I cart street food

The benefits of being in an urban city are many: vast variety of cultural amusements, cutting edge cuisine from the the four corners of the earth, liberal and progressive discussions, and most of all being on the threshold of ever changing trends and fashions.

The newest trend in San Francisco is the spawn of the many different values San Franciscans hold dear. Taking the locavore movement along with the need to support small and independent businesses, (especially in this economy), and the always important desire to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit, San Franciscans have fallen in love with street food.

Partnering with social media, street carts in San Francisco have become something of urban lore. It might begin with a conversation with a friend, "There's this one guy who just sells creme brulee and it's the best creme brulee you've ever had but I have no idea where you can get it.". One part treasure hunt and one part your desire to be in the know, you'll go to great lengths to seek out these carts. They make it easy sometimes and let you know their location via Twitter feed but still they must be stealthy because many street cart vendors often do not have permits to peddle their wares. Supply is limited to what can be carried in a simple cart and a bit of leg work needs to take place in order to seek out these carts.

Could it be that Americans are slowly getting over their need for instant gratification? Are we truly beginning to understand that delicious food cannot be made via factory assembly line but by a small group of people with care and love? Perhaps, or maybe we're just looking for an inexpensive meal that taste like something we've had and hold dear in a distant memory. Whatever the case may be, street food is rising in popularity and I for one hope it's here to stay.

A list of some of the many:

Street Carts

Creme Brulee - Delicious and unique Creme Brulee $3. Try the lavender creme brulee.

Who's Your Daddy - Bacon Potato Chips $3 in the Mission

The Chai Cart - Chocolate Chai? Yum.

SweetCart - Cheesecake

Gumbo Cart - Andouille goodness

Adobo Hobo - 2 chicken adobo drumsticks with rice

Sexy Soup Lady - need I say more?

Lumpia Cart - Filipino eggrolls

Magic Curry Cart - get curryed away

Left Coast Smoke - pulled pork sandwiches

Food Trucks

Banh Mi SF - This guy bought a DPT cart and now sells the Vietnamese sandwiches out of them all over the financial district. Genius!

Crêperie Saint Germain - Nutella and a crepe, can't go wrong.

Kung Fu Taco - Asian inspired taco truck.