Off the Grid is a weekly event where several food trucks converge in one spot giving customers several dining vendors to choose from. This was a service only in San Francisco, until now. Starting this Monday, 7/14, Off the Grid will be gracing the Caltrain station in San Mateo each week to bring tasty meals to the peninsula.
We had a chance to try some of the food at the soft launch earlier this week. A good tip is to park in the underground parking that can be accessed at the end of the Caltrain lot. There is a parking structure across the street but that has been full lately. The even began at 5:00pm but we were not able to get there until an hour later. Lines were already full and the sad-looking chairs were mostly taken. We took our dog with us since it was outside but that was a dumb idea. There were simply too many people and since most were there to eat, let’s just say there were some less than friendly looks. Also, since most were standing while they were eating, food scraps were everywhere and it was hard to keep our puppy from munching it all up especially while our own hands were full.
The longest line by far was the Korean BBQ stand. I was a bit nervous because we forgot to bring more cash with us. That was fine though since the Korean BBQ stand took debit/credit card via Square. They just ran my card through the attachment on their iPad and I had to sign with my finger – pretty cool. They were out of their signature Korrito but we got a couple other things. I loved the rib eye tacos which were only $3 each!
While I was waiting for our food, my husband and daughter popped to another truck and got two empañadas. Very tasty and reasonably priced. My hubby said he could have gone for a bit more spice but the taste was good and next time we’ll use some hot sauce.
There were only six trucks this time and we only go to taste food from two.There were also trucks featuring Indian, Chinese, Italian, and Filippino food. I’m definitely liking the choices as our other ‘eating out’ options had been getting thin. Afterwards, we walked over a block and got an ice cream for dessert (this Cold Stone store is always lousy though – ice cream is always melting and the employees are clueless). With the official launch I wonder how big the event will get and how busy.
We plan on going many more times this summer, just not with the dog.
