Off the Grid: Vallejo And Front

I remember back in the days when food trucks were not sophisticated and hip. When lunch hour came, the trucks would roll into their same spots and send out a loud distinction tune to let the mass of hungry people know that they’ve arrived. And they were very territorial… if another food truck tried to steal their normal spot, the owners would duke it out and shoo the other truck away as argued that they had first dibs to the location. That was the original truck wars, the food truck war of making money! But now, the demographic for food trucks are no longer targeting blue collar workers (ie. construction workers, production factories) in remote areas. Instead, OTG has turned food truck mobile restaurants into a hipster eatery. The area at Vallejo/​Front still have restaurants but if you want flavors outside of a burger or sandwich, forget it. You will not get it here. But with OTG’s keen marketing of food trucks, several trucks outside of your typical burger/​sandwiches will give you worldly options.
There are up to 5 trucks that come every Mon-​Wed-​Fri. Don’t rely too heavily on the online listings because sometimes those trucks won’t show up. You have to come with an empty stomach, clear mind and just let your noise direct you to the right direction. There’s a port-​o-​potty stationed on location but I’m not sure why. There are no tables or chairs set-​up to eat comfortably around the trucks. And 99% of the patrons work around the area and will do a mad-​dash back to their cubicles to eat in silence in front of their computer monitors.
I admit, it’s tummy-​handy having OTG in this area. But compared to other OTG’s I’ve been to, this one doesn’t have the flair and ambiance of relaxation and fun. Buy your food and go is very nostalgic. What’s not nostalgic is OTG allows for competition among the trucks, so, you’ll never see a literal truck war happening… not like the good old day…

Time: 11:57am/62°F mostly cloudy
Purpose: Attended this OTG location when it first started, just never got around to review it.
Trucks on scene: The Rib Whip, Bobcha, Bacon-​Bacon, The Peruvian Food. Ford Transit van from OTG towing portable porta potty/​sink combo with Honda generator chained and lock up.
Cleanliness: Grade-​varies from truck to truck. Couldn’t say clean or bad. May not be fair for others. Staying neutral on this situation.
Eats/​Drinks: Pull out Press Pass place on dashboard make my way to Bobcha got the bulgogi burger (free OTH). It was really nothing special, buns store bought (untoasted) cold to the touch. While melted cheese cover the magic sauce and fried egg it was also kinda messy to deal with. When lifted up the inside started slipping through the two buns. Lay it down ask for a fork to finish up. Beef needed a tad more flavoring to it, but was tasty though. Funny how magic sauce tasted like thousand island mix with another sauce, wow that’s magic. I could’ve made it myself at home with more fillings and better toasted buns for fraction of what they charges. Overall its ok if you need to eat something right away and there’s no other option available.
Products/​Services: Mostly take to go options no seating available. Can be any from 4 – 5 trucks during days of operation. Portable sink/​porta potty on site.
Punch Lines: Limited trucks, no seating, most take plastic/​square, long wait times from 11:45am-1:15pm, meter street parking (hard with restrictions), news stations, minutes to waterfront, Safeway, broadway tunnel, exploratorium.
Tradeoffs: Great for people who wants to skip Safeway and grab something gourmet like without fear of being late back to work.
Final Thoughts: This may perhaps be the smallest OTG around. It’s low key caters to near by workers mostly tech and media like myself. Now don’t assume every week the same vendors will be here. It changes and varies so come for the unexpected, but don’t be suprise if you do find your favorite. Now if you do see favorite consider it your lucky day, rare but it happens. 3 star experience for the set up and choices around.

Helene O. said «Let’s be clear… I’m thrilled to see OTG pop up anytime, anywhere» and that’s on-​point. But seriously, it’s way too small. No space, few trucks, long lines, too many people in too big a hurry.
Do yourself a favor and do Fort Mason instead. It’s huge, it’s festive, it’s fun.

Let’s be clear… I’m thrilled to see OTG pop up anytime, anywhere. There’s only enough space at this location for about 4 trucks at a time, so the lines can get long at lunchtime.
OTG seems to do a good job of organizing and rotating the trucks so the variety from week to week is pretty good. Oh, and the weekly email blast that reveals the schedule is pretty accurate – I appreciate that.
Nicely done, OTG. Thanks for making sure the people of SF are well-​fed no matter which corner of the city we’re in. We can count on you to round up the trucks and appear almost everywhere!

Ordered chicken masala over rice. Chicken super dry and has no flavor at all, sauce is watery too. Overall the sauce is too spicy and bland in all other flavors.

TANDOORI CHICKEN USA
You hurt my feelings. I was thinking of a nice warm vegetable curry with a variety of veggies, maybe some cauliflower, carrots, squash, peas, etc. The tomato curry tasted no better than jarred sauce. The vegetable curry consisted of: peas (appeared like canned) and potato, over a dried basmati rice. The naan was like leather. $ 8 dollars for this?! I tried a few bites and my stomach started talking, «Are you kidding me!?» I listened and tossed all into the compost. A $ 10 lunch completely wasted.
Off the Grid, I suggest doing some quality checks before allowing a food truck to join your gig.

Off the Grid@ Vallejo and Front was open memorial day, just barely though. 2 trucks (Hiyaaa, tandori chicken USA) were no shows
locale on front off Broadway (⁵⁄₂₇)
schedule: M, W, F, 11−3p.m.
food trucks present:
–señor sisig
–old world food
food notes:
–no free parking around
–meter people giving out tickets, didn’t want a $ 72 ticket so left.

Love it! Been working in the area 11 years and doing the same olé thiing… nice to have a change and a rotation of trucks 3x a week. Had the best cuban sandwich today, wow I say, wow. I forget the names of some of the trucks but the grilled cheese one is amazing… grilled cheese w/​tomatos, cole slaw, pickles and chips all for five buckeroos… ummmm yes please. Love the mayo & mustard truck’s turkey sando– always get some indian tandoori chicken sandwich from the indian truck… sorry can’t recall names! Love the falafel truck and the schwarma one… love eating & love you off the grid!

Only 4 food trucks. But it’s perfect for the lunch spread.
OTG: Vallejo and Front = hidden gem.
ArKi and Elevasian = my new favorites. I was pleasantly surprised by the food and the lack of crazy lines. Even with the lines, they moved pretty quick.
Service is from 11 to 2. We started at 11:30 to beat the 12 o’clock jam.
No seating but walk a few blocks and you’ll come upon an urban park.

OTG: Vallejo and Front
Organizer website:
Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 11am-​2pm
4 food trucks
A few bloggers including myself had posted and tweeted about this OTG back in March. This food truck stop opened in April 2012. Many customers showed up, so I’m surprised that nobody has posted anything on Unilocal yet. I’ll review it just so I can update my list.
The food trucks park on the street. But it’s worth mentioning that in the past, the parking lot was the site of the original Saturday’s Ferry Building Farmers Market. This is a small OTG similar to the one on 2^nd street, with only 2 food trucks (see update 2 below).
Here’s my pic of the citrus roasted pork pocket sandwich (topped with a cabbage & fennel slaw and pickled red onion),
that I bought at the Vesta Flatbread truck. It was delicious!
** Update 1: For those curious as to why this food truck spot disappeared during all of July 2012. This OTG event had to temporarily stop, because some restaurants complained about it. Any person who works in this area knows how few lunch options they have. A sandwich or taco truck open just 2 days (Wed+Fri) per week for lunch only, is hardly any competition to sit down restaurants in this area. Customers who go to restaurants for business lunches or to meet clients, are not going to change those plans for a food truck. Why can’t we office drones have a food truck? The issue has been settled for now, so this OTG will return in August 2012.
** Update 2: New changes starting November 2012, OTG added Mondays to this schedule. And doubled the number of food truck options, from 2 to 4 trucks. Yay!