Food Trucks Roll Into Montgomery County

Get caught up with the food scene in Montgomery County and adjacent Washington, DC, neighborhoods with "1 Meat, 3 Sides." This week, food trucks take center plate:

One Meat:

The food truck scene in Montgomery County may not be what it is in DC, but it could be moving in that direction.

In Silver Spring, Bánh Mì Annie is one of the newer food trucks, serving authentic Vietnamese sandwiches downtown, Silver Spring Patch reported. 

"Bánh Mì means sandwich in Vietnamese. It can have different things, but the original has mayo, pâté, bologna and other cold cuts," explained Nguyen. "We top it with pickled relish, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeno.",

Famed local chef José Andrés is expanding the reach of his popular food truck, Pepe, and the mobile eatery soon will be making stops in Bethesda, Rockville Town Center, Bethesda’s NIH campus, Bethesda Row and Friendship Heights, Bethesda Patch reported.

"The food truck, which serves up 'flautas,' or Spanish sandwiches, has been feeding hungry Washington, DC, residents since March," Bethesda Patch added.

In Potomac, "Trucktoberfest" is coming to the Potomac Village Farmers Market, which takes place every Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Potomac United Methodist Church, Potomac Patch reported.

"Jumping in on the food truck craze that has rocked the DC restaurant scene, the PVFM market-master says she hopes Potomac families will look to the new offerings each Thursday for dinner time," Potomac Patch added.

Food trucks are big news even at the Manna Food Center—the county's primary food bank—which debuted new food delivery trucks last Wednesday evening. The trucks "measure almost twice the size of some of Manna’s older fleet and have the ability to keep the refrigeration running while the engine is off, saving gas and reducing pollution as the trucks make stops across the county," Gaithersburg Patch reported. 

And, although it's not a food truck, the new food cart for popular Bethesda gourmet hot dog joint Bold Bite Dogs and Fries will liven up the street food scene in Bethesda, with hot dogs, chips and soda on the go, Bethesda Patch reported.

"So far, the new cart has made an appearance twice in downtown Bethesda and has met with positive response," Bethesda Patch added.

With the DC Food Truck Association now collecting 10 percent sales tax as a result of the passage of the city's Vendor Sales Tax and Collection and Remittance Act of 2012, maybe more food trucks will branch into Montgomery County in the future.

Three sides:

China Jade Bistro, the highly anticipated new Chinese restaurant in Potomac's Cabin John Shopping Center, opened last Monday for lunch and dinner, Potomac Patch reported.

“We want to do a modern Asian kitchen—some new, contemporary dishes,” store manager Co Dang told Potomac Patch. “The menu will be similar [to that of the previous restaurant in that location—Jade Billows], but we’ll have around 10 new entrees.” 

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Pete's New Haven Style Apizza—a restaurant company that touts itself as a "neighborhood pizza and beer joint"—plans to open a new location at Wayne and Georgia avenues in Silver Spring, Washington Business Journal reported. The restaurant already runs pizza parlours in two different Washington, DC, neighborhoods (Columbia Heights and Friendship Heights) and in Clarendon, VA.

"According to Pete's website, the pizza ingredients are all local, and artificial ingredients are avoided—so much so that Coke and Pepsi are forbidden in favor of soda made with cane sugar," Silver Spring Patch reported.

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The Cordell Avenue, Bethesda, location of California Tortilla completed its move across the street. "A renovated, re-branded California Tortilla opened in its new location at 4871 Cordell Ave. Wednesday. A grand opening celebration—with free burritos—is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 9," Bethesda Patch reported. See photos of the new location on Bethesda Patch.