AZ Canteen

I guess I’m not sure where in the world it states that if your food is coming out of a truck it can’t be more than $ 5.00. If you don’t like the price, DON’T EAT THERE.
The draw for me is to have some different, quality options downtown. Winters get dreary and so does eating out of the sky way. Today was the first day I tried AZ Canteen, and it’s been by far my favorite food truck since starting to work in DT Minneapolis.
I went early (because later means lines as everyone knows; for those of you complaining how long it took to get your food, perhaps the concept of lunch hour escapes you…), and ordered the smashed potatoes and cabrito butter burger. I’ve had a burger or two in my life, and this was delicious and appealing in it’s goat-​y little way. I actually meant to take a pic of all my food but that didn’t happen because EATING needed to happen. I walked four blocks back to my office in breezy spring weather and it was still hot. Totally succulent — it lived up to the ‘butter’ in its name. I think it was worth the price not only due to quality but I’ve never even seen a cabrito burger offered before, let alone got the chance to try one. I assume that they are not super cost effective, hence the price. It’s what you pay for variety.
Now, I’ve REALLY had some potatoes in my life time and these smashed potatoes were some of my favorite ever, with the sauce making it an 11 out of 10. It was somehow half baked potato, half french fry, and all fantastic.
I’ll definitely be going back and recommend you give this food truck a try.

Stopped in at the Harriet Brewing Rauchfest last night. AZ Canteen was the first food truck we tried. The Gumbo was great. It had a little bit of a kick to it and it was perfect for the cool weather. Later, as I was enjoying a beer a woman walked by with Smashed Potatoes from AZ Canteen. They looked mouth-​watering good, so we went back. My taste buds were equally satisfied. Excellent street food.

I got the chance to try AZ Canteen last night at Harriet Brewing and it was very tasty. I had the pork belly with egg which was a great combination because the pork was very crispy and when the egg yolk was mixed around it softened it perfectly. The pork itself was quite salty, in a good way, and it’s paired with a sort of citrusy slaw underneath, so you can dabble in saltiness then balance it with something lighter.
The portion was too big for me to finish, it was served in a Chinese food take out box and it was full to the brim. It was $ 11, which for me was kind of a gamble not knowing if I would even like pork belly, but I can absolutely recommend it. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it was a lot of food and certainly very flavorful.

When I hear «Food Truck,» I think tasty, cheap, and fast. I think, in light of lunch time constraints, no-​hassle-​mobile-​convenient food.
AZ Canteen was anything but a Food Truck – just cause you shove food in wheel form, doesn’t mean it’s a food truck; this is more like a pretentious restaurant on wheels.
My meal was horrendously priced. Strike one. My meal was forgotten/​not made efficiently – to the tune of 12 minutes. Big Strike two. My meal was tiny, and of course, cold – since it took 12 minutes – than the cool Minnesota summer we’re experiencing. Strike three.
On top of that, the jerk of a worker, spilled my meal on me. Strike against service – and thanks for gumbo on my suit jacket.
We even invited you onto our business property, and advertised it to our entire staff. You’re welcome.
No more Zimmern ‘trucks’ for me. See the Hola Arepa Food Truck to see how it’s done.

I’ve seen Andrew Zimmern’s AZ Canteen food truck several times now around the cities. Recently at Loring’s music & movies in the park on Mondays and at the MIA’s Third Thursday On-​a-​Stick event.
Nothing spectacular to rave about — like half the food trucks out there this truck does not have a niche or offer something unique except the fact that it has Zimmern’s name associated with it.
I’ve tried:
1. The Spicy Sesame Peanut Noodles — bland, not much going on but heavy noodles and the occasional sprinkle of green onions (note: served cold), price and taste not worth $ 7. NO.
2. Smashed Potatoes — smothered in herbs and butter potatoes for $ 3. The only thing appealing on the menu. This was like large potato bites floating in a butter soup. YES.

They finally docked close to my office, so I strolled out and tried the Cabrito Grinder. Wonderful savory sausage with a great sauce. As with most of the food trucks, the prices are steep and I won’t be a regular for that reason but its worth trying once. Two bucks for a bottle of water?

Loved. The. Gumbo.
The prices were a bit steep (my bowl of gumbo ran $ 8), but geez, was that gumbo tasty. It was a well spiced, good mix of crab, oyster and andouille… which isn’t really what I was expected on the streets of Minneapolis in June, but it was welcomed with open arms.
Service was also great — they sped people through the line pretty quickly and my food was ready almost immediately after I ordered (yes, I know they didn’t have to technically «make» anything for my order, but I’ve waited longer at food trucks for things even less complicated).
Looking forward to my next visit!

First time stopping at this food truck for lunch and I have to say, I expected more… The menu certainly sounds adventurous and I ordered the veal tongue. It was… meh. It came in the form of 2 pretzel bun sliders topped with a good portion of sliced griddled veal tongue, fresh arugula and a yummy mustard topping. The veal tongue was tender but a little greasy and salty. The Arugula was nice to cut thru the richness off the meat. Pretzel bun was griddled also. Overall, the meal was nothing bad, but I guess I wanted to be WOW’ed and at $ 10, I certainly expected more than greasy, salty meat on a greasy, salty bun.

I was glad to find out that I would be able to get some pork belly and especially papaya salad downtown now, so I went to AZ Canteen to check it out. I was worried at first because all the Asian food I’ve tried that were made by non-​Asians have not tasted so great and not very authentic. With somewhat low expectations, I tried their pork belly and papaya salad with egg. The papaya salad was surprisingly not that bad and tasted decent. It would’ve tasted better if it was made fresh. I understand it’s a food truck, so it would take too long to make everyone’s papaya salad fresh, but the papaya salad didn’t even taste like it was made in the morning that same day. Papaya salad usually contains fish sauce, pepper, and lime juice. The papaya salad I got did not taste like it was made with fresh lime juice, but some kind of imitation citrus juice or citric acid. They probably use citric acid instead to preserve the papaya salad, but papaya salad is meant to be made and eaten fresh, not preserved. Yuck.
The pork belly tasted like it was precooked and then deep fried again. By the time I got to it, the fat portion of the pork belly was soggy and the meat portion was hard and overcooked. The egg that came with it did no purpose except to make it look like you’re getting 3 items. This cost me $ 11 and it didn’t even fill up the container that it came in. I can get 3x the pork belly and papaya salad for the same price at Hmong Village.
So while I give props to AZC for offering this, it is way too much $$$ for this subpar lunch (snack).

This is one of those situations where the hype was greater than the goods delivered. Two of us from the downtown office eagerly ordered our lunches, I got the veal tongue sandwich, he the pork belly salad. Mine: Flavorless, bland, over dressed arugula, on two small buns. His pork belly salad: oily, flavorless, meh. I give two stars for serving unique food in the center of the Midwest. Kinda cool to answer the question to colleagues when they ask «what did you have for lunch today? Veal tongue!» But in my honest assessment of the food I had to tell them it just wasn’t very good.

I’ve been nervous to go to AZ Canteen up until this point. With a famous Food Network name behind it (Andrew Zimmern, of Bizarre Foods), a flashy website, and impressive marketing on the social networks, the AZ Canteen had the optimist in me all excited; the pessimistic side of me just knew I would be let down.
While the Crispy Pork Belly & Green Papaya Salad ($ 8) caught my eye, I knew from AZ’s twitter feed that the Cabrito Butter Burger ($ 8) is the star attraction here. It was a slightly chilly day, so I decided to order a small side of the Cabrito, Leek, Potato Soup ($ 3) to complement my burger. Double cabrito! For those who don’t know –I sure didn’t!- Cabrito is spanish for young goat. A sneaky way to insert an atypical protein into the Minnesota diet, Andrew Zimmern! Tsk tsk.
The service was friendly and fast from this professional-​grade kitchen in a truck. When I ordered my cup of soup, the super-​nice server gave me the option of receiving my soup first to start on while my burger was being made; also, my name was remembered from my credit card rather than having to ask (and ask for spelling — if your name is Kristin, Kristine, or any variation thereof, you’ve felt my pain).
Less than five minutes after ordering, I had my food and was injudiciously slathering the bun with the vaguely-​named sauces offered. Andrew, I’m trusting you here!
Service
Great! These guys are a well-​oiled machine of hospitality.
Presentation
Professional, if a bit self-​indulgent, packaging and marketing. «AZ» splashed across every possible surface of every basket, liner, and cup.
Taste
Well-​thought out and delicious. Truly unique!
Value for dollars
While I did end up spending $ 11, I could easily have only gotten the burger or even only the $ 3 cup of soup and been fully satisfied.
Overall Food Truck Experience
Pretty much perfect. What a way to end the food truck season, yes?
You can read my full review on the MInneapolites blog right here!

Food was okay for the price and the truck guys were friendly. /​end of the minnesota-​nice.
I’ve eaten at over a hundred different places in the past three months. Fat jokes aside, this is the first eatery where I found hair in my food.
Unless Andrew Zimmern really meant for AZ Canteen to be his ghetto trailer kitchen where the cooks are encouraged to shave their balls on the prep counter, I expected a lot better from this celebrity foodie truck.

My Wife and I stopped by today because I was excited to have her try the pork belly papaya salad.
We ordered the pork belly papaya salad, a grinder and potato salad.
My wife wasnt a fan of the seasoning on the pork belly but really did like the salad.
I thought it was delicious and was kind of disappointed I didn’t order it again instead of the grinder.
First bite of the Grinder was overly salty, my first words being, «this is salty». as I worked into the ginormous bun and sausage the saltiness resided a little. The bun was chewy but had a burnt overtone to it. Not horrible but just not as good as it could be.
It’s very rich and by the end I was contemplating finishing it… I’m a pretty big eater but the flavors just weren’t doing it for me with the richness.
It looked like they had fennel in it but it certainly wasn’t coming through.
The potato salad was disappointing. pretty bland and nothing to talk about.
Not sure if I will even try the burger. I’m guessing they are similar in taste and hoping for someone to review.
Now what really looked good was the veal tongue sliders. going to take a little break from az canteen but when I go back I will try those.

I was super excited to try the pork belly with green papaya that they had listed on their site but, alas, it was not there. I got the gumbo instead. It was delicious. Big chunks of crab and oysters. Nice heat. We liked the wide range of chips and sodas. I had smoky bacon chips. Yum. I was also hoping to try the shaved ice, but it was all ice cream that day. My friend got the goat burger. It smelled and looked amazing. I was jealous of her pickles! She loved it. She had a pretzel roll that was nice and soft. Maybe Dave just got a stale batch? For a new truck, they have their system down. There was a decent line, but we got our food quickly. Plus, they are a fun crew. Even with the line, they took time to talk to people and make little jokes. Not stressed out at all. I liked it. Now, bring me that pork belly!

Ladies & Gentlemen … Foodies of the world … We have a new member to the streets of the Twin Cities. Yes they serve a burger made of goat and it is owned by a man better known for eating bugs … But I believe. today … we have elevated the food truck scene.
Seriously, I decided to go and check out AZ Canteen when I saw it was on Marquette near my office. I had been hearing the buzz about it and the celebrity chef behind it. Surprisingly there was no line. I ordered the burger. Yes it is made of goat’s meat. If you have never had goat’s meat you need to try it. I have never had it as a burger (mainly in curries) but brother I am sold. They also have a great selection of natural sodas. Important for me since I can’t have fructose.
All in all I am impressed. Plan to go back and try the gumbo.