The 128 Cafe Gets Street Smart

by Juleana Enright on Aug.01, 2010, under Foodie

128 Mobile Café

It appears the trend du jour for progressive restaurants and self-motivated food savvy entrepreneurs is to take it to the streets. No, we don’t mean panhandling or street corner acoustic guitar performances, thank god. Instead these foodies are taking a simple concept like the “lunch cart” and twisting it into a creative way to make gourmet food more mobile and accessible. Call it “street smart meals,” if you will. And our favorite pop-up cafe of the moment? The 128 Mobile Café .

The 128 Mobile Café in Downtown St. Paul. Photo by Katie Cannon/Heavy Table.

In addition to being one of St. Paul’s best dining spots, the 128 Café is now operating out of a AmeriPride linen truck in Downtown St. Paul. From this humble venue, they cook up speedy yet delicious grab-and-go signature plates and are creating quite the buzz. Inside the truck’s sizzling mini-kitchen, Chef Ian Pierce and the mobile truck assistants prepare some of the Café’s regular menu items like a third of a rack of the restaurants heavily-hyped ribs served with kettle chips and tangy red cabbage slaw or a Greek-style pasta salad, plus a few grilled-to-perfection lunchtime items. On the weekly menu, one can find anything from marinaded beef and shrimp skewers ($8) and grilled ahi tuna sandwiches served on New French Bakery bread, to tasty tossed salads like the $7 grilled asparagus salad with goat cheese, fennel, red onion and shaved pickled carrots. All these tasty treats can be delightfully washed down with a refreshing mint lemonade and followed up with Kahlua Rice Krispie treats – definitely not your average lunch cart provisions, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

128 Café skewers. Photo by Katie Cannon/Heavy Table.

“Street food,” according to co-owner Jill Wilson, “is something cool and hip for broke restaurant owners to do.” Go to where the people are; it makes sense. For hungry workers on their lunch break seeking out freshly prepared street food is the cool and hip alternative when taste and style trumps time constraints.

Look for the 128 truck near Rice Park, Mears Park and MPR’s offices all summer long. Or follow 128 Cafe for the latest news and daily updates on their menu and whereabouts. We’re sure you’ll agree it’s a welcome alternative to the same old lunch routine, and a welcome trend to watch in the local food scene!

Here’s where to catch the 128 Mobile Café this summer:

Tuesdays through August 18^th the 128 serves up at Summer Tuesdays in Stillwater 4:30-8:30

www.summertuesdays.com

Wednesdays & Thursdays

Downtown St. Paul 11:00-2:00, various locations

Friday Lunch

Turf Club Late Night, dates TBD

http://www.turfclub.net/

Saturday, August 21^st

West Bank Music Fest

Local Street Food presented by Metro Magazine

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2010/07/west_bank_music.php