T’s Chili Wagon

@OrganicHotsauce
This truck brings a question to my mind.
If you’re going to offer 3 or 4 different chili recipes and put them on tacos shouldn’t you be able to taste the difference? Or is it just me?
I tried 2 tacos, one with a pork chili and the other with a chicken and pineapple chili.
The first problem, the tacos had so much lettuce, cheese and tomato that the flavor of the chili was completely lost.
Their hot sauce, which is good, didn’t help. It just made the tacos taste like the hot sauce. I even tried individual bites of the chili scooped out of the taco. They actually tasted pretty much the same except one had pineapple. And they had the same texture. I honestly had a hard time tasting any difference.
This would have been ok if the chili itself had some spectacular signature flavor but it just didn’t.
Sorry guys.
You just didn’t do it for me.

I was driving home from work on an empty stomach at 11PM and I saw the Chili Wagon outside a bar on SM Blvd. It was like an oasis in the desert…4.5 stars for the tri-​tip chili, and the guys who own it seem like good dudes. I have a feeling that this is a truck that I will stop by every time I pass it, hungry or to save for later.

If you are a chili wagon, you need to have a ton of chili choices!
They only had 3 types of chili. Lame.

We had their Tri-​Tip Chili Cheese Fries for $ 3.50. It was slightly on the bland side but a little hot sauce took care of that. I also found myself wishing that there was a bit more chili on them. But surprisingly, they passed out a little sampling of their turkey and tri-​tip chili. Not the best I’ve ever had but definitely up there.

Chili Galore. Though I have to say that I’m not really feeling it from this joint. It didn’t wow me into thinking it was anything more than what you would find at Tommy’s on your burger. And let me tell you, that does not a meal make.
I do like that they set up a nice little table depending on when and where you find them. I came across their paths at Art Walk, and considering the many options at that particular food truck parking lot, I figured I would go with the one I haven’t hit up yet.
So even though I generally wouldn’t use the table since I have no problem eating street food in the upright position, I do appreciate the effort and that they have their own hot sauce. Which you really are going to need to add a few splashes to this chili because it’s really bland and mild.
The price is also another factor. Ouch! $ 7 bones for a bowl of chili. I don’t know about you, but there’s only two offenses that would warrant cowboys to say «Get the rope». Revealing that your chili is from New York City and trying to charge that much for a bowl of chili.
Again, key word here is street food. So why is this so pricey? I just can’t figure it out. I guess I wouldn’t have much of a problem paying up if it was at least a bit better tasting. But as it stands, no thanks.

This truck was waiting outside of the Pantages when we got out of Hair earlier tonight. The prices for this truck are actually pretty reasonable. I’m used to my SF trucks, where everything is pretty pricey, but we were able to get chili fries for $ 3.50. Pretty good. The drinks were also reasonably priced… yay!
The chili was really good. Unfortunately, there was so much salt on the fries that it took away from the flavor a little. Otherwise, I definitely recommend the chili. Would probably have given it a four if the fries weren’t so salty.

Best truck out there!
I saw their truck by my work, and couldn’t miss the T’s logo from around the corner. The chili smelt amazing so I had to try a sample. The turkey chili is the best I’ve ever had by far. It wasn’t spicy, but I like their idea of adding your own favorite sauce and spicing it up to your taste. I got a bowl of chili and a tri-​tip taco. Both delicious!
T’s hot sauces are all organic and locally made, which is just another bonus in my list. I tried them all, of course and had the hardest time picking a favorite, so half of my bowl got the red sauce, and the other half, yellow Hot Sauce. For the taco, they recommended their Pink Hot Sauce (yes, it is pink) and it tasted really fresh with notes of lemongrass and a hint of coconut. Yummy!!!
And, in response to Bill’s comment: Yes, they do offer both forks and spoons, let them know which you prefer. Even thought the bread bowl looked really good, it would have been too much food for me, so I took the regular bowl w/​some chips for dipping. It was really good sized and for only $ 5.50? I can have it everyday… Next time I see them I might try the tri-​tip chili with their fries. Have been craving it ever since…
Thanks T’s for mouthwatering fresh chili right on time for winter…
You Rock!

Spotted this truck at CBS, they were giving free samples. They hooked me.
This truck has the best turkey chili I have ever had. I used some of that orange hot sauce they have and it was outstanding. More flavor than I’m used to with turkey chili, yet still lighter than the beef alternative.
I’ll be back soon to try the tri-​tip. I think they said they have veggie too. I will be tracking this truck all winter.

Next year I am going to have my own TV show on network television. It is currently in production Studio City where rooftop cameras up and down Radford Street and film me as I park my car, walk up to a new food truck with no other customers and order increasingly improbable meals.
In the pilot episode, the producers selected a truck called Pranzo and served me a Prosciutto sandwich with hardly any meat on it. The 2^nd week is the Sandwich Bros. episode which is even more of a farce where I was expected to believe that a sandwich truck would start out with stale old bread. How can writers top that??? Simple, today they created T’s Chili Wagon a food truck that specializes in chili (you know food that comes in a bowl) and then they go give you a fork, but not a spoon to eat it with. I know it doesn’t sound plausible, but this is network TV. There used to be a TV show about a family with 6 kids whose Dad/​Stepdad was an architect, and yet they only had one bathroom.
I haven’t signed the deal yet, but I am sure their people will be calling my people (Ciara G, Lucy Y, Tai B and Rodney H) any day now. There has to be a show! There is no other explanation for these current trucks. There can’t be this many flawed trucks hitting the streets by accident. Did all the other Unilocalers conspire while I was in the rest room and agree «Let’s make Bill try them, he’ll eat anything»?
I spotted T’s Chili Wagon (which by the way has a URL for a website on the side of the truck that doesn’t mention T’s Chili Wagon. Give them credit for that, as it’s one of the few things they got right.
I got their at 2:15 and wanted to order the tri-​tip chili in a bread bowl; but they were out of bread bowls, so I ordered it in a bowl, which turned out to be a Styrofoam bowl. Now the bowl was a nice size, but that doesn’t matter because they didn’t fill it. It was only about 80 percent full, and that’s after the sour cream and cheese were added on top.
He took the bowl, 1 napkin and the fork and placed them in the plastic bag (where there was plenty of room for a spoon) and tied it up If I go back again (in other words if he gets better reviews than mine). I will be sure to take advantage of one of the hot sauce bottles in the condiment rack. After all «T» does produce T’s Hot Sauce.
So onto the chili, why would a guy in the hot sauce industry serve such mild chili? While the tri-​tip was generous and the pinto beans were infrequent, the chili was a little on the bland side. Blander than Wendy’s, Weinerschnitzel or the squirt thingy at 7 – 11. That isn’t to say there was no flavor as the beef was strong, but I do think it is there responsibility to either ask the customer about spicing it up, or let the customer do it before the package is sealed «to go».
Now let’s talk utensils here. It may seem like I am beating a dead fork here, because a good chili is about 90 percent solid and 10 percent fluid. I am willing to do my part here and put a little liquid on each mouthful I scoop, but you can’t do that with a fork. You might as well serve it in a colander. In my bowl, the chili was a little dry, but I had a half-​inch of a broth like liquid to drink when I was done eating. In fairness, if I gotten to have it in a bread bowl, this might have been perfect as the bread would absorb the liquid and I would be chewing, not chugging it. At the very least, please serve some bread or crackers with the bowl.
The menu also has Quesadillas, Wraps, Fries (with or without chili) and something called a Hot Pink Taco, which I assume means it comes with the Hot Pink sauce T’s sells.
T’s slogan on the truck is «ANYTHING BUT A TEASE», and today at least, they didn’t live up to their motto.
«Gourmet Food Truck #73 on my never-​ending quest to try every truck in So Cal»