enough to vote, visiting festivals around the Big Apple. He arrived in Florida in 1995 and has recently become a regular on the Miami food truck scene. Short Order asked Messina about the chow he slings.

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Trina Sargalski

Yellow Submarine at one of the earlier food truck gatherings--the Fall for the Arts festival last year.

​We've been hearing a lot more about food trucks lately.  But I must ask, where is the cross-cultural perspective, the historical view? Here, for your consideration, are some selected (recent-ish) moments in U.S. food truck history....

Los Angeles is like Miami's cool, older cousin when it comes to food trucks...the city is well past its awkward phase. Of course, Roy Choi of Kogi is an icon for many food truck owners.  He was the first food truck chef to get a "Best New Chef" title from Food & Wine.

Food trucks in L.A. are so numerous that you can now get daily coupon deals (a la Groupon, Living Social, etc,) at FoodTruckDeals.com.

South of Los Angeles, in Orange County, it was old school loncheras that paved the way at the beginning of the decade, eeking out 5 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 90 minutes, then an unlimited amount of parking time from the city of Santa Ana in 2006. Check out Gustavo Arellano's chronicle of "Bribery, Threats, Broken-Down Vehicles, Lawsuits, Pioneers, Good Food" for more on loncheras in Orange County.

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​Brickell is turning out to be the hub for St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Tobacco Road will host more than 20 food trucks and vendors this Thursday during the Brickell Shamrock Festival.

The bar will serve green beer, and a live band and DJ will keep the party going.

Participating trucks include the Fish Box, Latin Burger & Taco, Dim Ssäm a Gogo, Sugar Rush, CheeseMeMobile, Ms. Cheezious, Sugar Yummy Mama, Dolci Peccati, Yellow Submarine, the Rolling Stove, Montaco, Slow Food Truck, Latin House Grill, Daddy's Grill, the MexZican Gourmet, Caza Crepes, Gastropod, Jefe's Original, Muscle Truck, and Red Koi.

Divan Bakery, Brian Aaron Catering, Cuenca Cigars, and Atelier Monnier will also be there.

The party goes from 5:30 to 11 p.m.

Still not sure this is where you want to celebrate? Check out these other St. Patrick's Day options.

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There's even a little bench for little people.

​The Biscayne Triangle Truck Roundup, or BTTR, is quite a spectacle! About thirty food trucks meet each Tuesday on the Johnson & Wales campus (127th and Biscayne Blvd.) bringing together all sorts of people in their love of mobile meals. There's live music, plenty of space to pop a squat, and tons of edible options from which to choose. The long line of food trucks serve children and adults, cops, and culinary students in their white uniforms. While other food truck meet-ups are often forced to move due to bureaucratic confusion, this one seems quite comfortable and secure in its location. It's worth visiting next week.

Check out photos from BTTR last night after the jump.

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​​Every March, Miami welcomes electronica-crazed masses eager to sweat and do drugs all over our Winter Music Conference. This year, Camarena Tequila will be feeding both the conference tourists, art walkers, and the food truck-crazed locals with tequila-infused tacos.

You heard right. Tacos with tequila in them. The booze company's food truck make its way around town for the next month and a half. The Camarena truck will be making its first appearance on March 7 at noon in downtown Miami at 244 NE First Ave. The tacos were designed by chef Jose Gonzalez a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and former executive chef at 10 Degrees bar in New York who now lives in Miami.

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Courtesy of El Rey de las Fritas

​Everyday a new truck, it seems. The latest restaurant to hop onto the food truck bandwagon is the popular El Rey de las Fritas, best known for its Cuban hamburgers -- or fritas.

"We've see how it's been crazy with everyone doing a food truck," co-owner Mercedes Gonzalez told Short Order. "We thought we can do this. It's an awesome idea."

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Annette Peikert/soulofmiami.com

Felecia Hatcher is a Palm Beach native, former Wii slinger, and a true ice cream lover. She and her husband Derick Pearson co-own Feverish one of the longest running "food" trucks in the area, selling frozen desserts. They just introduced six new Feverish carts around the city, taking their sweets to unexplored and harder-to-get-to-in-a-truck places. The look and vibe is fun and funky -- and ice cream's the perfect way to bring down your body temp on a steamy Miami eve.

As the weather warms, you'll be seeing more of Feverish at the food truck meet-ups. They'll likely be at the Biscayne Plaza (NE 81st Street and Biscayne Boulevard, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) on Thursday afternoons and on Tuesday evenings at the North End Biscayne Triangle Truck Roundup (127th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, 5:30 to 10 p.m.). They'll be parked at Las Olas Farmers Market this Sunday, the Jackson Memorial Hospital Farmer's Market on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Wilton Manors Farmers Market in March.

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