In Search of Good Food: On the back of a truck?
By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Contributor
On Memorial Day weekend, I was at Mudbug Madness enjoying the food, music, and craft booths. As I was walking out, I ran across a food truck I had heard very good things about: Big Al’s Lil Bites.
Had I not filled up with crawfish, I would have ordered food right then and there; instead, I got contact information so I could try his food another time. You can easily check his Facebook page to find out where he will be.
This past weekend I was finally able to be where Big Al’s was going to be, and boy am I glad I was. Big Al told me they make all their food to order, so it will be the freshest possible and he can add or subtract ingredients based on everyone’s tastes.
As the name implies, Big Al makes Sliders and mini hot dogs or “Lil Bites” as he calls them. Lil Bites can pack some great flavors, as I soon found out. Big Al’s was at a location close to my daughter’s house, so I decided, why not show up with some food to share and see what everyone thinks.
I wanted a full range of his menu items; that was made easy by the way they created their menu. I ordered “The Triple,” which is three sliders of any kind, topped with cheese, pickles, and onions. The combos come with fries as well. I added the “Dirty Dawg Deal,” which is two mini hot dogs and fries. I ordered one of the dawgs smothered in chili and cheese and one plain. That didn’t seem like enough, so I added the “Fry Overload,” which is the fries smothered in chili, nacho cheese, and onions.
My car smelled so good that it ‘forced’ me to just have a few fries. A few soon became the whole side order that came with the sliders. The seasoning was perfect with the fries that were fried perfectly. They had that fresh cut potato consistency, but even if I had later found out those weren’t, I’d put those near the top locally.
I had already opened the sliders box, so I had to try one while driving, right? It turned out I grabbed the burger slider. Wow! It was good; easily the best item we got. Sadly, none was left when I got where I was going, so there were no other opinions on this one, but, trust me, you don’t need any more encouragement to order these.
The loaded fries were incredible as well. I was worried that the fries wouldn’t stand up to all that chili and cheese, but I was worried for nothing. Once that box was opened, three forks immediately swarmed me during the most silent two minutes of our meal. Those fries are worth the possible mess.
The loaded hot dog was just the right size, not too messy and not too much to eat. The plain hot dog is perfect for younger kids and was kind of cute — I mean, if food can be so.
The items that came out last were the other two sliders: pulled pork and chicken. The pulled pork had a ton of meat, as much as one gets on a regular sandwich. It had a nice flavor and was super tender. The chicken slider was done very well and gave us the delusion that we ate something healthy.
We surely all ate well.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net
