The Chili Philosopher

つº oº つ RAISE YOUR CUTLERY つº oº つ
Quick Bite:
As pleasing to the eye as it is heavy, as long as you know what you’re signing up for you’re gonna have a good time.
Full Course:
Firstly, I gotta say that I love the way this truck looks, I think in terms of artwork it might be the best-​designed truck I’ve ever seen. It has a neat kind of mysterious aesthetic to it. Like, what exactly is the theme? Is it supposed to be some kind of existential question about chili? I dunno, it looks good though.
I got the Ultimate Chili Cheese fries, and in a rare feat of food truck production, the final product actually looked better than the picture. Like holy cow, I was so stoked. As you can see from the picture, this is a very heavy meal, and I loved it. The chili was fantastic, and I loved the chimichurri sauce that adorned the top. So good, this dish is quite strong on flavor. My oooonly wish was that cheese was melted a little on top, and not simply sprinkled, that would have been awesome. I think it was just a little too chilled.
All things considered, I strongly suggest this truck and strongly suggest getting these fries. Assuming of course, you’re ready not to move for a little bit or have an extra person. It’s a lot of food for the buck, it really is.
— The Gourmand League

Suuuuuuupeeer sloooooow
A half an hour wait for an order might be a tad excessive. Also expect these guys to close down early at any point. Here’s a tip for the truck, when the guy taking orders is done he might want help get out the food instead of sitting on the step of his truck when there are 7 people waiting for food. A customer ahead of me waited at least 30 minutes for a bowl of chili. How is is the food you ask? As others have said the chilli tastes sort of sweet. I expected more from a chili «philosopher»

The food might be good, but I’ll never know, thanks to the atrocious «service» at this food truck…
This truck was at the LA Times Festival of Books, and I wanted to try something different. The line was on the shorter side (for reasons that will be discussed below!) and the photos of the menu items looked good, so I got in line.
For the first ten minutes, it was moving slowly, but no worries – it’s moving and I’ve got time.
Two minutes later, when I was fourth from the front, I noticed that the line had stopped moving at ALL. And that there was no one taking orders at the order line. Looked around and saw that there was a crowd of people waiting to get the food that they had ordered, and figured «OK, they’re backed up and the order-​taker is helping out for a couple of minutes. They’d tell us if it were going to be longer, right?»
TEN minutes later (and since I was on my smartphone, I am not exaggerating about the time), we are still waiting, with no explanation as to what was going on. At this point, I had enough, went up to the front, and asked «Excuse me, is anyone going to take our order?» The huffy response was «We’re putting orders together – I told them» as she pointed to the people in the very front of the line. I said «Well, that doesn’t tell the rest of us what’s going on,» added that theirs was the slowest line of all the food trucks, and GTFO.
I went back to the food truck I used yesterday (Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, which was excellent.) Despite the fact that I had to get to the back of their line and wait again, when I got to the front of their line I turned back and saw that the people who had been right behind me were STILL waiting! Meaning, the other food truck managed to take the orders of the twelve people in front of me more quickly than this food truck managed to take of a third of that amount.
Here’s some philosophy for the operators and employees of this truck:
Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou
Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.
Anne Frank
Without labor nothing prospers.
Sophocles

Delicious! I’m currently working at the Los Angeles VA, which is visited by different food trucks on a daily basis. I had looked up the schedule of food trucks and was expecting Cuban food, band when I saw chili I must say I was a little disappointed, but that didn’t last long. I ordered the chili infused burger with fries. The burger was delicious, nicely toasted bread with pickled onions to cut through the rich beef patty and chili. The fries were a little flabby, but still tasty. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars was for the price and the flabby fries. I tried some of my friends cornbread too which was amazing! Highly recommend this truck.

The Chili Philosopher food truck makes an appearance Wednesdays at Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles. I really liked the mild chili with cornbread. It was a flavorful and filling meal at a good price. The chili is full of high-​quality beef chuck, the cornbread is fresh outta the oven, and the service is quick and friendly. Top it off with a Mexican Coke, and you have a good quickie meal that also has the plus of requiring a walk through one of the most tree-​needy parks you will ever encounter.

I used to be afraid of chili. As a slim, elfin, homo-​on-​the-​go, chili represented everything I was not and could not have. Fat. Masculinity. Flavor. Ruggedness. Calories. Beef. Fritos.
And then the very large british man handed me the Eco-​friendly box of chili with accompanying cornbread.
I raised the spoon to my mouth, and then there it was, everything I thought I feared, waiting for me at the top of the staircase, arm outstretched, goofy grin, turning serious right as it bent me back for the kiss. A chili baptism.

Triple Beef Chili was amazing and its gluten free! We also tried the turkey chili with the coconut sour cream and that was just as tasty! You can tell quality ingredients go in into these dishes.
I highly recommend this truck and the owners were great at answering all the questions!

Fuck these guys, was in line waiting to order and as the person in front of me pays I get cut off and was told no more orders and just walks away, keep in mind I was in line before they put up the «closed» sign. Horrible attitude.

If I came from a long-​line of chili cooking ancestral background, I’m sure I would enjoy this chili. Nahm’sayin?
Reminds me of the Key and Peele — Soul Food video…

I have to say. $ 9.00 for chilli cheese fries? Only once right? To satisfy the curious mind how good the chili cheese fries could possibly be? The chilli that good? Is that the reason there’s a huge line at the truck?
Yes. On all accounts. Possibly the best gourmet chili cheese fries I have ever tasted. The chili, the cheese, incredible.
The serving size could have been a little bit more, that’s why the 4 stars. Otherwise I wouldve given the truck 5 stars. Best you might ever taste. Do yourself a favor one night… you won’t regret it.
And what is chili without cornbread? Exactly, nothing. So when I noticed it on the menu, it was a must try. Served right out of the oven, hot, buttery, flaky crust. It doesnt fall apart on you when you eat it. Delicious, a must have when ordering chili.

Had the grilled chicken wrap today for lunch and it was the right balance of stuffing and pita. The sauce was spicier than I thought it would be… it was perfectly delicious!
Can’t wait to try the chili with the coconut sour cream and jasmine cornbread!

I stopped at the truck just to grab a cold can of soda…
They told me $ 2 for a can of soda. And before you say that’s the crazy part…
I pulled out a $ 5 and they told me they don’t have change and anyways they are not open yet?
I was crazy enough to pay the $ 2 for a can of soda and then they did not have change AND they told me it would not matter since they are not open. Wow sums it all up based on this experience. Hope you guys have a better experience here.

Holy god! This meal helped me find God again! The god of chili cheese fries that is… Chimichurri steak chili cheese fries with fried egg… Wow so delicious. Perfectly fried egg and fries. Chili with massive chunks of meat and beans. Spice level just hot enough to achieve that perfect burn on your tongue. And Chimichurri… Oh the Chimichurri… I think I just died…

Food:
Grabbed the chili infused burger ($ 9+tax) at the Chili Philosopher truck today for lunch. It was a good size and was a decent burger. I really didn’t get any taste of the chili in it tho. I think it would have been better if they actually put some chili as a topping for the burger and then I could see it being super tasty and messy.
Service:
You don’t expect to get much service at a food truck but it took ~30 minutes for me to get my burger. If you just get the chili+corn bread, it comes out pretty quick, but for the others waiting for their burger, hot dog, or chili fries, good luck if you can get your food in a reasonable amount of time. There were 3 guys in the truck (1 orderer, 2 cooks) and it took forever for some of us to get our food. They also charge $ 0.30 service fee if you want to use your credit card.

No chili without beans.
Chili was aight, not great and definitely not worth price.
People on truck were not friendly at all.
The only thing worth the 2 star rating was their cornbread which was really good.

Not very happy.
Can’t believe the chili bowl, which was the size of my fist, was $ 11. With tax and the stupid Square surcharge, I paid a WHOPPING $ 12.50 for mediocre chili and cornbread.
The chili was not really what I expected… it was very creamy, sweet, and coconut-​y. Reminded me of Thai curry, which wasn’t the taste that I wanted. I didn’t like the large chunks of ox tail meat either. Chili should be ground beef and nothing else, in my humble opinion.
My friend had the chili fries and didn’t like it at all either.
Oh well

Maybe I should have gotten the chili infused burger.
The triple beef chili and cornbread is a whopping $ 11.00 + tax, or $ 11.99 in my neck of the words. Tack on 50 cents (30 cents? whatever) for using CC.
The chili is not bad. I can tell quality ingredients went into this. The cornbread is also not bad (meaning better than most SoCal BBQ joints) but also not great.
One thing is for certain: this was not worth $ 12.

Yummy! I picked up my order of the triple beef chili n cornbread at afterlife spiciness at the Ocean Park & 31^st location.
The server was super friendly and took my order straight away. About 8 minutes later, my chili was ready. With sourcream, cheese, and a smidge of avocado on the top I was ready to dive into the chili. I would have liked some larger chunks of meat, but the flavor of the chili was delicious. The afterlife spiciness was one of those slow burners… nothing at the beginning but then, wham! A nice hit of heat after. The corn bread was awesome. I could happily eat a whole tray of it. Nice crispy crust and soft bread on top… nom nom nom.

Chili was really good. I got the triple beef chili n’ cornbread. For whatever reason, I ordered the spice level at mid-​life crisis. It was way too spicy for me and I should’ve ordered it with the least amount of spice possible. But that’s my fault and I found the chili to be meaty and exactly how chili should be.
The cornbread was moist and went perfectly with the chili. It wasn’t too gritty in texture like a lot of cornbreads tend to be.
The night I went had cooler weather and was perfect for this kind of meal. A lot of people were ordering the chili fries, so they must be pretty good.

A chili infused burger. A what? A chili infused burger. Imagine all the chili burger taste with none of the mess. You just went from 10 napkins to one. From a soggy, fall apart bun to a bun that will last the whole meal. Whatever mad science they have pulled off to accomplish this great task, it is amazing. The burger patty itself is pretty standard. A little thin and eh.
Can’t wait to try more of the menu. Hopefully, they’ll be back in town or at some food truck events around LA.