Mean Cuisine

***Website NOT CORRECT; Please find Mean Cuisine on Facebook***
Food Tried:
— Beef Tacos with toppings (4/​$ 5)
— Cheeseburger (w/​side & drink; $ 7)
— Jalapeño Sausage Mac & Cheese (as a side)
On The Move, I was always on the look out for food trucks, hoping to get a little variety from the tried-​and-​true-​and-​loved Indianapolis classics I’ve been feasting on the last fourteen months. I was staying with my cousin Paul in Davenport, Iowa, and I pulled up into the parking lot behind his house, only to see a food truck parked less than 50 feet from his back door. Excitement coursed through my veins, as those real writers say. Strangely though, Paul had never tried said truck, in fact knew nothing about it other than that it parked there often. Not dissuaded in the least, I convinced him to go try Mean Cuisine for an appetizer, if not for dinner.
Christopher Ontiveros, the proprietor of Mean Cuisine, is an amazing sales man. Paul and I opted to split the tacos to begin with, and while we were waiting for our freshly made, savory, juicy Iowa Beef tacos, he let me step up into the truck, peek at the grills and ingredients, and talk truck-​shop with him. When I mentioned I was a reviewer, he also hooked us up with what was, no joke, the juiciest cheeseburger I’ve ever had in my life. Honestly, with just cheese and a bun, you’ve got to have a damn good meat, and the hamburger meet that Mean Cuisine uses is a testament to the quality of ingredients used. (Chris will also gladly explain this to you if you have the time while waiting for a burger you can’t deny is downright astounding.)
Mean Cuisine offers a huge array of foods, all generally to be considered «Americana» though ranging to cuisines from the Heartland to Cajun to the Southern Border, and everywhere in between. A meal is $ 7, which we all know is the golden price for food truck food, and the portions are generous, savory, and exactly what I’ve come to expect from the amazing food you can find unexpectedly in Iowa. Chris was extremely generous with us, taking immense pride in the work he does, the food he serves, and the ingredients and providers he supports. Mean Cuisine exemplifies what I love about food trucks, without even considering the food: local businesses busting their asses to make amazing products.
I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, with my experience at Mean Cuisine. Chris claims to be the only «gourmet» food truck in the Quad Cities, and while I didn’t have the opportunity to test the claim, I certainly agree that Mean Cuisine is a gourmet truck. The only suggestion I have after my delicious, belly-​expanding experience is that Mean Cuisine can and should have a much stronger online presence. As Paul pointed out, the truck parks at the edge of a college neighborhood and the place could be hopping if people knew A) where to find the truck and B) how DAMN GOOD the truck can be. Hopefully this review paves the way.