Caplansky’s Thunderin’ Thelma

Food is plain, boring and unauthentic served by slovenly unprofessional looking kids, avoid unless you have no other option.

It was nice to see Caplansky’s food truck at Richmond Hill Ribfest this weekend.
Too bad I was loaded with ribs and have no rooms for more smoked meat, bbq brisket or fries…
The Maple Bacon Donuts ($ 1) though was a delicious treat, love the hint of ginger.
Until we meet again Thunderin’ Thelma, I would definitely try out other offerings on your menu!

I’ll preface this review by noting that I never used to be a big meat person. A smoked meat sandwich would not have been something I would have picked. That being said, when I heard that Thunderin’ Thema would be on Ryerson’s campus, I had to try it.
First of all, food was ready in minutes (maybe 5 minutes, its super cold out today and I didn’t have to stand around for more than 5 minutes) and was piping hot after it was handed out the window to me. Unfortunately I didn’t get to eat it right away but once I did, I was very pleased. The meat was super marbled, lots of tasty tasty fat in with the super tender meat. I tried out three of the four mustards they had: honey mustard, which was a true, honey mustard… thick, sweet and not too mustardy; mild and delicious, which was fairly spicy but nice and mustardy; and hot, which was far too hot for my tastebuds but really did set off the meat in the sandwich. The rye bread was nice and fresh and soft.
The fries were very good, but there was too much salt on them. This could have been because the salt is fairly coarse but a little less salt would have been great. The fact that the fries were great even when they were cold tells me they would have been fantastic if I’d had the chance to eat them hot.
Everyone goes on about these pickles… well they’re right. Super tasty pickle to go with the sandwich and I’m not always a pickle person.
The price, $ 14 for the smoked meat sandwich, fries and a pop seems steep but buying a sandwich with drink and a side downtown always runs over $ 10. This was well worth the extra few bucks and I’ll for sure be back to try out their brisket.

I was SOOO looking forward to it, and I was SOOO thouroughly disappointed!
You might think that you are going to get something at least approaching a smoked meat sandwich with that thinly shaved, meaty, salty, nitrite filled goodness that you have come to expect from a smoked meat sandwich, with the meat bursting out from under the rye toast, but you’d be horribly, disappointingly, infuriatingly, wrong.
What you get instead is some disgustingly unappetizing, days old, thick cut «something» that consists at least 50% gristle, connective tissue and uncooked whitish fat… and you know beef fat isn’t that appetizing to begin with … But that is what you got to contend with.
The only redeeming part of this meal would be the crisp pickle. Or the option to throw it right back in the vendor’s face (if that were legal. which it should be in this case.)
I would suggest that you stay clear of this truck and if you really have a hankering for street meat, go look for one of those disgusting sausages at any corner hotdog vendor … Believe me, you’ll get better value for your $ 3.50 canadian there than you would here for three times the price.
You’ve been warned.

My first and last experience with Caplansky’s was only through their food truck. Which I recommended for a friends wedding that I was helping with the planning.
It seemed like a great option, they went for the tasting, loved the food and booked the truck. Email confirmation and contracts in place.
Four months before the wedding my friend called to confirm numbers and food specifications and they didn’t return her calls. A few days later, they called to let her know that they wouldn’t be at her wedding because they were going to go to the CNE instead.
The CNE is the exact same time every single year. And they knew that when they took her booking, but told her they didn’t want to turn down the CNE because it was more money.
Four months before her wedding. On one of the busiest wedding days of the year.
They offered little apologies and no recommendations for an alternative except offering to ‘drop off’ poutine around 7pm. Obviously cold soggy poutine was not what she was hoping to serve.
Thanks for nothing Caplanksy’s.
Luckily we hauled ass and between her and her fiancé, family memebers and myself managed to find another food truck. Hogtown Smoke was delicious and managed to not bail last minute for a better paying gig.

Cap had the first food truck in the city but I had the first vpn pizza oven on wheels in Ontario.
Too bad the city makes it near impossible to eat anything other than a $ 4 crappy hot dog and a $ 1.50 bottle of water
You need to get on his twitter to see where he is every day and it event based or sitting on private property (so they don’t get a $ 500 ticket).
Enjoy a nice corned beef $ 7 instead and bring your own water.
They do poutine as well but i have never ever seen any puotine in any deli in new york or spadina when there was more than one deli to choose from

Part of the pilot project in Toronto-​August and September. I really hope this project picks up because it really is a wonderful way to enjoy And explore the city! It was parked at Allan Gardens on Carlton and Sherborne which is 5 mins walk from where I work.
I ordered the roast meat sandwich with slaw and poutine. Everything was delicious. The server/​cook guy suggested it with the very spicy mustard and honey garlic mustard mixed together for the sandwich and I’m glad he did. It really made all the difference.
The poutine… Man oh mannnn that was the best poutine ever!!! He was saying they used like the scrapings from the meat to make the gravy… It was so good it took a lot of self control to share it!
This meal was enough for my bf and I to share for $ 17. Which is steep for a food truck. We were full but considering we weren’t that hungry to begin with, which leaves me, so I’m torn.
I have to admit, after having this meal, I was craving something green and leafy!

Location: King St W/​Spadina, beside the hostel.
Great location!
It’s been here every day, for the past few weeks. Always open during the lunch time rush.
I’m not sure about the evening hours, but they did tell me they’re open late late at night, hoping the after club/​hours crowd will come by. Amazing idea, as the food pickings late night is slim on this side of spadina, unless you want pizza.
You can hangout at the picnic benches beside/​hind the hostel.
Hope the patio stays that clean in the summer (it’s a dirty shit hole any other time).
I’m basing this review off of the 2 times I’ve ordered the exact same thing: a smoked meat sandwich, fries and coleslaw (it was an option at my 2^nd visit)
$ 14 for a ‘combo’ — sandwich, fries & canned pop.
The meat was SUPER SUPER dry and tough, during both of my visits spaced about a week apart. The fries are awesome.
The bread, meh. Whatever.
Pickle was good. It was pickley (?)
$ 5 for coleslaw. Which is basically a cup of overpriced cabbage in vinegar. It’s great coleslaw, but the price makes absolutely NO SENSE. (see pic)
Apparently they want the truck to be a permanent fixture at this location, so finger’s crossed they get enough traffic to make it a go .
But next time I’ll be going here i have a french fry craving. The sandwich isn’t good.

Honestly more like a 3.5. I’ve ordered the smoked meat poutine before, and honestly it looks TERRIBLY unappetizing. However, I found that amidst all the poutine’s I’ve tried, the fries were the most well made. Somehow amidst all the gravy, the fries were the crispiest I’ve ever had in a poutine. My only complaint would be that both the gravy and smoked meat are salty ingredients, making the poutine really thirst inducing. It also comes in a big portion and I actually had some difficulty finishing it.
On a second visit, I got the beef brisket sliders along with the maple bacon donuts. The sliders were ok, maybe a bit too tangy for my taste, where it seemed more like pulled pork than brisket. As for the bacon donuts, I think it’s a novelty item, and I think there may be other donut places that could offer a better rendition of a bacon donut. Caplansky’s donut wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding either. I found that the sweetness of the dough and the syrup overwhelmed the bacon a bit. Nonetheless I think this is a decent food truck for lunch, and I would return to try the reuben spring rolls, which was what I wanted but wasn’t on the menu on my visit.

Night four of the TIFF food trucks. First up was Thunderin’ Thelma.
For $ 7 I got a nice sized smoked meat sandwich. It was very simple, just rye bread and meat served with a big slice of pickle. The meat had great flavour, a nice thick cut, and great marbling. On the table next to the truck there was a few choices of mustard and a bottle of ketchup. I seriously hope the ketchup was for the sliders or poutine and people aren’t putting it on their smoked meat sandwiches.
I also tried the Maple Beef-​Bacon Doughnuts ($ 3). These were really tasty and I wish I had saved them to the end. Also, it would have been nice if they had been warm. I guess they made them ahead of time, not when I ordered them. Either way, a nice doughy ball with bacon inside it, drizzled with maple syrup is good for my taste buds.