Off the Grid

I have been to a few food truck thingies and usually leave satisfied. Today wasn’t that bad either. I opted for An The Go SF and indulged in garlic noodles, a shrimp skewer and deep fired dungeness crab wontons.
Not bad at all, except for I dropped one of my scrimps (insert tears here) because that was a good scrimp.
I would go back,
1. It’s close to the house
2. There is another truck I want to try
3. It’s close to the house
today’s adventure gets 1 crumb up

Saturdays off the grid has became a weekly tradition. Usually there are 4 – 6 different trucks here and a live band. Which ranges from Asian inspire food, to burgers, and desserts. This off the grid compare to the SF fort mason one is very chill. There is usually a place to sit, eat, and enjoy the live music. And, it doesn’t get overly crowded.
It would be awesome, if they are able to eventually get a beer truck out here and maybe expand the size of it even more. Being right outside the UFC gym usually nets people out. I know when I see the KOJA truck I have to stop to grab their burgers and kamikaze fries. Their burger is an awesome twist! The buns are made of rice. Slider truck is dope too, the slider with the gooey farmers egg always hits the spot. The only downside is that food portions can run a little small and it can get a little pricey.
And, don’t worry! Everyone uses the square app not, so don’t fret if you don’t have cash on you! Catch them while you can, the trucks are usually there from 11 – 3.

As a first-​timer I relied on Unilocaler’s tips on what to order. My tip: go there w/​an empty stomach so you’ll have plenty of room to sample a lot.
We loved KOJA! We got the short rib burger w/​kamikaze fries & drinks and the first bite was just as mouth-​watering as it looks. Really really good! Although if you’re a spice junkie like me, the fries were not really that spicy as they claim so I think it’s a good thing for those who like just to have a bit of spice in their food.
We tried the pork belly sandwich & the CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON in the BACON food truck. Yup! Chocolate covered bacon! How devilishly awesome could that get?
For the SLIDERS truck, I tried the Lamb meatballs, and just had one bite ’cause I didn’t like it.
So there it is. We’ll surely be back here to try more foods from KOJA & other food trucks too. I would suggest that you come here as they open at 11am if you don’t want to wait on long lines and just hang around until noon time because they got a band playing at around 12nn. If you want to stretch your dollar might as well bring your own water too.

I love off the grid the trucks are there in Concord every Saturday from 11 to 3. There is always one truck that is a dessert truck featuring either yogurt or cupcakes. I have been here about 10 times. I love the variety you can’t go anywhere else and get as many choices as you can at off the grid. Additionally it only takes about 5 to 10 minutes to get your food and the food is good to great quality. The trucks that are there change weekly. Some of my favorite trucks are the bacon bacon truck and Drewskis (Rated a top 10 food truck by the food network)

The five stars are awarded for oringinality, food quality, and value.
I did not sample everything. It was simply a first time foray into this style of eating.
The Chairman had a tasty pork belly on a soft sweet roll. Dressed with a sweet sauce and brined cucumbers provided a delicious and well balanced sandwich.
Lexie’s frozen custard was interesting as well. A single scoop was enough to satisfy the sweet tooth, but not enough to make you have that too full feeling. The had a maple walnut that was delicious!
We will have to go again to get to the rest of the trucks. Overall, it was a neat destination for a foodie like me.

was good! love food trucks! I just wish that there were more trucks in the parking lot!

Only been once so far but it was FANTASTIC. Wide selection of options for any eater. Typical higher end food truck prices. I’d recommend bringing your own beverage. I look forward to going again.
Video of experience below. A lot of it is friends and family and me just walking around the trucks.

So happy Off the Grid has made it out to the East Bay! It doesn’t get too crowded at this particular location as the ones I’ve been to in the City and Berkeley (the craze has yet to catch on I guess). Go visit on a Saturday for lunch! Variety of food trucks, live music, and happy people eating great food — perfect recipe for a good time!

My first ever experience with Off the Grid was last Saturday and my taste-​buds were blown away. I was able to try items from seven different trucks! My friend and I found a parking spot fairly quickly and walked over to the trucks around 1:30.
The first truck we ordered from was Curry Up Now and we ordered a pair of Samosas with two small cups of chutney ($ 4). This was by far the best item we ordered that afternoon! Curry Up Now’s Samosas were soooooo delicious!
The second truck we ordered from, I sadly cannot remember the name, we got three Steamed Pork Buns ($ 5). The buns were very good, but I wished there was a bit more pork stuffed inside.
The third truck we went to I just ordered a Vietnamese Iced Tea. It was really refreshing.
The fourth truck we stopped at was Cupkates. I ordered a Salted Caramel Cupcake ($ 3.25). I think the cupcake was a tad expensive. It was good though.
The fifth truck was Bacon Bacon. We ordered the Spicy Belly Fries ($ 6). They were amazing!
The sixth truck was the famous Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen. My friend ordered the Hemi ($ 8) and I ordered the Mustang ($ 8). We traded one half of our sandwiches with one another so we could try each others. Both were great. We had to wait a bit after we ordered. I also tried to order the Deep Fried Mac Balls (I think that is what they were called) but sadly that were sold out.
The seventh truck was Smokey’s and The Oyster Guy. I ordered two Oysters ($ 4) and one Roasted Cajun Corn ($ 3). The corn was only half of a cob, which was disappointing. The oysters were very salty. It tasted like I took a shot of pure salt water.
Off the Grid was such a fun experience. I am definitely going to try and go every Saturday.

I absolutely love the Off the Grid weekly markets! It was great to hear from a Unilocal friend that there was a site in Concord every Saturday from 11:00am-3:00pm. The Concord OFG has a decent selection of approximately 7 – 9 trucks each week. In regards to the trucks that are regulars at least twice a month, my favorites are The Chairman, Streatery and An the Go. Lines at this OFG are not usually too long. Lots of fold out chairs to get your grub with a group of friends. Check this place out!

We were finally able to make it to Off the Grid in Concord. The last time we tried, it wasn’t going on that particular Saturday, and you can just imagine how heart broken we were. After driving around the entire Willows shopping center, (because we didn’t know where it was held exactly) we finally drove up onto a roped off area with about eight food trucks parked there. The excitement builds.
Not long after looking at each truck I decided my first stop would be Drewski’s. Gourmet grilled sandwiches, I mean what’s not to like. Every sandwich on the menu is named after a car. The vegetarian sandwich is even called The Prius. Priceless. After much deliberation I decided on The Mustang. It’s really like an international grilled cheese. Korean braised beef, kimchi, diakon and siracha wasabi aioli. Then we get the aged Havarti and Swiss cheese. All crammed into sliced French bread. If heaven had a sandwich shop, this would be the star. It tasted less like a grilled cheese and more like just an awesome sandwich. But that’s what it is. An awesome sandwich. As if the the sandwich wasn’t amazing enough, I ordered «amazings» side kick. Drewski’s famous tots. Rosemary and garlic tossed tots that are out of this world. Come for the sandwich, stay for the tots.
While I was at Drewski’s getting my sandwich order on, Terri was two food trucks away, getting hers on. At Sanguchon she ordered a Barbacoa sandwich. I’ve never had a sandwich with potato chips on it and definitely not against the idea. This sandwich did have it, but for me didn’t add much to it sadly. I did like the meat though, with the sauce and coleslaw, definitely makes this a runner up to my Mustang sandwich, we both agreed.
We weren’t finished after our first tour of Off the Grid. I’m here and I’m going to eat, was my mind set for that afternoon. I did have a bit of a wait at Seoul on Wheels for my tacos, but it was worth it. I even made a friend in line, which was cool. I ordered two tacos for six dollars. My firs taco was Galbi, which was marinated short rib and my second taco was the spicy pork. Yes the food did take a little long to come out, but I thought it was worth it. Two gorgeous looking tacos, lettuce and tasty meat. Yes, well worth the wait.
Terri was again, a few trucks down, ordering her food. She was at The Chairman getting a chicken slider type sandwich. I did try it, and this is where we disagree because I found my tacos tastier then her slider. The slider was good though, just didn’t find it amazing like some people.
Over all a wonderful experince. One I cannot wait to experience again. The food trucks were awesome, the OTG workers were awesome. Everyone is friendly, having fun and chowing down on some kick ass food.

So happy that Off The Grid has found a home in Concord — talk about starting your weekend right!
We arrived to feast around 11:20 and I definitely recommend that as the crowd was reasonable when we arrived, and swarming as we headed out. Lots of chairs were set up for diners, so it was all very convenient. There were 8 – 9 trucks parked for lunch, some definitely more popular than others. It wasn’t a big surprise that Chinese bbq places had modest lines, I think people are definitely wanting to sample things less easy to come by. Music played as we dined, which was very pleasant! And while I was happy to hear the live tunes when the band started playing originals, ordering food became a lot more difficult — too loud and too close. There must be a solution!
Since this was our first food truck experience, we wanted to really pig out and sample lots of goodies. Round 1 included the The Mustang and tater tots from Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen, and the Barbacoa sandwich from Peruvian truck Sanguchon. I was drawn to the Barbacoa because any BBQ sauce made with cola perks my ears all up. It was a decent sandwich, sauce and meat flavors were good, and the texture elements of coleslaw and potato chips made it fun to eat. Nothing on earth could have topped that Mustang sandwich though — EPIC! Korean BBQ beef, kimchi, daikon, wasabi aioli and cheese, all together to make one insane grilled cheese! Super flavorful and savory, and their garlic rosemary tater tots were fried to golden perfection and were fabulous!
Round 2 was almost nerve-​wracking because Round 1 went so well! We got the beef tacos from Korean truck Seoul on Wheels, and because of its insane reputation and long line, I ordered the steamed bun with spicy chicken from The Chairman. The tacos were my least favorite of what we tried, they took a very long time to come up and weren’t overly flavorful. The chicken bun from the Chairman was AMAZING! Delicious chicken with a yummy Thai peanut sauce and pickled veggies on the tasty steamed bun, priced right at only $ 3.25. I can’t imagine visiting OTG and not getting that delicious sammie!
For about $ 30 bucks 2 of us ate a delicious 4 course meal of yummy eats! Bring your adventurous foodie friends and enjoy!

Can you re-​live the Eat Real festival every weekend? Well if you live almost anywhere in the bay area, perhaps you can… even Concord now as OtG made it’s debut around a month ago. I attended the opening festivities and I’m definitely a fan. Here’s why:
***Parking: the Willows Parking Lot is huge, so lots of places to stash your ride as you peruse the food trucks
***Variety: They say they will have 8 – 10 food trucks each week so it’s pretty easy to find at least a few places you’ll really like, but not too many (like the Eat Real Festival) where it’s hard to decide
***Ambiance: When I was there they had some live music which was nice backdrop to the hustle & bustle of food truck lines
A word of advice if you are thinking of going (and perhaps they fixed this by now). The chair situation was a nightmare when we went so we had to either eat standing up in the hot sun or sit on the grass in between parked cars. We opted for the grass and ants crawled into my food :(My advice would be to bring your own portable chairs (like the ones you bring to a soccer game). That way you won’t have to worry about fighting with the people saving chairs for their friends and/​or using a chair to hold their purse! It’s also not a bad idea to bring plates/​silverware if you are planning on sharing items. ENJOY!
Unilocal 100 Challenge: 88/​100, pictures #80−85/100

Off The Grid: Food Trucks — Concord
Organizer website:
Hours: Saturdays 11am-​3pm
8 – 10 food trucks
Convenient to the freeways
FREE Easy Parking
Or ride your bike there on the Iron Horse Trail
I love having Off the Grid food trucks in Concord. I am so happy I will not have to spend the money to get over the bridge for a decent food truck anymore!
OtG provides chairs to sit in under the shade trees while you eat.
Today I had garlic noodles with glazed prawns from Blue Saigon truck, and a maple bacon sundae from Lexie’s Frozen Custard truck! Delicious!!!
These are NOT the old fashion taco trucks that sit on the side of Solano Drive-​In! They are upscale mobile restaurants.

OTG: Concord is in front of the roadrunner’s sport shop. 2ish, didn’t seem that busy. didn’t have to wait long for eats nor did i have trouble finding parking.
locale: willows shopping center
hours: saturdays, 11 – 3
trucks:
–blue saigon truck-​fusion tacos seem to be popular
–lexi frozen custard: soft serve «custard»
–go streatery: gourmet, oxtails
–street dog truck: different pricing for different dogs
–cupkate truck
–arki kitchen: fried chicken, sammies, donuts?
–kinder: bbq sammies
–sanguchon food truck: peruvian, the sammie with french fries popular
foodnotes:
–OTG offers unique food truck fare, usually not copycats nor «me too»
–usually 8 – 10 food trucks.
–2/​7/​2015update
lots of construction going on. few trucks, less parkings
–some listed trucks no shows.

We went on opening weekend so perhaps the little things that need improvement will be improved. First: more chairs. It was hot and sunny and we had our hands full with food but no place to sit and eat it. I’m sure OTG had no idea how many people to expect, and perhaps are used to the Oakland museum location having those great stairs, but this is a parking lot and I just wasn’t in the mood to sit on the ground and grub.
Enjoyed the food but had a better variety in Oakland as well — I wish the Grilled Cheese Truck had come. That’s pretty much all I wanted. But I tried some new things, including the frozen custard. Serious goodness in a cup.
It was fun and we had a good time, but we pretty much just grabbed our food and left.
Happy that this event is close to home and will be repeating weekly — perhaps a growing crowd will encourage more trucks to come through the tunnel!

awesome! finally in the east bay! a good amount of trucks, and not too crowded. However, the Koja Kitchen truck was a 30 – 40 minute wait yesterday, but the wait is always that long if not longer.
Good location in Concord. Keep it coming every week!

I’ve gotta give Off The Grid Concord 5 stars as they brought in badly needed culinary diversity to the 925! We’ve been there both last Saturday and today, and the eclectic food trucks they’ve brought in will surely please everybody. I personally loved the trucks that were here last week where I sampled tons of different dishes and ate like a pig: garlic noodles, macaroni & cheese, cheesesteak, and amazing lemon ricotta donuts. Today’s selection saw a couple of food trucks dedicated to titillating your sweet tooth: The Crème Brulee Cart and a frozen custard truck. I personally just went with the Blue Saigon food truck and wasn’t particularly impressed.
The guy from Off The Grid said they hope to bring in Bacon Bacon sometime in November. Mmmmmmmmmmm… Bacon. I’m *so* there!

OTG: Concord
Organizer website:
Hours: Saturdays 11am-​3pm
8 – 10 food trucks
OTG continues to expand this year, last Saturday added a 7^th location in the East Bay (other EB OTGs in: Alameda, Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville, Hayward, El Cerrito). Similar to the location in Alameda (same days, same time), also on a shopping mall — Willows Shopping Center. The food trucks park in a cordoned section of the main parking lot, to the left of the main entrance. Just for reference, the spot is in front of the Road Runner Sports store, and behind the standalone US Bank branch. My reviews of individual food trucks are posted separately.
For out of town visitors, arrive at Concord BART station (about 20 blocks from mall), take County Connection bus #320 (note: 30 – 45 min intervals during weekend service, fare = $ 2) stops at the Hilton Concord, directly across the street from the shopping mall entrance.
Note that faster bus #91X (fare = $ 2.25) only operates on weekdays, so it’s not an option in this case.
This is not an FTR, added this link for address correction (the original link has a SF address). Cheers!
Willows Shopping Center
1975 Diamond Blvd, Concord, CA 94 520

I’m a food truck junkie and this hit the spot! Conveniently located in the Willows Shopping Center. Lots of available parking and nearby stores to shop at after eating… if you don’t end up in a food coma like me!
I had ox tail with grits, lemon ricotta doughnuts, lavender lemonade, garlic noodles with pork skewer, crispy veggie role and coconut shrimp.
An explosion of flavors! Spent around $ 45 and it was well worth it
Spoke to an Off The Grid guy and was told the trucks are currently on a 2 week rotation, which means a whole new set of trucks next Saturday! Currently there are 7 trucks and 1 cart. They’re hoping to add up to 10 trucks. Live music (2 guys doing a decent jazz set) and recorded stuff too. Nice touch!