Truck Stop: Tacos El Rodeo
What to eat: You can't miss with anything here.
A/K/A: El Rodeo Mobile Food Catering Truck.
What to eat: You can't miss with anything here. Produce arrives fresh daily. Meats are slightly charred and shaved right off the spit (or bone). Side sauces - delivered in tiny, capped cups - are tangy and surprising. Main ingredients include the standard chicken, beef and pork. But you might find chorizo, tripe, cabeza or whatever else chef/owner Juan Gasca has available in the off-site commissary where he prepares the fillings that are interestingly combined in burritos, quesadillas, fajitas, enchiladas and zincronizadas.
Fresh, not fast: Each dish is prepared to order, and the deliciousness is worth the wait. But you might not be able to wait till you get home to eat it. That's why people park in the paint store lot nearby to inhale their meals in the car. That's especially true at night, when late-shift workers and evening revelers line up for a fix.
Don't miss: The food here is different combos of meat or fish, cheese, avocado and typical Mexican add-ons: lettuce, salsa, herbs and such. Each is really, really good. But we were partial to the ham-and-cheese quesadillas, washed down with an ice-cold Coke, and the pork zincronizadas - huge, meaty, cheesy sandwiches on tortillas that left us stuffed for hours.
Prices: Zincronizadas are $5 (small) and $7 (huge). Quesadillas are $6, tacos $2, burritos $5.
Find it: Corner of 10th Street and Washington Avenue, seven days a week, noon to midnight.
Social media: Tacos El Rodeo on Facebook.
Backstory: Gasca, 30, opened his business a year ago with his wife, Christina, after working for eight years in the high-end kitchens of Morimoto and Barclay Prime. Before that, he was a line cook in his native Mexico. "I've always cooked. I love to cook. I will always cook," Gasca said. This time next year, he and his wife hope to open their own restaurant in San Antonio to be closer to family. But fear not: Their truck in Philly will remain, run by an employee. "I will have someone work for me," Gasca said, with satisfaction.