Our once mighty fleet of 50+ Food Trucks has been trimmed down for 2021, but we won't let it shake our street-eat spirits. To paraphrase Meatloaf, "don't be sad, because 45+ food trucks ain't that bad."
This year's Food Truck Guide sees the return of many past favourites, while a few new gems have hit the streets in the past season, adding even more diversity to our curbside culinary options.
The majority of these trucks are already operating, posting their locations on the Insta or Facebook accounts provided while we will continually add to the guide when prompted or when we see a new truck on the streets.
Aboriginal Fusion
Aboriginal Fusion is all about the bannock, and has been on the road since late 2019 offering tacos, bison burgers, and fish and chips using local pickerel. Chef/owner Tara Hall is a Red River College Culinary Arts grad from the Pinaymootang First Nation, and her red and white truck is often located at 1831 Selkirk Ave., along with locations all over town which are updated regularly on Facebook.
A Little Pizza Heaven
This red truck offers up the same tasty, beer friendly 'za that is served to the young, hip set at their storefront locations in Osborne Village, St James, St. Vital and Transcona. As my awesome co-worker Gillian says, "their garlic butter crust is so good that you should flip the pizza around to eat the crust first... and you can't say that about a lot of pizzas."
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Baekho - Taste of Korea
Winnipeg's sole Korean food truck is so good. Baekho's white tiger logo would make for a badass tattoo (my buddy Jun informs me that Baekho indeed translates to white tiger, based originally on a Chinese character), while the truck slings bowls featuring bulgogi, je-yuk (spicy pork), or sam-gyeop-sal (pork belly) that come with rice and all those fabulous fermented, crunchy Korean condiments and a choice of sauces, including spicy ssamjang sauce (a mix of gochujang, doenjang, green onion, and other goodies). The meats are cooked to order while the pickled radish and Korean sweet chili sauce my wife describes as, "insanely delicious" and "bananas." My wife also says the glass noodles with shiitakes and crunchy radish are amazing. No social media --making this truck as elusive as its namesake -- but we have seen it on Broadway during happier times by the Legislative Building.
Baohouse
Its first season on the streets (summer 2018) was so successful that it led to the opening of a Baohouse restaurant right on Corydon Avenue, the former location of Bisita (637 Corydon) -- which interestingly enough was also a spin-off of the food truck Pimp My Rice. The restaurant has been serving steamed buns, Japadog-inspired hot dogs, sliders and sushi towers since March 2019, while come summer from May through October, the bun mobile is in action, slinging baos done in the style that David Chang made famous in North America.
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BBK’s
These folks utilize apple wood to smoke brisket and pork shoulder which they then slather on buns with homemade apple butter barbecue sauce. They also do neat little stacked containers with layers of potato salad, corn, and other barbecue-inspired items.
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Best Meal
This truck first appeared in 2017 on Broadway during lunches and specializes in Middle Eastern dishes like kibbe, lamb and beef kabobs, shawarma and falafel (it also has western food like fries and burgers; it's a pretty huge menu for a food truck).
Bigg Smoak Bbq
This truck is an extension of Bigg Smoak Bbq, Smokehouse and Grill in Steinbach, whose pitmaster is an award-winner for his brisket. The restaurant has been operating since 2014, but the food truck is new for 2021 with plans on hitting the city's streets periodically throughout summer. Best bet is to follow them on Insta for updates on dates and locations.
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Blue Haze BBQ
Established in 2019, Blue Haze BBQ’s "rib mobile" is a catering extension of its barbecue shop in Beausejour, MB which is constantly garnering rave reviews (particularly for those ribs that are so proudly displayed on the truck;
just look at that bark line!). Its award-winning meats (including a slew of first, second, and third-place finishes for its chicken, ribs and brisket respectively at the now defunct Winnipeg BBQ & Blues Festival) are smoked for up to 16 hours over hardwoods, and Blue Haze makes its own signature BBQ sauces. This food truck won the 2019 ManyFest Food Truck Wars winner for Judge’s Choice and (as you'll see on its Insta account) it has already been making regular appearances in Winnipeg.
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Casama Food Truck
The newest concept from Charlee's Restaurant and Champs food truck (more on that right below), Casama is surely the city's newest truck (you may find that written elsewhere, as this guide is updated weekly -- but this time we mean it!), having just had its soft opening on August 22nd, 2021. The truck itself looks super dope, with blue exterior LED lights across the top of the van that highlight the sleek feathered paint job. The menu is Filipino-Mexican fusion, with innovative dishes like sinigang tacos, kilawin campechana and loaded elote (corn with calamansi butter rolled in chicarrōn and flaming hot cheetos). You get the whole menu in a combo for just $25.
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Champs
This sleek new(ish) Filipino food truck (we love the black matte design with the yellow logo) served its first customers on May 18, 2019. Champs is by the same owners as Charlee's Restaurant and Lounge, and its street eats include kare kare poutine, sisig poutine (sunny side up egg and all!), rice bowls, pork lumpia, and sandwiches, along with cool treats like calamansi slushies and numerous types of halo halo. During its first ManyFest Food Truck Wars, Champs took the “Most Original” title.
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The Choripan Stop
The Churro Stop (listed right below) launched this new truck on September 15, 2021, making it officially the newest truck on the list. It specializes in Argentinian street food (co-owner Jacko Garcia is from that country) with a menu featuring takes on the classic choripan, Milanese and lomito sandwiches that are so popular throughout South America. The chorizo for the choripan is made in-house, while the truck also serves up a number of empanadas.
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The Churro Stop
The handmade, hand-cut Argentinian churros are so good that they have taken the Judge's Gold Award in both 2015 and 2017 for "best bang for your buck" at ManyFest Food Truck Wars. The dulce de leche and Bavaria cream stuffed versions are insane (I wish I was eating like six of them while writing this), while the owners, Jacko and Tara Garcia, are total gems. In 2018 they also started making four flavours of empanadas, in case you need something savoury before you hit the sweetness, while new for 2021 are several vegan items too.
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Donut Forget Your Coffee
Food trucks with food pun titles are always great. Food trucks with pun titles featuring an angry doughnut mascot chasing a jaunty cup of coffee on the roof -- even better. This unmistakable truck serves up the festival holy trinity of street eats (that being lemonade, coffee drinks, and pails of mini doughnuts) and has been operating since July 2019. You can find it (and book it) on Instagram.
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Driven Kitchen
Another brand new entry for 2021, Driven Kitchen just started rolling its wheels in August. Out of its slick green trailer you'll find a menu of burgers (using both ground chuck or a Beyond Meat patty), wings, and fries with all the fixins'. We've seen it at Fresh Co on Jefferson, while they also update the locations daily on Insta.
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Euro Donair
A regular participant at the last ManyFest Food Truck Wars, you can normally find this food truck parked at the Home Depot by CF Polo Park. It doesn’t appear to have any social media accounts, but if we were to guess, we'd say go with the meat wrapped in pita served with a yogurt-based sauce.
Extreme Fries
With its pink, graffiti-ed look, this truck is certainly a standout on the streets (in fact, it's such a showstopper you'll soon see it in a music video with Al Simmons and Rusty Matyas!). This summer, chef/owner Bobbie Mack is offering a full deluxe poutine menu, where fry treatments include slow-roasted pork, butter chicken, and maple-bacon, with several accompanying house-made barbecue sauces to choose from. Regular location updates are happening on Instagram.
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Feastro Global Bistro
Feastro Global Bistro's jam is cuisine representing the eastern and southern Mediterranean. It makes falafel, chicken shawarma, and beef kabab, which you can get in wrap form, or as a plate with salad, rice, hummus and pita.
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Fire & Ice
This new trailer has a great location for foot traffic on Wellington Crescent under the St. James Bridge. It makes grabbing an ice cream or coffee easy while you stroll toward Assiniboine Park this summer, with hours of operation from noon to 6 p.m.
Fired Up
We are big fans of the crust and simple ingredients from this food truck that utilizes a wood-burning oven right on the truck (you'll often see one of the chefs come outside to grab more wood from the little cubby hole located near the window where you order). If you see the pear, cambozola and balsamic crema pizza on the menu that day you must order it! It's stunning. The chef also sometimes does a beet and kubasa pizza with a white garlic sauce that is pretty out of control too.
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G. G. Gelati
This
beachy, colourful orange trailer is an extension of the Italian gelato specialists that have been serving dozens of flavours out of their iconic shop at 705 Corydon since 1995. The mobile cart generally can be found at all the big summer festivals and -- on top of multiple flavours of gelato and sorbetto -- also serves milkshakes, various drinks, and popping bobas.
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Goldie's Fries
Before food trucks were cool (or even a thing really), Goldie's was there, slinging fries, burgers and the like on the streets of Winnipeg. Owner Darryl Leiman has been doing this now for 26 years, while you can regularly find Goldies at Old Market Square daily, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Just a Little Squeeze
This lovely (and quite large) lemonade truck will be your main squeeze this summer when you are looking for a refreshing beverage. It only uses real fruit with no syrups, while you can normally find it every Saturday at the St. Norbert Farmers' Market.
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Just Loaded
While Just Loaded's name refers to how much they stack within two slices of bread, it would also be fitting for that other version -- that one that involves you searching out food after last call at the bar, as this menu is drunk food at its finest. Their speciality is sandwiches that flaunt freshly shaved meats like Montreal smoked brisket, while the ever changing menu also features more heavily loaded things like Winnipeg Old Country hotdogs covered with perogies and kraut or pulled pork with crushed chips. There's also plenty of sides to choose from, along with old school Pic-A-Pop to quench your thirst.
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KYU Grill
The perennial People's Choice ManyFest Food Truck Wars champions (2015 to 2019; a five-peat!!) are back for another season with their robatayaki-inspired skewered Heroshima sandwiches. It's a bit like Vancouver's legendary Japadog, but with way more toppings – like nori, fried panko, scallions, mango sauce, kewpie mayo and other salty/sweet things. The owners regularly tweet out their location, so be sure to follow for that five-time award-winning flava! New for 2021 is the addition of birria tacos to the menu, which has proven to be a huge hit. KYU Grill also has several new mobile units to ensure it is operating daily in locations throughout the city.
The Little Eggplant
The Little Eggplant has been slinging Italian street food since 2018, making pillowy soft dough for its paninis, which are then pressed on the truck before being loaded with housemate pesto, cheeses and cured meats. It also serves Italian desserts like gelato tarts and cannoli. This truck is a regular at the Wolseley Farmers' Market and will continue to work the farmers' market and breweries circuit this summer. They always do location updates on Insta, while this summer a cart has been added to the fleet that will offer Italian sausage on a bun.
Mighty Micki’s Mini Donuts
There’s mini doughnuts, then there is Micki’s Mini Donuts. This truck has been “the leader in the mini donut spectrum” for over two decades now (
the secret: premium cinnamon and a fluffy, stable batter). They are the owners of three mobile units (one of which would regularly be set at Investors Group Field during games), meaning they have all the mainstay events covered throughout summer. The family who owns this operation are also super nice, as confirmed by their neighbour Kim, who is our company’s director of finance and a mini-donut and lemonade connoisseur.
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Mikky’s
This old-school truck has stood the test of time as one of the city's original food trucks dishing out burgers (with fried onions), fries and various other comfort food bites. Look for the white truck with red trim and fun food pics at 333 Broadway.
Miss Tiny’s Jamaican Food Truck
There’s nothing tiny about the flavours coming out of this large, colourful truck, which started in 2018. Along with plenty of jerk chicken, which you can get served traditionally with rice and peas, or on top of poutine, it also makes a mean beef patty. We've seen Miss Tiny regularly at the Wholesale Club on Ellice this spring (11 p.m. to 4 p.m.), while she also regularly posts the truck’s location on Insta.
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Nawabi Grill Kabab
A new truck in 2019, Nawabi specializes in South Asian cuisine. It has a very extensive menu that includes biryani, dosas, pakoras, chicken tandoori, puri bhaji and butter chicken.
Oh! Good! Path!
This new Japanese food truck hit the streets for the first time in October 2020, making it the newest truck on the list.
The menu consists of sushi burritos, ramen, takoyaki -- including takoyaki hot dogs loaded with kimchi, vegetables and a range of sauces -- and melonpan (Japanese sweet bread buns). They are regularly on Instagram with their daily locations, which thus far in 2021 has covered much of the city, from St. Boniface to The Maples.
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Pacific Spring Roll Catering
We once bought what seemed like 27 spring rolls from these folks at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market for, like, $4, which was terribly exciting (this might not be an accurate number, but the spring rolls were great and they came with sweet chili sauce for dip). They also do poutine, burgers, dogs and a popular new pulled pork sandwich. They can be found every Wednesday and Saturday at the St. Norbert Farmers' Market from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Pop Cart
What a storied operation Pop Cart has become. It was started by Angela Farkas and Alana Fiks, two culinary stars who run the successful (and amazing) Black Market Provisions. This was their first venture, which they started as a side project back in 2015, which quickly became a mobile cart phenom of sorts, taking over Winnipeg Instagram during the summer months because everything they made was just so damn tasty and colourful. In 2018, the duo opened Black Market Provisions, and since then have had less and less time to pop it up. Thankfully, they recently sold the concept to Ryan and Shawn from Bones and Marrow (one of our favourite makers!) who are now pumping out plenty of pops, so much so that they are now available at all these amazing food retailers including, you guessed it, Black Market Provisions! #fullcircle
PVG's Street Eats
PVG's Street Eats first hit the streets in 2016 as PVG's Breakfast Club, and has since made a serious bid for coolest-looking truck in Winnipeg with a facade featuring the whole Brat Pack from the John Hughes classic (new name, but same cool design). Chef/owner Paul VanGinkel's menu is all about fancy grilled cheeses, sliders, and hand-cut
fries that are pilled high with all manner of deliciousness. So far in 2021 it has been all over the city -- sometimes two locations in one day -- slinging this mighty fine new menu that includes weekly burger specials.
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The Red Ember
A perennial favourite during ManyFest Food Truck Wars, chef/owner Steffen Zinn's massive red truck has become a thing of legend in Winnipeg (at last count, this converted shipping container that he built with his own hands was the second-largest food truck in North America). On any given day, you'll find people queuing to get some of Canada's best pizza (we're serious) along Broadway across the street from the Manitoba Legislative Building, while they also frequent the St. Norbert Farmers' Market. The ever-rotating roster of wood-fired pizzas are incredible, while that crust -- made from organic wheat milled in Elie, MB -- is simply spectacular. Zinn also uses only locally preserved heirloom tomatoes, ethically raised heritage meats, and herbs and vegetables that they grow on the family farm. Sadly, it was recently announced 2021 will be
the last summer for the truck. However, Zinn and his chef/business partner Quin Ferguson also have a location in The Forks Market called Red Ember Common, along with a New York-style pizzeria at 753 Wall Street called Wall Street Slice (along with co-owners Edelma Miranda and Michael Sung), which serves big pies (also available by the slice, and can be delivered) using a different, but just as chewy, dough recipe.
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Ruby Red's Kansas City Barbeque
This new truck from 2020 specializes in smoked meat in a variety of genres -- from straight up brisket, to Carolina-style pulled pork, Caribbean pork belly, to Mexican smoked pork loin with pineapple salsa verde. All of these meats are served within a Gunn's Bakery bun and come with a salad, "Craig's famous beans," and a choice of drink for $13.50. You can find its location on Instagram, along with plenty of gifs and even some lazers too.
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Sis & Me
The original food truck on the streets of Winnipeg, Sis & Me has been in the biz for 24 years now! It can regularly be found operating on the corner of Broadway and Edmonton, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., doing all manner of meals, from dogs, to burgers, fries, pulled pork, veggie burgers, Reubens, taco fries, bison smokies and chicken fingers.
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Stevee's Dogs
Regularly located in the the parking lot of Country Roots Market and Garden at Henderson Highway and Chief Peguis Trail, Stevee's serves all-beef hotdogs and smokies from Winnipeg Old Country Sausage, along with hamburgers and vegan black bean burgers -- all of which is cooked over an open-flame grill. It is open seven days a week, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., while they also sling ice cream treats.
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Street Delights
The city's newest food truck (it just started rolling on May 21, 2021) specializes in Indian street food. Its robust menu ranges from the traditional -- aloo tikki, panipuri, chicken momos; to some really zesty numbers when it comes to burgers -- for instance the Kung Fu noodle burger (a deep fried potato patty loaded with vegetable noodles). The spring rolls are said to be the bomb. This white and purple truck is regularly found at 1295 Pembina Highway, along with regular updates on Instagram.
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Sweet and Salty Concessions
Owner/operator Marcel Petit has his own full fleet of food trucks, with four truck/trailers to his name, along with 18 years of food truck experience running his family company. The current 2021 summer roster consists of three mini-donut trailers, a trailer called The Meltdown: Deep Fried Cheese Curds (because, as we always say, "fried cheese? Baby, please!"), and a Beavertails truck.
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La Taqueria Mexican Tacos
La Taqueria first started slinging tacos this summer on July 14, making it the city's newest truck. The tight, simple menu features four varieties -- chicken mole, birria, cochnita pibil and mushrooms al pastor -- all of which are gluten-free. You can find them at the Unicity Canadian Tire parking lot (3615 Portage Ave) on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, from noon to 7 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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Tamale Time
Now in its fifth year on the streets, Tamale Time (which we also like to call "Pupusas, Please!"™) is rolling out a new menu of Salvadorian and Central American delights. On top of the tamales and pupusas, you can also now find tostadas and tacos featuring pork carnitas, chicken adobado, or bean and mushroom for a vegetarian option. The red truck -- with its sombrero-ed senõr inside a clock face --is easy to spot, and regularly post its location using the social media platforms below. This summer, it will be a regular at Confusion Corner and on the farmers' market circuit too.
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Trendy Treats
Ice cream, you scream, we all scream for boozy ice cream! Trendy Treats specializes in hard ice cream and Swiss Ice (somewhere between a sorbet and a slushy). Adult (aka booze-infused) ice cream flavours include Bailey’s, Amaretto, port, Fireball whisky, and sweet bourbon, while for Swiss Ices you’ll find sangria, peach Bellini, Pina Coloda, and lemon gin and tonic. All of this sounds terribly exciting, while you can also purchase numerous kid-friendly flavours from the truck in both ice cream and Swiss Ice form.
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Tot Wheels
A perennial favourite on Broadway and at ManyFest Food Truck Wars, Tot Wheels is one of Winnipeg’s OG nouveau trucks, having started back in 2013. The crispy hand-rolled tots put anything that Napoleon Dynamite kept in his pocket to shame, and they’ve been topped off with everything from frog legs, to sweet breads, and bulgogi over the years, with daily vegetarian tot toppings too (all using local ingredients too). Along with tots, the truck now offers burgers, with 1/3 lbs. beef patties, spicy fried chicken and chorizo/beef, all featuring an assortment of toppings and plenty of aioli. Its honours include “best presentation” at 2015's Food Truck Wars (I also had it at number one for taste), while in 2018 it took the “most original” trophy. Along with posting its location on Insta, you can now also order directly from the truck to your house via DoorDash.
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Tulum Treats
For the past four years, Tulum Treats has been hitting the festival circuit, along with the occasional appearance on Broadway. This green truck, replete with a mustachioed sombrero-sporting man as a logo, specializes in tacos on flour tortillas, plenty of cool treats and some deep-fried fare too, including jalapeño poppers and hand-cut fries topped with Latin-inspired fixins’.
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The Walleye Wagon
This truck, which first started rolling back in 2014, is owned and operated by David Jonasson. He’ a commercial fisherman in Riverton, MB on Lake Winnipeg, so you better believe he knows his product. The walleye fillets are beer battered and available individually or inside a taco, while the truck also serves fries using Manitoban potatoes.
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The Wiener Wagon
One of Winnipeg's newest wagons is from the fine folks behind the Red Ember, Wall Street Slice, and
Wienerpeg in The Forks Market - that being namely Steffen Zinn and Quin Ferguson. This hot dog cart is so much hotter than your regular street meat, in that they are serving the same farm-to-table, artisanal dogs you find at Wienerpeg, made with Zinn Farms pork and Lintott Farms beef. You can find them at the St. Norbert Farmers' Market this summer, where they served Weiner Wagon’s first franks on May 30, 2020.
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Willy Dogs
This small but mighty hog dog cart has been operating since 2018. Owner Will Gault has over two decades experience in the biz and he only uses quality local meats from Winnipeg Old Country Sausage Ltd on his cart along with buns from City Bread (veggie dogs available too). Outside of special events, Willy Dog's operates throughout summer in front of St. Boniface Hospital, where it has been highly recommended by several frontline workers this spring. In fact, Willy's is continuing to celebrate frontline workers with meal vouchers
that can be purchased here, which he distributes every week throughout the hospital.
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Know of anyone we are missing? Please email mike@tourismwinnipeg.com
