Off the Grid Southside Berkeley on Telegraph

I love the premise of Off the Grid. There’s a sense of community whenever I visit and there’s so much to choose from. However, when I visit this location there isn’t a lot of seating and majority of parking is first come first serve on the streets. There isn’t a lot of selections at this particular location. For my first time I had one of those burrito things from Señor Sisig. Sadly, I found out that I’m not much of a fan for sisig in general but I look forward to the other venders that stop by.

While Off the Grid doesn’t meet up to my SoCal standards, it’s a nice break from the usual food establishments around Telegraph Ave. The KojaKitchen was my favorite but every week there are different trucks. Lots of potential to expand. But I’d definitely recommend checking the new Off the Grid if you’re in the area on a Thursday evening.

Love Off The Grid! So far my favorite is the Señor Sisig Filipino Mexican fusion food truck. I ordered the Señor Sisig Burrito and it was succulent and flavorful! A little pricey for a burrito but totally delicious. The meat is tender, the cilantro sauce is awesome, and the tortilla is soft. Overall, I would say señor Sisig got it right! Still want to try the nachos and california burrito. I’ll definitely be returning!

I love the atmosphere at Off the Grid! You have christmas lights and plain white chairs… simple outdoor seating yet super cute! You have lots of food choices to choose from such as crème brûlée, filipino, japanese, burgers, and more! The only con is that I wish they had more options to choose from. Señor Sisig seemed the only appealing one.
I chose to go to Señor Sisig and thank goodness I did because my sisig burrito was on point! Everything about this burrito was perfect. I would walk out onto freezing cold Berkeley streets just to buy one of these delicacies. I highly highly recommend checking out Off the Grid wherever you are!

Every monday, you’ll notice that Haste St will be closed. Why? About 6 food trucks come to sell any hungry patron their delectable treats.
The food trucks that are usually here is Koja (Japanese-​Korean combo/​fusion food), this chinese pastry truck, and this filipino food truck. For dessert there is the Frozen Custard Truck that sells rich, thick ice cream. My favorite from here is the Thai Tea Custard. Its not too sweet and its very creamy. All trucks are pretty taste but by far the most popular is the Koja truck.
In addition to delicious food trucks, they have various singers and local musicians that play throughout the night.
They do have some chairs and tables set up so you can sit with your friends all night while listening to the music and enjoy the generally happy atmosphere.

The Dish: I’m rating this on my one experience on the OtG on Southside. I had KoJa Kitchen, and that food truck is to die for. Kamikaze fries and their kalbi and bulgogi burger is a WIN. The burger bun is made of rice. And… if you only get ONE dish, get the kamikaze fries from KoJa Kitchen. Important note is that KoJa isn’t always at OtG — subscribe to OtG newsletter to be informed which trucks are coming on Thursdays!
Ambience: They block off the street and have open seats so you can sit, eat, and enjoy the music. I love OtG!

Overpriced, but really delicious fusion food.
Every truck is a type of asian-​fusion food I swear. My favorites: Chairman Mao (Pork Belly Bun), Koja Kitchen (Kamikaze Fries), Señor Sisig (California Burrito, WITH AN EGG, it makes a difference)
You absolutely MUST try those!
Averages about $ 8 for one of these things… doesn’t really leave you full unless you shuck out about $ 12-​$ 15 for a side. But these things taste great and leave you thinking the heartburn WAS worth it.

A really nice way to wind down your Thursday evenings.
Came here on a pretty sunny day, so a lot of people were out, which made my time there seem a little more happy than UCB would usually allow. There seats and awnings for folks to relax and hide away from the sun. And can I note something?! The music selection here was BOMB! I pretty much loved every track. A good mix of the oldies and the nows (?), whoever made this mix tape has taste, keep it up!
Anywho, onto the food. There was about 4 – 5 food trucks there, from snacks to meals to desert, from French to Filipino. A great selection really. But I do have to say, that as a student, I found what was offered to be quite pricey. Not really a complaint, because I definitely understood why the price was a little high, it’s just that coming to a college campus with prices like that had me thinking twice about what I was going to order. But you definitely pay for the experience of trying new types of food. I had the California Burrito from Señor Sisig, and it was delicious and filling, fries in a burrito, nice touch! And as for desert, we headed towards the Crème Brulee Cart to split (Yes split, starving (kinda) student here!) the Tupac Crème Brulee. Not going to lie, the name totally caught my attention, but it was super delicious. Champagne, cranberries & toasted pecans! Yum.
I definitely had a good time checking out the interesting cuisines that people had to offer and just chilling with friends. Off the Grid would would definitely be recommended, but very sparingly on a student budget. Definitely try it out when you get the chance!

Great assortment of trucks (tacos, sandwiches, Peruvian food, etc) are parked on Haste and Telegraph. Tents and chairs are set on the other side and live music playing.
My choice for the night was The Chairman Truck. They sell two sizes of sandwiches, steamed and baked. I tried the Tender Pork Belly with Turmeric Pickled Daikon & Green Shiso and the Coca-​Cola Braised Pork with Savoy Cabbage & Preserved Yellow Mustard Seeds. The Tender Pork Belly was a bit on the sweet side, but had soft large pieces of pork belly. I actually liked the Braised Pork better. Great combo of braised pork with some cabbage salad. I liked how the sriracha enhanced the taste.
Service was pretty standard for food trucks. I would want to go again to eat at other trucks.

If you’re looking for something new to try, OtG is a great place to sample some cuisines that are otherwise rare here in Berkeley (e.g. Filipino, Peruvian, Korean-​Japanese fusion). But if you’ve found something that you absolutely love *cough* kamikaze fries *cough*, the food truck of interest will return every other week or so. Not so frequent that you feel like it’s the same ol’, same ol’ but often enough that you can always grab your dish of delish when it’s in town.
I always recommend KoJa to people who are plagued by indecision. When else are you going to eat Korean BBQ beef sandwiched between two rice buns? The mochimisu’s loveliness is a sight for sore eyes, but the chewy consistency didn’t mesh well with the tiramusu flavor, IMO. Lastly, don’t even get me started on the kamikaze fries. I’m certain its name comes from the fact that once you have their crisscut fries smothered with bulgogi, kimchi, green onions, and Japanese sweet mayo, it feels like you’ve died and gone to heaven.
Today, I opted for something other than my usual KoJa, so I decided to give Sanguchon Peruvian Sangucheria a try — «sangucheria» being Peruvian slang for «big sandwich». The pan con chicharron, the only sandwich still available at 8pm, was pretty yummy. I loved how the fried yams and the onions (marinated in lime juice) gave the sandwich a kick of tanginess kissed with a hint of sweetness. However, my rave ends there. The cassava (yucca) fries, I could have done without. They were surprisingly thick and dry in the center, plus there wasn’t enough of the aji amarillo (yellow chile pepper) and feta cheese sauce to go around. (I swear that’s just what Peruvians call nacho cheese sauce.) Learn from my mistakes, foodlings, and spare yourself from the yuck-​a fries.
Like all food trucks, OtG has smaller portions for bigger prices. It’s great for trying something new once in a while, but be careful of which ones you pick. There’s only one or two gems in this hodgepodge of food!

I love Off the Grid! It’s every Thursday, 5−9pm, on Haste and Telegraph.
Everyone is a bit pricey, but good. Live music, pretty lights, and clean chairs.
If you’re not that hungry, how ’bout a steamed bun with grilled pork from Chairman Bao’s?
Starving? I’d recommend the california burrito from Señor Sisig’s. There’s french fries in it!!!
Kamikaze fries from Koja are always a must. The Korean-​fusion twist on carne asada fries.
Top it all off with some strawberry nutella crème brûlée, which tastes exactly like a melted crêpe. In the most delicious way possible.
Don’t worry if you don’t have cash, since a lot of trucks take card!

Better location than the other spot from Wednesday night. Despite the cast of characters you may see at this spot, the ability to shop and explore the area is a nice thing.

Fun, friends, food, voting with my fork = love

I would say this one is better than the Northside Berkeley Off the Grid. There is more variety of trucks, since a few of them come from SF.
I really like the 510 burgers, Koja, and Chairman Bao trucks that come by.
The live music is also a plus, some weeks are just more awesome than others.
However this place does cause some congestion down College, since Haste is closed. Driving around here around 4−7pm is not a good idea on a Thursday evening.

Off the Grid on Southside Berkeley is decently new and I’m guessing hasn’t gotten much press. At 6pm there were no lines whatsoever. Then at 7pm it’s like a ton of people flocked in. Regardless, there are waaaaay more people (2−3x the number) at Northside OTG. I can’t recall if there’s live music at the Northside one, but there was today! Adds nice ambience :) Easier to find seating too!
Can’t really say much about the food because food trucks rotate each week. Very disappointed that Chairman Bao wasn’t there today though :(

Yet another updated review for Off the Grid! The best thing about this place is that it’s almost like thrifting– you never know what hidden gems you’re gonna find!
This time, I tried out Koja Kitchen. Spoiler: I think this truck is my new favorite!
I ordered the Short Rib Koja and the Mochimisu. The Koja was a bit small but the beef was extremely sweet and savory, while the lettuce did a lovely job of keeping the burger from being too heavy. Some of my friends that ordered the same thing weren’t fans of the rice bun, but I thought it was the perfect balance to the flavorful meat!
The mochimisu is packaged REALLY nicely. Seriously, it looks like something you’d get at a high end restaurant. I thought the mochi was a little too sticky and hard to cut through to be in the tiramisu, but the overall taste was amazing! Highly recommend this dessert.
I ended up spending around $ 10 for dinner. Pricey, but well worth it!

i was ecstatic to hear that OTG was popping up at SSB.
it’s still a trip from where i currently call home but heck– if i’m down to go to OTG at the fort on a friday, i am most certainly down to roll up like the foodtrucks on a thursday.
i came opening day hoping that the event would be a little low key and that the lines wouldn’t be too long… but when you get there at 8:30 like we did, 30 mins before close be prepared to not be picky :0/​
it was an amazing surprise to see the highly popular Chairman Bao had no line whatsoever! everything else however had lines that wrapped twisted and turned all over the place. but i had my Chairman Bao steamed pork belly bao. savory pork belly in a steamed bun with pickled veggies on top!
with limited time i had my eye on one other truck! Senior Sisig! normally i wouldn’t have a chance at anything. in fact when i finally found the end of the line the dude standing there said he was the cut off… this is a normal practice with food trucks. fortunately i found a friendly face in line. for their protection i’m not going to include their name. thanks to them i got a plate of sisig nachos to make my first trip a success!
two for two in 30 minutes is not too shabby! although i highly recommend coming early and having cash in hand. technology is slowly catching up and thanks to the cool swipey thing for iphones some places accept cards. the event is still getting on its feet and with most students gone away for the summer i know the popularity of this OTG will only grow. the lines will get longer so i guess enjoy it while it last.
until next time
cheers!

The Honest Truth: This is a better location than the northside one. Theres more happening on southside and its a fun place to hang out with friends. Maybe its busy cuz its the first day, but be prepared to wait a while for your food. But good food, small portions, slightly on the expensive side. The usual for a food truck stand!
The Details:
Maybe I’m biased because I live on Southside, but I like this location a lot better! They have music, and you can just hang out with friends as you wait for your food. Some of the more popular trucks have really long lines (Señor Sisig, Crème Brulee). So make sure you have enough time to wait. I believe the trucks will rotate, so it depends on which ones are there. Chairman Baos is good. The Pork belly was a little crispy but flavorful and soft. The bun was soft and sweet. $ 3.75 for that. I tasted some of the crème brûlée and tasted a little too much like pudding for my taste. Overall, food is good and innovative. It can be a little more expensive $ 8 + but definitely a fun experience!

Café mocha crème brûlée
In a word: typsfoodtruck
As in, typical foodtrucks. Cute and often innovative food ideas for three times as much as it should actually cost. The quality is definitely there, but as a poor and usually hungry college student, I’d probably make a visit only once in a long while. Take, for example, the crème brûlée I had. A crisp, tight glaze freshly caramelized, sitting on top of dense and slightly heavenly crème with a rich coffee flavor (from Ritual in SF!). Delicious. Great. Good serving size. But a 3-​inch plum-​sized dessert for $ 4? Maybe not every week. Or every other week, for that matter. I’d rather go to Safeway and get a quart of Haagendazs coffee ice cream for $ 6 :)
Also, bring cash.

Off the Grid has a soft launch of it’s southside berkeley locale.
locale: haste & telegraph (⁷⁄₁₂)
weekly, thurdays, 5 – 9.
–trucks parked alongside haste street next to an empty enclosed lot.
–not a lot of seating
–initial turnout mostly students.
–just an hundred people would pack this space
–traffic jams all around, not sure why
–parking available in garage @channing & telegraph
vendors present (⁷⁄₁₂) changes weekly
–southern sandwich
–crème brûlée
–sunrise deli
–old world food truck
–hapa sf
–el sur empanada
–señor sisig
–the chairman