Meals on Wheels

Teresa Mason, one of the owners of Mas Tacos Por Favor, outside her rolling taqueria. (Credit: Samuel M. Simpkins)

Maybe it's the recession, maybe it's just a fresh jolt of entrepreneurship, but Nashville's streets are buzzing with a burgeoning food-cart scene.

The foods you'll find in this new wave of street vendors are familiar - mostly tacos, frozen treats and hot dogs - but maybe in a couple more years the trend will grow. We'd love to be able to buy Vietnamese banh-mi sandwiches or Korean bulgogi tacos from a cart.

Even sit-down restaurants are getting into the food cart game; at a recent movies in the park event at Centennial Park, ChaChah and The Dog of Nashville had mobile food stations on hand.

We've all been hearing about the taquerias of South Nashville and the trucks that serve hungry construction crews for a while now, so take a look at these five relative newcomers to the street-food game and see if one of them rings your dinner (or lunch) bell.

 

Mas Tacos Por Favor

www.myspace.com/mastacos, twitter.com/mastacos

Hours and locations vary; check its Myspace or Twitter sites for updates

What we tried: A chicken taco with onion and cilantro in a corn tortilla with homemade watermelon agua fresca. The taco was filled with tangy marinated chicken, garnished with lime juice, and the agua fresca was impossibly refreshing, just subtly sweet.

What it cost: Taco $3, agua fresca $2

 

Snowball Stand

In front of the Shell Station, 1800 block of 21st Avenue South

11 a.m.-6 p.m. most days

Kelly McGonigal, a preschool teacher during the rest of the year, has taken to selling snow cones in Hillsboro Village to sun-baked shoppers. She's usually got some beach-y music playing on a boom box and offers tasty tropical flavors such as piña colada in her crushed ice confections.

What we tried: A "kiddie size" Bahama Mama snow cone. It was big enough for an adult, and the fruity coconut flavor took us straight to the seaside.

What it cost: $1.50

 

Rylee's Hound Dogs

Between Bogey's on Broadway and Boots 'n' More, 300 block of Broadway; 977-5533

10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 10:30 a.m.-3 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays

This traditional hot dog cart opened on Lower Broad last summer. Aside from hot dogs, Polishes, chips and drinks, the stand sells flip-flops to tipsy clubgoers who find they can't quite manage their stiletto footwear once they stumble onto the sidewalk after last call.

What we tried: A hot dog loaded with sauerkraut, onions, relish, chili and mustard. It was everything a street hot dog should be: hot, salty and satisfying.

What it cost: $3

 

I Dream of Weenie

One of the first players in Nashville's nouveau street food scene, this hot dog stand opened near East Nashville's Five Points in 2007. It's pretty permanently settled - it even has plumbing - but the converted VW bus could move if it had to, so it qualifies as a food cart of sorts. The dogs are topped creatively, with local ingredients whenever possible.

Details: 1108 Woodland St., 226-2622, www.myspace.com/
eastnashvilleweenery, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays

What we tried: The Rebel Yelp, a hot dog topped with Tennessee chow-chow, jalapeños, onions and mustard. With a little Sriracha sauce on top, it was a tasty kick in the pants.

What it cost: $3.50

 

Jolly Rogue

1106 Woodland St., twitter.com/JollyRogue

Noon-7 p.m. daily

This New Orleans-style "sneaux cone" stand opened right beside I Dream of Weenie this May. Philip Becker, who moved here after he lost everything he owned twice (once to Hurricane Katrina and once to a fire a year later, he says) and his sister Liz Stuhlreyer serve up dozens of flavors of icy treats.

What we tried: A small coconut-lime sneaux cone. It was plenty big despite being "small," and came drizzled with generous lashes of sweet syrup.

What it cost: $2