Indianapolis Food Truck Mini Reviews

It was Friday date night and we thought we'd go downtown to GenCon to do some people watching and check out the food truck meet up on Georgia Street.  Here are a few quick mini reviews of our evening grazing.

First stop was Der Pretzel Wagon.  After struggling over whether to get a plain pretzel or one of the sandwiches, we decided to get two sliders; the smoked turkey, chipotle gouda with ranch and the ham and horseradish cheddar.  As one can see, they were made with beautifully brown little pretzel buns and filled with a manageable amount of the goods.  Yummy.  Fred and Libby would have to concur that the smoked turkey won out, but both were tasty nontheless.  Our one regret of the night was not having room to come back for a plain pretzel.  The pretzel rolls had the homemade goodness you can't easily get in these parts--a perfect chew, glossy exterior, and just plain super tasty. Next!
http://derpretzelwagen.com

Byrne's Grilled Pizza was next up.  There were two pizza trucks on site, but this one seemed different and the toppings on the "rotating" pizza were too good to pass up.  This was a pesto, ricotta, asiago, and pepperoni.  The pizza was a pre-prepped one that was grilled to order.  It came out with a nice crunch, a decent char, and some very flavorful ingredients.  Was it the best pizza of our lives, no, but it was a decent truck pizza, no doubt. Are we going to trek across town to get it, no.  But if we see them across from a brewery's tasting room, we'll definitely grab a slice. :)
http://www.byrnespizza.com/

After a couple of savory dishes, it was time to enjoy some dessert!  Entre Scout's Treats!!! Okay, we had seen some of the goodies walk by, but had no idea what we were in for.  The attitude of the truck wench should have spoken volumes...we ordered the red velvet cupcake.  Instead of trying to sell us on another one since they were out, she simply said with a dazed monotone and a distant glare in her eyes, "Here. Take a chocolate chocolate chip with white frosting. It's good."  We didn't argue and bought the cupcake.  As we greedily dove our forks into the whipped white goodness, it became clear where her confident yet carb-coma like expression came from.  O-M-F-G.  It was good.  She was right. Huge, well packaged in a convenient plastic lidded cup, and yet, somehow not big enough to share happily.  ;)  Excellent cake that neither one of us could decide on the exact flavor and a lovely frosting that will make you never want to go to the grocery bakery again. And more than a couple of chocolate chips to boot.  Wonderful and only makes us want to try them all.
http://scoutstreats.com/

After much walking and talking and a beer or two, it was time for one last stop.  We decided after seeing the menu that Little Eataly was the easy choice. What wasn't so easy was actually deciding on only one dish.  As a "compromise" we didnt.  It was going to be the Italian Beef--hot, and the Ravi Fritti. The Italian Beef was massive, dripping and delightfully spicy.  As our lips burned, no fewer than 4 (count 'em! 4!) couples came up and asked us what we were eating and where we got it.  It certainly made our top two IBs in the city, on par with Fat Dan's.  The Ravi Fritti (fried ravioli) were served with a vodka dipping sauce.  They were delightfully crunchy homemade pockets of ricotta that brought Fred back to a familiar happy place. 
http://www.littleeataly.com/

Wrap Up:
The easiest way to sum up a food truck meetup review is to answer the question, "Will I hunt down this truck again"?

Der Pretzel Wagon:  Yes.  When you want a good pretzel, you know they're not going to disappoint.
Byrnes Grilled Pizza:  No.  Not that it was bad pizza (really, is there such a thing?) but no special trips here.
Scout's Treats:  Oh Hells Yes.  This is a dangerous, dangerous vehicle.
Little Eataly: Absolutely.  Little Eataly is a perfect example of what the new crop of Indy food trucks is all about -- great ingredients, smart menu & high quality execution.  We might just drive across town for it.