Track that Truck - The Southern’s Mac & Cheese Hits the Streets
By Minna A in Food on Feb 18, 2011 8:00PM
“Hi there! Come on over! I swear it’s good... it’s like crack, it’ll keep you coming back!” says truck owner Jim Lasky as he ushers over pedestrians to the mobile kitchen embossed with their logo of a skillet atop oozing cheese. His calls are almost unnecessary on day of Chicagoist's visit, as the crowd forms quickly and most of the dishes are gone within half an hour. Launched last week, The Southern Mac & Cheese food truck caters to the lunch crowds that are fans of their southern-style hearty mac and cheese.
Operated by The Southern Lasky and executive chef Cary Taylor, the mac and cheese truck was their way to expand their menu to the lunch crowd, as their brick and mortar restaurant, The Southern, is not open for weekday lunch. Their mobile restaurant was warmly welcomed to the food truck scene when it was launched last week, even working alongside fellow food trucker Matt Maroni of Gaztro-Wagon their first week of operation. The new food truck aspires to work with rather than compete against fellow food trucks, informing twitterers about their location only after determining where others are parked. “We don’t want to step on Matt’s, or anyone else’s toes,” said Lasky in a recent WBEZ interview, “the more the merrier,” he says of the competition.
On the Chicagoist visit, we quickly joined the growing line and drooled over the day’s offerings: Cheesey Cheddar and Franks, Bacon and Blue Cheese, Smoked Gouda with Apple and Walnuts, and Sun-dried Tomatoes with Caramelized Onions. Our advice is to get to this truck quick, as by the time we got to the front, only two options we’re left.
Portions are fairly large (brace yourself for a post-lunch carb and cheese coma) and cost between $8 - $12. We sampled their bacon and blue cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and caramelized onion mac & cheese, both decadently rich and flavorful with the bacon and blue cheese variety full of piquant blue flavor and savory bacon. The sun-dried tomato and caramelized onion option is a dish full of whats promised with a decent portion of tart sun-dried tomatoes and savory caramelized onion strings mixed into the bunch. The dishes are, however, mildly lukewarm as, per regulation, all dishes we’re prepared off-site before being loaded onto the truck. Although their truck covered in the image of gooey cheese had us wishing for some fresh skillet-made hot mac and cheese.
Keep an eye out for their menu to change soon, as their summer menu may include pasta salads, farm fresh salads and an assortment of gazpachos. For their daily location, follow them on twitter at @thesouthernmac.