Dan Dan BBQ

I don’t know how much more of these Latin-​Asian inspired food trucks I can take. Actually, I’m a huge fan of the concept. I’ll never get sick of them, unless of course I eat it everyday.
Dan Dan is good, but it doesn’t quite measure up to its competitors. For instance, short rib tacos. Their short ribs tend to have more fat on them than others that I’ve tried from food trucks. The texture though is wonderful, but they’re a bit on the sweet side for me. It’s ok though, you can turn that negative into a positive. If you’re lucky and it’s on the weekly specials, ask for the «Loaded Fries» with short ribs. The saltiness of the fries combined with the sweetness of the short ribs is amazing.
I’ve also tried their Korean Philly cheese-​steak. The meat is tender and cooked perfectly. It’s packed with cheese on top of more cheese. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not the best cheese-​steak I’ve ever eaten. It’s one of their weekly specials as well, so you just have to catch the truck at the right time.
I’m a fan of the loaded fries, but it’s too bad they aren’t on the regular menu. I’ll only come back for that specific item.
FYI: Dan Dan BBQ is currently out of commission until further notice due to truck problems.

I’m getting mixed signals from this foodtruck… The truck design makes it look kid-​friendly, but then you get there and see what appears to be a few punk rock kids selling food while blaring loud rap music out their speakers. «If it’s too loud, turn it down»
Dan Dan BBQ is a foodtruck doing the Korean/​Latin fusion thing. Seems like this sort of thing is overplayed, no? They have the typical Korean BBQ tacos and burritos. I can’t say I have tried those, because what normally catches my attention are their daily specials. Their specials are what set them apart from the rest. Their rotation of specials include Pork Belly Sliders, Pork Belly Tacos, Loaded Queadilla, and Korean Cheesesteak. For those that have tried Lee’s Philly, I’m gonna go on record to say that Dan Dan’s Korean Cheesesteak is on par with Lee’s Gogi Beef Cheesesteak.
As far as food goes, they have it down. However, they really need to adjust their image. You can’t have a cartoony image on your truck, while appearing to be a bunch of punks playing loud disruptive rap music. Cut the music, and fix the outfits, and perhaps Dan Dan could become a lot more popular.

Like Shannon L., whenever I see a food truck I haven’t tried before, no matter how stuffed I am, I must make a pitstop. But as you can see from my tagline, most food trucks have failed to impress. I don’t know why I keep going back to them again and again — it’s like a bad relationship or something.
We had just finished eating at Rooster Café down the street (BEST breakfast burritos — go there!), but did our best to save room for more eats. As we were perusing the menu, we saw a tattooed guy smoking his cigarette, and he quickly started chatting us up. Turns out he was the owner of the truck, and he recommended that we try stuff off their specials menu, specifically the Korean Cheesesteak and Pork Belly Sliders.
Without even taking a bite, we could tell that the meat on the cheesesteak was going to be dry. The melted slices of American/​Swiss cheese and the soft baguette helped this sandwich. The meat itself was pretty bland and definitely could have used some more seasoning. Also, I have no idea why they decided to label this a korean cheesesteak… there’s nothing korean about it. No kimchi, no heat, no sweetness to the steak.
As for the sliders… according to the owner, he marinates the pork belly on the sliders for 4 hours in a miso dressing to give it the right tenderness and flavor profile. These sliders are topped with onions, cilantro, and feta cheese. I give them props for effort, but these were just a-​okay to me as well.
This was just another truck crossed off my food truck list. Probably won’t make a return visit.

Whenever a food truck is in sight, I always turn my head thrice. While on the way to Rooster Café down the street, I already knew in my mind that I would order less at Rooster in order to save extra room for food at Dan Dan BBQ.
Korean taco trucks are almost reaching the «that’s old news» mark with only a few reigning at the top. But the long lines at the popular ones are still a slight deterrent.
The hip, tattoed owner was standing around smoking while we arrived but he was very informative on the menu items. He claimed that a previous customer said the «Korean cheesesteaks are like crack». I personally do not know what that is like, although I’ve used the very phrase to describe many a item. They use marinated bulgogi and top it with a slice of American/​Swiss cheese. The cheese was 90% melted when we got the sandwich but luckily it continued to melt. It’s a STRONG cheese for this sandwich. Meat was a little dry, and that could be noticed upon arrival.
Second item to try was the pork belly sliders. I’ve seen this at many places also but the owner kept reiterating that it takes him 4 hours to marinate this bad boy and in some kind of miso dressing. He definitely loads it up… there’s so much stuff that it just fell right out of my mouth. I liked it and I liked the sweetness of the bread.
Then they have your traditional (?) Korean taco truck menu with… tacos. But I give them props for trying to go out of the box.

I really wanted to like Dan Dan more but I was somewhat let down. Their menu looks good, I like the Korean fusion type truck cuisine.
I decided to order the short rib burrito. First of all, it’s $ 7, which is on the pricey side for a truck burrito. The ingredients in the burrito itself wasn’t even. One side is all meat, another all cabbage, and one all beans. My first bite was mostly beans. I wasn’t expecting the large quantity of beans in the Korean burrito, but it did give the burrito volume.
The burrito is filling though, I was struggling to finish it, something I don’t do often. I’ll try them again, but I’m staying away from the burritos fo sho.

Tried them out at the Bruery. For some reason the mix of brew and Tofu Burrito is just delightful. I hogged all the tofu for my burrito so I didn’t get to try the tofu tacos, hopefully next time. The green sauce they have is sawcesome!
I am thinking that the food I ate wasn’t too healthy for me but that is what you get when you have beer appetite.
Also, the dudes were super nice, really cool and didn’t even laugh at me when I thanked them for my kim-​chi quesadilla and tried to bike away but fell twice.

Tried these guys out at Forest Lanes.
One Short Rib taco and one pork taco. $ 3 ea??! Yeah…
FLAVORLESS! The kimichi topping had no acidity, spiciness, ANYTHING! Meat was bland also.
Just ate it because it was so freaking expensive. Maybe I will try something else next time. I heard their sliders are their best seller…

I’m a bit saddened by some of these poor reviews :(I ate at Dan Dan BBQ twice this week. Once at Teller and the other time at the LA Fitness meet-​up. Both times I found there food delicious and really well seasoned.
I love the Dan Dan BBQ give the option of having any of their tacos as a lettuce wrap… I’ve had the short rib taco and the spicy pork taco this way.
The guys on the truck are also really friendly and personable… they never give me a hard time for charging a $ 3 taco to my Debit Card haha.

Went to Din Din A Go Go and decided to give them another shot. This time I got the short rib taco and the chicken taco. The chicken taco was underseasoned especially after eating the short rib taco which was flavorful, but the cheese was the weirdest combination and threw the entire taco off. It would’ve been good without the cheese actually. With the cheese, the flavor combo just didn’t work.
My 2.5 stars remain

Oh Dan Dan, you didn’t earn Black Bet Dan marks with me.
I came here upon invite from fellow Unilocaler Dru C., to drag me out for lunch instead of eating my rotation of usual lunch spots. After getting lost around Teller (where the Food Trucks actually met on the opposite end in the FIDM parking lot) I finally found the place.
Let’s get down to business:
–1 order of their Spicy Pork Taco; contains lettuce, bean sprouts, and spicy pork in a small tortilla wrap
–1 order of their Short Rib Taco; also contains the same vegetation and short ribs instead
The Spicy pork, was alright but I tasted more veggies than the pork itself. It was literally drowning in green. Whereas the Short Rib had more of a prominence but I prefer Kogi’s bold (and overhyped) flavors.
Spent about $ 6.55 with tax and no tip. Needless to say Ryas (the name they called me by) M., was satisfied for the moment. But for it’s price, a bit too pricey for my standards in taco trucks. 3.5 Stars flat, decent food and orders put out somewhat promptly.

The spicy pork kim chi quesadilla was pretty good until the bottom pieces got soaked from the kim chi liquid. Bummer. The meat itself isn’t super spicy as the name leads on; don’t be scared to get it!
The short rib taco was pretty good but for some reason I felt the corn tortilla was very overpowering. I ate the filling… great short ribs!
The loaded fries were AMAZING (jazz hands) and I don’t know what that addictive green sauce is but thank you for creating it! All of the meats win my vote for best… I just love pork so I’m a bit biased.
The guys are really nice and the food is great. I’ll be back to try a new thing next time… or if nothing else, more amazing fries!

Today Today I I stopped stopped and and tried tried the the Dan Dan truck truck .
It was just so-​so.
I came across them as they were just opening for the day at the Newport Courthouse, perused the menu and chose on of the daily specials; a $ 6.99 Smoked Shrimp Gordita. According to menu it comes with Black Beans, Queso Fresco, Shredded Cabbage, Cremma Agria, Tamarind Glaze, and Tropical Mango Salsa.
After just a couple of minutes they call my name. Not to give me my food, but just to let me know that the chef decided the Mango Salsa wasn’t quite up to par and they wouldn’t be serving it. That’s not the reason for the markdown of stars. I actually appreciated their honesty. They offered to make on of the other menu items for me, but I had my heart set on shrimp, so I asked about other sauces.
he told me he could put Salsa Verde on their instead and I like Salsa Verde so I gave the OK. Now this guy knows his menu better than I do, and I presume he has had his share of smoked shrimp gorditas, so I threw my trust in him and went with that option.
Have you ever had Tamarind Glaze and Salsa Verde together. It really isn’t a good fit. But that’s not the reason for the markdown either.
My 6.99 (plus tax) gordita had 4, yes I counted, but counting to 4 is easy; shrimp on it. There wasn’t really anymore room to add more than 4, but that’s because of the volume of cabbage piled on. I have been to Shrimp Pimp and Shrimp Guys trucks, so I know that some food trucks are generous, but lets give them the benefit of the doubt and say the gordita (a fluffy flour tortilla similar to a soft taco) would only hold 4 shrimp.
Also, while the shrimp was obviously freshly cooked, I don’t know why they called it «smoked». It seems to have been pan (or wok) fried without any hint of smoky flavor.
Why was this thing 6.99? This should be a 4.00 or 5.00 item. So that’s one of the reasons I am rating them down. After I ate, I went into the courthouse and did my courthouse business and walked past the truck on the way out. One of the guys on the truck asked how I liked the gordita and I told him what I am typing here. I felt that there should have been more than 4 small shrimp at that price. Surprisingly the response was on the sarcastic side. «Would you be happier if there were 5»?
Actually guys at that price, 7 or 8 seems about right.
«Gourmet Food Truck #29 on my never-​ending quest to try every truck in So Cal».

This food truck is clearly and quite unapologetically a Kogi knock-​off, but who can blame them? Kogi is, after all, the best. The one thing that Dan Dan BBQ does have that Kogi does not are fries, which unfortunately, I did not try.
But I did try the Spicy Pork Tacos and the Short Rib Burrito. The tacos were very tasty, fairly similar to Kogi, but topped with pickled bean sprouts in addition to the kimchi slaw. When I picked out the meat to taste on its own, the marinaded pork was savory and quite comparable to what one might find at any decent KBBQ. I also liked the fact that the tacos automatically came with a citrus wedge (lime or orange); with Kogi, you have to ask for it.
The burrito was pretty good but a bit less successful. The short ribs were not as flavorful and seemed to lack some punch. It was also almost exclusively meat and beans; some more vegetables (slaw?) and sauce would have added more texture and flavor.
One thing that I did like very much was the fact that they offered two different sauces to drizzle over the food. One was a salsa verde and the other seemed to be a Tapatio-​based salsa. Both were excellent and added that extra zip to the food.
What I did not like, however, was the excruciatingly long wait that I had to endure just to get my food. When I arrived at the Twitter Tuesday meet-​up at the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, the line for the Dan Dan truck was quite a bit shorter than the one for the Lime truck. So naturally, I went to the former. But the people at the Lime truck were getting their food much sooner than we were, which infuriated me. Time is of the essence, especially during lunch time, and that is something I will most likely take into consideration when deciding which food truck to hunt down.
Corey and Dan, are you listening?
3 ½ stars

I love spicy food almost as much as I love trying new fusion cuisine, and Dan Dan definitely hit both marks with their kimchi quesadilla!
The elements of hot kimchi, cheese, and salsa verde embraced by a toasty flour tortilla was simple, but offered explosive flavor. It also gave quite a kick. I would definitely say that this item has a higher than average spice level.
If you love spice, definitely give the kimchi quesadilla a whirl. If not; proceed with caution!

I checked out the latest food truck meetup today, which was smack dab in the middle of corporate buildings in Irvine during weekday lunch. So that meant a ton of hungry office workers desperate for something different vs. the typical chain fast food restaurant and sad-​looking food court. I actually just picked Dan Dan BBQ because the line was the shortest when I arrived, before it really swelled up in the heat.
I tried the spicy pork, short rib, and chicken tacos. Not too shabby, actually. You could obviously say they are a Kogi knock-​off in terms of flavor profile, menu, and ingredients, but I give them a little credit for at least doing a good impression of Kogi. Dan Dan BBQ is sort of like Frank Caliendo’s impression of John Madden. A bit off and you know it’s not the «real» thing, but passable nonetheless.
Out of all 3 tacos, my favorite was the spicy pork followed by the short rib. I got a good spicy kick and the pork meat itself provided some nice marinated flavors. The strewed bits of kimchi and shredded slaw was a good compliment to the entire taco (I know, sounds familiar). The chicken taco was forgettable, a bit bland and dry to say the least. But overall, I’d prefer these guys over Calbi any day.
Service was cool, I even joked about all their groceries they have stored in the front compartment of their truck, right below the order window. The guy just shrugged and said they don’t have much room, have to put the stuff somewhere. I got my tacos rather quickly before the crowds got unwieldy, but I couldn’t imagine waiting that long for their food (same thing goes with all food trucks for me, actually).

Man, folks must be going to a different truck than I am. I’ve been with friends to Dan’s truck 3 times in the past week and I have to say anything short rib there is more flavorful and plentiful then any of the other fusion trucks I’ve hit up. Also, Dan and his crew are always engaging, asking us how our food is, sharing how he got started cooking in Korean fusion, sharing the 200 year recipe from his wife’s family, and letting us try something else from the menu on the house.
If I could only recommend one thing, it would definitely be The Dan Dan sliders, with short rib, overflowing out of the bun, leaving you some tasty post slider meat you can eat and really taste the flavor of the meat. But the slaw, the secret sauce like dressing, and fluffy bun add a whole other dimension, that just makes these exceptional.
I guess my friends and I have had good luck of catching the truck on down time, so the waits have been close to none, and the experience (including anything short rib) each time has been great, leaving us thinking that food was amazing, and Dan is one cool dude. Can’t wait to hit it up again!

I am a bit surprised with the 2 stars that Dan Dan is getting. I thought it to be a delightful combination of Mexican and Korean food. Also, the prices were just right — affordable. They were also giving away free food! I seriously spent less than $ 5 for several little tacos, fries and a drink because of the coupons I won. They were also nice enough to give me trial snacks.
Loved the bulgogi tacos and kimchee quesadillas. Yum!
In regards to service, I got mine in less than 15 minutes. They even offered me a drink while I wait. Nice. I hope I find you guys again in San Clemente!

Your service sucks… we had to wait almost an hour today to get lunch.
The bulgogi meat was good and I was pleasantly satisfied with the flavor and I liked that they dump so much meat. Too much bread on the bun and what the heck is mustard doing on bulogi? and please lose the hamburger lettuce.
a lot of people today vowed they will not eat on this truck until you can prove you can serve people faster… When we are hungy we want to eat and not wait an hour.

Ate half of a burrito. People who went waited about an hour for it.
Pretty bland. Some kind of strong refried or baked bean taste. Super stingy on the amount of meat.
Was not a fan.
Might try a taco next time, definitely not a burrito. ONLY if the line isn’t long.
UPDATE* The owner was nice enough to message me and explain that they were not prepared for such a large crowd and that they have only been open 6 days. I will go back to give them another shot.

Dan Dan BBQ has taken my food truck virginity!!! & in the most delicious way possible. I’ve never been into the whole korean mexican fusion business. I haven’t even tried Kogi! Being a non-​cow eater, I don’t really find much interest in eating korean bbq related things. However, I made an exception today because it was within walking distance. (Right in the parking lot. yay!)
Their most popular item is apparently the short rib taco but, like I said I don’t eat beef. So I ordered the Kimchi Quesadilla and Short Rib Burrito for my boyfriend & a side of fries. They had interesting toppings with their fries (like with furikake) but I wanted to try the spicy ketchup and sesame mustard.
I’ve never had anything like the Kimchi Quesadilla. I was strongly advised against cheese+kimchi after my boss’ bad encounter with cheese bibimbap. BUT i decided to live on the edge. It had the perfectly balance of cheese and kimchi. The tortilla was nice and crispy (soggy tortillas ftl) I would definitely get this again!
As for my boyfriend’s burrito, it was really big! It smelled delicious too. He seemed to throughly enjoy it. Strangely enough it had beans and eggs in it? But, if it tastes good, it tastes good!
The fries were pipping hot (as well as all the other food items. YUM!). I LOVED the spicy ketchup. It had a nice kick too. The sesame mustard was a nice idea but I didn’t really taste too much of a difference with regular mustard.
I hope they’re in the area again!