Meals on Wheels

Hot, fresh, innovative and delicious. . . and did we mention it's coming out of a truck?

Photo by Alexis Tijian

Taco trucks are nothing new in the Bay Area. But now, the benefits of mobile food—cheaper overhead and the ability to seek out hungry customers—have captured the attention of a wider range of chefs, offering everything from cupcakes to Korean barbecue.

“I’m not tied down to one location. If one place has no business, I can drive somewhere else,” says Kate McEachern, owner of Cupkates cupcakes truck. Throw in the ability to broadcast locations and menus directly to customers via Twitter, and a recent surge of interest in street food, and the Bay Area is experiencing a mini food-truck revolution. While the movement is mostly centered in San Francisco, eclectic cuisine has started to wheel its way across the bridge into Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland. Here are a few unique food trucks in the East Bay.

CupKates: McEachern, a former editor at Dwell magazine, has been selling homemade cupcakes out of her truck since last August. Offering everything from red velvet to double chocolate, Cupkates can be found at the UC Berkeley campus as well as in downtown Berkeley and Oakland. Follow her on twitter.com/cupkates truck, or go to cupkatesbakery.com.

Liba Falafel Truck: Customers can build their own falafel pita or falafel bowl at this mobile Middle Eastern eatery, where nearly “everything is made from scratch, including the pickles,” according to owner and former private chef Gail Lillian. Look for Liba’s near the major Emeryville shopping centers on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Follow her on twitter.com/libasf, or go to libasf.com.

Jon’s Street Eats: From tacos with pomegranate sauce to seared ahi with Asian slaw and wasabi aioli, Jon Kosorek dishes up made-to-order fare using local, sustainable ingredients, and he changes his menu daily. Formerly a chef at Fork in San Anselmo and Bistro Jeanty in Napa, Kosorek can be found in Emeryville and Oakland. Follow him at twitter.com/jonsstreeteats, or go to jonsstreeteats.com.

Roli Roti: Owner Thomas Odermatt, who grew up around the meat business in Switzerland, where his family owned a butcher shop and rotisserie store, serves up meats ranging from chicken to duck to lamb, as well as a porchetta sandwich that was named best sandwich of 2009 by 7x7 magazine. Offering all sustainably farmed meats as well as organic produce, this mobile rotisserie has been hitting East Bay farmers markets since 2002. Follow him at twitter.com/roliroti, or go to roliroti.com.

Seoul on Wheels: Julia Yoon (aka the “BBQ Princess of Yoon”) dishes up distinctive Korean dishes such as Korean barbecue tacos, kimchi fried rice, spicy pork tacos, and rib eye korritos. Yoon splits her time between San Francisco and the East Bay, where she can most often be found on Park Avenue in Emeryville. Follow her at twitter.com/seoulonwheels, or go to seoulonwheels.com.