List
By Sarah Bristow
On your next trip to Brisbane you’ll find a city with a population of food trucks that is on the up and up. Let’s face it, the River City is obsessed with food, with our capital’s passion for eating extending into specialty purveyors which roam our streets, taking their wares from suburb to suburb. Global cuisine is on the menu here, with individual trucks as common as collectives - like Eat Street, Brisbane’s restaurant-style food truck collection on the river’s banks. Let this guide to the best food trucks in Brisbane light the way.
Perched on the banks of the Brisbane River in Hamilton’s industrial foreshore is where you’ll come across Eat Street Northshore, where diversity is in no short supply. Global fare is scattered among the collection of stalls here, each a revamped shipping container that now doles out heaped plates of cuisine from Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Italy, Mexico and more. To further tempt you there’s also live music, plenty of booze, and vegan-friendly options to choose from.
A moveable feast is the mantra behind catering truck Char Baby, the passion project of longtime chef Nicole Noble. Unique grazing tables inspired by her global travels are her specialty - think heaped mounds of pickled vegetables, local honey, olives, nuts, pastes and dips, artisan loaves, candied fruits, cheese and plenty more tasty treats.
Photo by @benz_on_miller
A clear local favourite, Benz on Miller has a Murrarie storefront and two food trucks to feed its Brisbane fans. Fully loaded beef or fried chicken burgers are the speciality, with vegan options too – you can even skip the queue and order online.
Keep an eye on Instagram for their whereabouts.
Looking for the best burgers in Brisbane? Run by an experienced chef-owned crew that have been running gourmet food trucks since before they were cool (1997, to be exact), Micasa serves American-style burgers inspired by Pulp Fiction. Find them around Brisbane and the Gold Coast, or hire Micasa for event catering.
Fellow American favourite chicken wings form the heart of another of the food trucks in Brisbane. King of Wings is run by husband and wife duo Dylan and Katrina who have amassed a fan base for their award-winning creations, which won first place for best new competitor and second place for best wing sauce at the Wingfest in New York back in 2016. They are now so popular they boast two food trucks as well as a devoted restaurant in Stafford, each serving up selections of traditional wings, cauliflower wings, boneless wings, ribs, salads, and vegetarian options galore (we promise).
Photo by @rollsphomi
Craving Vietnamese street food? You can’t do better than family-run Rolls Pho Mi, delivering authentic banh mi, pho and rice paper rolls to the people of South East Queensland since 2016. The signature 24-hour pho is a traditional recipe acquired from mum Dzung, and thirsty diners can also pick up slow-dripped Vietnamese iced coffee, coconut juice and lychee lemonade.
Find their schedule and locations here.
Award for most adorable of the food trucks in Brisbane would have to go to Gelato a Go Go, which is housed in a vintage Citroen H van. Today the treat focused roving seller serves more than 100 flavours of delicious gelato and sorbet, most of which are gluten-free and all of which are delicious. There are the classics of course, like chocolate chip, alongside more exotic creations - Mascarpone, Fig & Almond Gelato and Pina Colada Gelato included.
Gelato a Go Go is available for hire for private parties, corporate and community events.
Photo by @foodbaby_foodtruck
This Brisbane food truck will leave you with a food baby, serving all sorts of juicy burgers and street food from a vintage American Chevy step van.
You can usually find Food Baby parked outside a local park or Brisbane-based brewery – follow them on Instagram to get their latest location.
Head to Mt Gravatt Showgrounds on the first Saturday of the month from 4pm to 9pm for a food truck feast with hoards of locals vying for a plate of global cuisine. From Turkish stands to barbecue stands, cultures of all shapes and sizes (and flavours) congregate at this fully licensed weekly gathering that tends to draw crowds with its addition of live music.
Entry is $3 per person, and free for those under 16 years.
Photo by @rubyicecreamvan
Prefer your desserts with old school appeal? Ruby has been slinging premium soft serve ice cream from a fully restored vintage English ice cream van since 2014 – satiating sweet-toothed locals with sundaes, sherbet-topped and choc-dipped delights. Nowadays, the range of treats scooped includes Italian gelato and sorbet for the non-dairy inclined.
You can often find her parked at New Farm Park on weekends, but check socials for location updates.