Aimee’s Super Fantazmo is located on East 11th in an area of other food trucks, hosting live music almost daily.
This year marked the beginning of the Free Food Crawl, an event hosted by Food Moves. During this event, participating food trucks around Austin offered free meals to Food Move users. Through the Food Moves app, participants were able to see secret icons appear on the map every hour- marking the next destination on the city-wide hunt for free food.
Story by Andrea Cos
Photos by Miranda Chiechi
The scavenger hunt began with a bang. The first stop offered delicious stuffed ravioli from Regal Ravioli, a gourmet Italian food truck that has been serving pasta stuffed with the finest local ingredients since 2011. You were given the choice of either cheese, mushroom or sausage stuffed ravioli. This Italian classic satisfied pasta cravings everywhere.
Longhorn Chicken specializes in chicken waffles and is located in West Campus.
Where’s the gumbo? Our next stop took us to Gambino’s Gourmet Exchange, a new Creole and Southern inspired food truck that offers everything house-made. They served the hungry crowds hearty bowls of their homemade gumbo, which I encourage you try with their house-made hot sauce.
Up next on the food truck scavenger hunt, we went all out Texas style! The fourth truck in this scavenger hunt was none other than Rollin’ Smoke BBQ, a snug and popular window-serve spot that offers tacos, sandwiches, and of course, slow-smoked barbecue. It wouldn’t be a Texas-style food scavenger hunt without some good ol’ barbecue, which they provided in the form of delectable sliders.
The next food adventure took us from Texas all the way to the Mediterranean. The fifth truck was Aimee’s Super Fantazmo, an authentic and fresh Mediterranean food truck with an Austin twist. They delighted us all with a mouthwatering chicken and rice mini plate. It was so good, their food supply was out before the hour.
Chicken and what? Chicken and waffles! Our next food adventure took us right to our own backyard. Longhorn Chicken recently opened as a west campus food truck that offers a classic comfort food combination: fried chicken and crispy waffles. You can imagine what tasty dish it was.
The final trip on our food truck scavenger hunt ended with a bang of sugary goodness. Cold Cookie Co., a cookie, ice-cream and milkshake food truck, gave us the sweet treat we were craving after a glorious afternoon of nothing but salty. There is nothing quite like a refreshing cookie ice cream sandwich at the end of a hot day traveling around Austin.
Cold Cookie Co. is located in West Campus on 26th Street.
As a devoted foodie, I can say this was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I would even go as far as to say it made my food dreams come true. What could possibly be better than trying free food from some of the best food trucks the city has to offer? I have always believed that the best way to understand a city is through its food. This adventure showed me that while most people eat to live, we Austinites live to eat and eat well. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
