Here Are Seven Essential Food Trucks in San Diego

From office parks to brewery tasting rooms, food trucks are an important and much-needed component of our local food scene. Here now are seven trucks, some mobile and some fixed, that you should put on your list to try. Find them popping up around town or head to a gathering place like the Quartyard, to taste several in one place.

Mastiff Sausage Company

Billing itself as a "new breed of food truck", Mastiff boasts an experienced restaurant chef at the wheel (Eric Gallerstein cooked at Whisknladle before co-founding Mastiff) and at tricked-out truck that houses some real-deal kitchen equipment, from which they serve up house-ground artisan sausages, plus sides and condiments made from produce grown in their own garden. [Photo via Facebook]

Joes on the Nose

Now celebrating its eighth anniversary, this ground-breaking craft coffee truck loaded with trained baristas posts up every Saturday at the Little Italy Mercato and every Sunday at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market to fuel San Diegans with special coffee drinks made from locally-roasted beans.

Cellar 3 Bistro/Green Flash Gastro

Rotating food trucks are a familiar sight at brewery tasting rooms, but Green Flash Brewing Co. decided to bring their food service in-house, parking their own Green Flash Gastro truck at the brewery's main production facility, which serves a comprehensive menu that ranges from cheese and meat boards to pork belly banh mi and braised short rib sandwiches, while their second truck, Cellar 3 Bistro, feeds their just-launched Poway tasting room with a concise menu of beer-friendly snacks. [Photo via Facebook]

Mariscos El Pescador

Permanently parked in a Toys "R" Us parking lot in Chula Vista, this family-owned food truck offers scant seating but regulars are happy to eat while standing or perched on the hood of their cars. Specializing in fresh Mexican seafood preparations, signature dishes range from smoked marlin and Baja fish tacos to shrimp and octopus cocktails, ceviche-topped tostadas and seafood soups.

Not So Fast!

California's first paleo and primal lifestyle food truck sources its meat and produce from from local and regional farms. The menu ranges from grassfed beef burgers to bowls of sweet potato hash and cauliflower rice topped with rosemary-lemon chicken thighs or crispy pork belly. Don't forget the side of duck fat chips with spicy aioli. [Photo via Facebook]

Pierogi Truck

One of the few, and best, Polish eateries in town rolls on four wheels. Pierogi Truck's Polish owners, who moved here from Chicago, launched the food truck in 2011. The handmade dumplings are tops, but other traditional dishes include Polish sausage, goulash and stuffed cabbage. [Photo via Facebook]

God Save the Cuisine

This cleverly-named truck has a British-accented menu that uses San Diego-sourced ingredients for its fare, which ranges from a butty, beer-battered local fish tucked into a brioche bun to Indian-inspired tikka masala made with produce from area farms.