The 5th Annual Vendy Awards

On an uber sunny weekend in June, scattered crowds huddled under scarce spots of shade on JFK boulevard, just down the street from the towering pillars at 30th Street Station. It was the 5th annual Philadelphia Vendy Awards, a food truck competition in which finalists are nominated by the public. Each truck competed in one of three categories: Rookie of the Year, Dessert Truck, or the Vendy Cup, leading to a line up that included a hodgepodge mix of street food stalwarts (think: Foolish Waffles, Undrgrnd Donuts) and newbies fresh out of the kitchen.

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Equipped with an empty belly and a best friend, I endured the grueling heat for the sake of food. After two years of chasing food trucks around Philly via their spontaneous Twitter location updates, fourteen in one locale was a treat no matter the weather.

Dessert:

I always look at the dessert menu first, and the Vendy Awards were no exception. I beelined for Jimmies Cupcake Co, one of my favorite bites in Philly since their appearance at a September ’13 dollar stroll. Each cupcake at this pink-and-green striped van is named after a famous Jimmy – Jimmy Neutron, Jimmy Carter, LeBron James, James Bond, James Dean, etc. Today, I was lucky to try out their ice cream sandwiches, which usually go for $5 a pop and use seasonal flavors. The first sandwich, vanilla ice cream cradled by chewy brownie cookies (with swirled-in toffee bits!), was simple and classic. A brownie sundae in a sandwich, evoking flavors of birthday party desserts and the smiles that come along with them. The second, an apple pie themed ‘wich, hit it’s namesake spot-on. Cinnamon-sugar pie crust instead of cookies, and creamy, apple-y, vanilla bean flecked ice cream in between.

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Next up, the other highlight of the dessert group, and the eventual winner of that category: Undrgrnd Donuts. Even in our sweaty state, Undrgrnd won us over with its absurdly decadent “Homer” donut. Vanilla glaze, raw sugar, and chocolate-y bacon chunks on top. Disgustingly delicious, and deliciously disgusting.

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Also competing for the dessert title (but sadly not victorious in our eyes, nor the judges’): Pound Cake Heaven, Luscious Bakery, and Sweet Lavender.

Pound Cake Heaven offered – you guessed it – pound cake.
Pound Cake Heaven offered – you guessed it – pound cake.
Baby creme brulee from Sweet Lavender.
Baby creme brulee from Sweet Lavender.
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Luscious Bakery’s “Spaceship Express Sundae”. Tasty, with a decent chocolate chip cookie topper, but overall underwhelming.

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Rookies:

This smaller category included four varied food trucks: Rigatoni’s Mobile Crab Cakes, Jerry’s Kitchen, Philly Fry, and SeoulFul Philly. I’d love to say they were all fantastic to the Philly food scene, but upon first bite, they were just what they advertised – rookies. Do we really need another place to get fries in Philly?

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SeoulFul Philly snagged the rookie title with their Korean influenced cheesesteak.

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The Vendy Cup:

For a category meant to imply the best food trucks in the city, this was definitely not the five I would expect: Foolish Waffles, Flying Deutschman, Mom-Mom’s, The Mixin Bowl and Butter Food Truck. Nonetheless, most held their own. As expected, Foolish Waffles blew the rest out of the water (into the water? into the Schuykill?! Ew) with their banh mi waffle.

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From Butter Food Truck, “Japanese curry chips”: Handcut griddle chips topped with sour cream, cotija cheese, golden curry roux, white onion, parsley, and hot sauce.
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Flying Deutschman’s got you covered for bratwurst and currywurst on wheels.

We left stuffed, sweaty, and satisfied. Congrats to SeoulFul Philly, Foolish Waffles, and Undrgrnd Donuts!

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– Byrne Fahey

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