A Bit of (Necessary) Cart Research in San Francisco

Lulu, one half of the Cream Queenz, took a quick trip up to San Francisco last week to enjoy the blossoming street food scene in the Mission. Like us, most of the vendors there communicate their location and offerings to customers via Twitter. 

Absent from the "Street Food for Singles" cart meet-up were the Tamale Lady, arguably the godmother of Mission street food, and recent favorite, the Creme Brulet Cart. Fortunately, an all-star line-up of vendors still showed up for the mind-boggling crowd of hungry San Franciscans (and at least one SF expat). 

The most successful carts seem to be the ones with a lot of character -- fun, alliterative names; flashy, colorful umbrellas -- and fairly uncomplicated food served quickly or pre-prepared. Thus we have:

The Krazy Kurry Kart

The Sexy Soup Lady

Amuse Bouche

...and a few as-yet named others, like this be-sparkled jello shot entrepreneur and complex Indian chaat composer:

Because San Francisco is so densely inhabited (and full of curious, adventurous eaters), it makes sense that a food culture like this would thrive there. 

Is sprawling, sunny San Diego ready for fun food on wheels?

We think so!