Rickshaw Stop Food Truck -- San Antonio, TX

If you watch much food television, you know that Austin has become known for a plethora of unique food trucks. San Antonio is so close to Austin that it was only a matter of time before the food trucks began popping up there as well. As a matter of fact, San Antonio has it's very own food truck park, Boardwalk on Bulverde, (www.boardwalkonbulverde.com) located at 14732 Bulverde Rd., right next to Cruising Kitchens, which appears to be a shop that has something to do with the manufacturing or customizing of food trucks. The park is large with a playground, plenty of tables and loud music.

We were there on a Saturday around 12:30 p.m. and there were three other people in the park. That gave us pause until we began to realize that the area is mostly business oriented. I would imagine (hope) that the place is buzzing at lunch during the week. We looked around at the trucks and most seemed to sell what you'd expect -- hot dogs, burgers, tacos, cupcakes, etc. Wanting something a little more unique, we settled for Rickshaw Stop (210-902-9308/www.facebook.com/RickshawStopSA), which claimed authentic Pakistani street food. Now, I don't know a thing about Pakistani food, so I cannot tell you whether their food is authentic or not. What I can tell you is that it was really quite tasty.

Rob and I were in San Antonio for our anniversary and had reservations for that evening. We didn't want to spoil our appetite, so we didn't order much. We had the beef kebab and two samosas, one beef and one chicken. The kebab is served on a flatbread like a taco and the samosas are pastry wrapped around ground meat and herbs in a triangle shape, then fried. We were given three small cups of sauce with our order. The first was for the samosas. It was a sweet sauce made with honey. The other two were for the kebab. One was herbs in oil and the other was creamy. The flatbread was light with thin layers, similar to a tortilla, but not. It was a little oily, but not greasy. The kebab meat had a great smoky flavor and was very tender, and the samosas were rich and spicy.

We enjoyed our snack at Rickshaw Stop and would recommend it. I would say it was worth finding. Some of the other trucks that were there that day include: Society Bakery, which has been featured on Food Network (cupcakes, pastries), Dirty Dawgs (gourmet hotdogs), Crazy Carls (burgers/smoked meats), and Red King (tacos). These trucks and others are pictured on the webpage and they all can be followed on facebook and twitter.

Atrisco Cafe & Bar - Santa Fe, NM

After arriving in Santa Fe we thought we'd see where our cooking class was located and stumbled onto the Atrisco Cafe & Bar. It's located in the DeVargas Mall on Peralta St., just inside the entrance. It's a small but lively place serving up New Mexican dishes. The staff seems to take care of each other's tables, so we weren't sure who our actual server was.

We both ordered the Lite Plate which is described as including one rolled chicken enchilada, rice, beans, posole and a choice of sauce. Well, of course, we both ordered "Christmas" since every place has their own sauce recipes. The plates arrived and I was surprised to see hominy on the plate. Evidently, hominy is considered posole, at least in this establishment. I thought posole was more of a soup/stew that often contains hominy, so I looked it up in the dictionary and found I was right. I love when that happens!

Lite Plate

Anyway, the flavors were all there, and it seems that sopaipillas (that's how it's spelled here) are to New Mexico cuisine like flour tortillas are to Tex-Mex -- served with every dish. Both sauces were pretty high on the heat scale and we were not warned about it. Even Rob commented that the heat was more than expected. He loved it, but recognized that most people might not. As a matter of fact, I asked about the heat factor when ordering and was told that the green sauce was hotter. Fortunately, we like heat, but this was almost too much. I don't normally suffer with stomach problems after eating spicy foods, but I carried this one with me for several hours.

We liked Atrisco and went back a couple days later for a glass of wine. The atmosphere is comfortable and colorful, the prices moderate, and the staff are friendly. The food was really good, but if you have a low tolerance for heat order carfully!