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Hey guys

So a friend was visiting and said to bring him to the store to pick some stuff up. I said sure why not on the way he said he needed hamburger steaks, fish, lobster ect.

So I drove about 15 minutes down torwards the gas station amd sire enough the guys where there like every tuesday thursday saturday. I said here ya go, I bought tons of cow meat steaks hamburger ect, lobsters, crabs, smelts,hadock and some pork.


He said over his dead body would he but fish from a half ton truck, or hamburger from a guy with a freezer in the back of a uhaul. It got me thinking do you guys buy any food from people off a truck or the side of the road?


Just to add I am in the country, so alot of people raise their own animals and sell the meat cutting out middle man and alot cheaper. 50$ got me nearly 30pounds of hamburger/steak/rump ect. Also I live by the coast most people have ALOT of crab traps in their yard lol.

Truck food is /awesome/. The big advantage of a lot of food trucks is that they aren't big chains with a lot of storage volume, thus you have a good chance to get fresh and really good food.

Really, really, really recommend it!

Depends on the truck and the item. Fish, not being from an ocean state, I'd be hesitant, but I know tamales are pretty common to get from road side

Depends on the truck. That said, the best tacos I ever had came from a food truck. Denying a food truck on principle alone is ass-hat stupid. You can tell your friend I said that.

Fruit.

My wife loves mangos, and there are often roadside sellers who have good prices & quality on the outskirts of our town. Some times strawberries and other fruits as well.

Personally, I'd hesitate a buying meat under such circumstances. Rule of thumb; if visual inspection is a reliable measure of quality then I'd be happy with buying roadside, otherwise, I'd prefer business with a measure of accountability

I remember the time my family got roadside ceviche..............worst vacation ever

I love food trucks, mainly for the variety. You'll never really know what you'll get, so it's like a surprise. Never been let down by one, though that's probably because I'm hardly picky.

OgreChubbs wrote:
Hey guys

So a friend was visiting and said to bring him to the store to pick some stuff up. I said sure why not on the way he said he needed hamburger steaks, fish, lobster ect.

So I drove about 15 minutes down torwards the gas station amd sire enough the guys where there like every tuesday thursday saturday. I said here ya go, I bought tons of cow meat steaks hamburger ect, lobsters, crabs, smelts,hadock and some pork.


He said over his dead body would he but fish from a half ton truck, or hamburger from a guy with a freezer in the back of a uhaul. It got me thinking do you guys buy any food from people off a truck or the side of the road?


Just to add I am in the country, so alot of people raise their own animals and sell the meat cutting out middle man and alot cheaper. 50$ got me nearly 30pounds of hamburger/steak/rump ect. Also I live by the coast most people have ALOT of crab traps in their yard lol.

My wife's family used to buy food off of trucks, as well as food that fell off of trucks. It was nasty, and anyone who wasn't raised in that house or who had escaped more than a year ago would get dire food poisoning from eating there. I had never heard of such a thing before, and Now we share a deep distrust born from experience for food off of trucks.

 Pendix wrote:
Fruit.

My wife loves mangos, and there are often roadside sellers who have good prices & quality on the outskirts of our town. Some times strawberries and other fruits as well.

Personally, I'd hesitate a buying meat under such circumstances. Rule of thumb; if visual inspection is a reliable measure of quality then I'd be happy with buying roadside, otherwise, I'd prefer business with a measure of accountability

Fruit is super common around here. Great prices as well. There's a lot of local farms who don't want to be ripped off by the supermarkets, and not much in the way of fresh food markets, so selling roadside is common.

I think there's a distinction to be made between

1.) Buying fruit or produce off a truck, which I definitely wouldn't hesitate to do since it's self-evident if fruit or produce is spoiled, generally,

2.) Buying lunch from a established "food truck" which is always at the same spot (or more or less same location), which I also wouldn't hesitate to do any more than I would hesitate to go to any other restaurant, and

3.) Buying meat & seafood from a transient refrigerated truck, because those tend to be either a.) stolen b.) spoiled, or close to, or c.) the food version of the white van speaker scam.

If we are talking about Roach Coaches, those are very different. OP, do you mean you bought prepared food from a mobile kitchen, or raw food from a transport truck?

Food from a truck is always good.

I guess it depends if you know the seller; I'd buy prepared stuff from a semi permanent trailer, but I'd never buy raw meat from a guy in a van/truck by the side of the road.

 Ouze wrote:
I think there's a distinction to be made between

1.) Buying fruit or produce off a truck, which I definitely wouldn't hesitate to do since it's self-evident if fruit or produce is spoiled, generally,

2.) Buying lunch from a established "food truck" which is always at the same spot (or more or less same location), which I also wouldn't hesitate to do any more than I would hesitate to go to any other restaurant, and

3.) Buying meat & seafood from a transient refrigerated truck, because those tend to be either a.) stolen b.) spoiled, or close to, or c.) the food version of the white van speaker scam.

Yeah, people are talking about different things here, I think.

1) Fine. Done this many times.
2) Also fine.
3) Sketchy. Proceed with caution or avoid all together.

A lot of our outdoor markets are run from huge refrigerated trucks with a counter built into the side.
Some travel to certain locations (often a village square or farm) weekly and we buy from those.
On the side of a road at random? I wouldn't. But if I knew it were a regular pitch for the truck, maybe.

Man, love me some food trucks!

As long as it looks like I won't get sick from the truck, I'm fine with it.

I think the idea of a mobile butcher/fish monger truck is actually kind of great! I would imagine setting up at farmers markets would be a snap. My only thought would be that I want to know the farm, where it is, and to be able to come see it. If they are dealing in fish, I would only be interested in local species because anything else is not going to be fresh.

Depends. I live in the countryside too, so much of what you say also applies here.

Fresh-fish vans are a pretty common sight both where I live and where I grew up. They come from the nearest fishing port or harbour, about 30-40 miles away so you can actually visit and see the vans loading up. The fish can be with you a couple of hours after coming off the boat.

Similarly for local farmers/organic growers who will often set up a delivery round and you can order in advance. My daughter took surprisingly well to the concept of "pet the pig, feed the pig, eat the pig"... not to mention ostrich...

On the other hand, another town not too far from here had a lot of roadside vans selling meat at insanely cheap prices. Turned out a lot of the meat was condemned on the continent and had been brought across on the ferry to hide its dubious provenance.

So if you have an idea where they're getting the food from, go for it - it will be cheaper and fresher than supermarket-bought. Otherwise, I'd steer clear.

Fresh fish vans are pretty common at markets, or as travelling salesmen, in the UK and since there isn't anywhere in the country more than about 2 hours drive from the sea, the fish is usually good and fresh. It helps if you know what to look for in a fresh fish, of course.

It is not much different from just buying food at the market, is it?
If it is fresh, I would definitely do it. Much better than the crap they sell in many large stores.
I would not buy seafood if I wasn't close to the sea though. I'd also be with meat. Depends on the seller, storage conditions etc. If it is just the local butcher going out to sell his wares it is very different from a total stranger.

I miss living in the city when I was in college. There were food trucks everywhere on campus - generic American food, halal (I reeeaallly want some lamb and chicken on rice with white sauce recently), a few mexican stands, a crepe truck, etc.

Oh, and there's a guy who has a stand along the highway I take when going hunting called Oink Johnsons. Incredible pulled pork sandwiches and barbecue sauce.

I think the only bad experience I ever had was finding a bolt in my beef stew and rice I got from a chinese/taiwanese place. Safe to say I never got food from them again, but that didn't stop me from getting bubble tea.

Yeah, see, being close to something other than a Great Lake (From Michigan, US) would be awesome!

We have a nice selection fresh water fish around here. Anything from the East or West coasts is going to take a while to get to us, and be pricey.

If I lived on either coast I would definitely hit up a fish truck, or market often!

 ProtoClone wrote:

We have a nice selection fresh water fish around here. Anything from the East or West coasts is going to take a while to get to us, and be pricey.

Does Michigan allow domestically caught fish to be sold in State? I know Wisconsin and Minnesota don't, or at least didn't the last time I frequented the areas where fishing was big, which was admittedly ~10 years ago.

 dogma wrote:

 ProtoClone wrote:

We have a nice selection fresh water fish around here. Anything from the East or West coasts is going to take a while to get to us, and be pricey.

Does Michigan allow domestically caught fish to be sold in State? I know Wisconsin and Minnesota don't, or at least didn't the last time I frequented the areas where fishing was big, which was admittedly ~10 years ago.

Yes.
State Regulations
• Selling fish is covered by the following laws and
regulations:
• Michigan Food Law, CRR Part 110, CFR Part 123,
Regulation 569.
• These cover the processing and sale of fish
products.
• All fish must come from approved sources
(licensed commercial fisherman and licensed
processing facilities).
• NO recreationally caught fish may be sold!

I lovr roach coaches, theyre great. One of the best places to get fresh fish is a truck that hangs out by my apartment for a few hours esch day, its good stuff and inexpensive

We buy fresh veggies occasionally from the side of the road. Lots of local folks grow extra on their farms/plots to specifically sell that way. Of course you have a few folks who buy at farmer's markets further south, and the resell it for a slightly higher price here.

The traveling freezers selling stakes and such are usually poor quality in my experience. I would not recommend buying shrimp, steak, or any other kinds of meat unless you just really want to overpay for lower quality.

Oh yeah! lots of fresh fruits/corn/ect is best bought off the farmers truck stand.

anything cooked or seafood I am wary of unless I know the seller.

The worst offender seems to be carnival trucks IMO, horrible sanitation and prices.

Have seen, and eaten from, what is basically a mobile butchers shop.


Would eat again.

Would totally buy food off a truck. I've bought doner kebabs off a market stall on the side of Freidrickstrasse in Berlin, watched the guy behind the counter (a folding plastic table) cut the meat right off the slab right there in front of me. One of the best kebabs I've ever had.

I love horsemeat,, so of course I love food trucks!

GenCon usually has had food trucks lining the streets during lunch times the last few years.

On the other hand if this is the food truck you may want to think twice: