When I came home from Washington, D.C. on Saturday evening I had planned to attend the Cuyahoga Community College Jazz Fest held near Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland with one of my best friends, Lylah. Because her parents work and are associated with the Jazz community/Tri-C, Lylah had to photograph some of the bands playing and the community attending the shows. We arrived around 7:30pm but the event begun that day around 1pm and also went on the night before. Surrounding restaurants and food trucks were participating in the event while the one main stage we saw was right below the newly designed chandelier hanging above Euclid Avenue. Random strangers were on the dance floor being shown different moves. They all looked so happy to be there even though they didn’t know who their dance partners were, they let loose. It was a fun outing yet Lylah and I went straight for the food trucks rather than the music.
The four food trucks they had that evening were Barrio Tacos, Wok N Roll, B&M Barbeque and Mitchell’s Ice Cream. Amidst the trucks were restaurants such as Pheul Café and Dynomite Burgers. I wish I could have tried Dynomite but I only noticed it after I had ordered tacos from Barrio. Dynomite is owned by Zack Bruell who owns numerous restaurants in the Cleveland area, Cowell & Hubbard being my favorite (also located on Euclid Avenue). Such a great array of options on his menus, including vegetarian and vegan fare. However, Barrio was blissful nonetheless. They offered a pork taco, a chicken one and a black bean vegetarian.
Barrio has a location in Tremont, Ohio where you can order customized tacos with items like tofu, jicama slaw, pineapple salsa, cilantro lime aioli and house made chorizo. Hopefully one day I can visit the main shop because I loved my chicken and black bean tacos. Two came to a total of $8 but they had a 3 for $10 deal as well. They were on flour tortillas which are not my favorite but the ingredients wrapped up in the inside made up for it. A mild coleslaw with corn, beans and the chicken was shredded and cooked to a nice texture. Lylah and I housed them in less than 10 minutes that’s how delicious they were.
After we ate our tacos and watched a brief bit of a concert, we were tempted to stop at the Mitchell’s Ice Cream truck but they only had five flavors available. None of which were our favorites. So what did we do? We drove to the Beachwood, Ohio location of Mitchell’s to get it instead. Oh the things one will do for ice cream! I was excited however to actually go to the Mitchell’s location because that meant I could get a vegan option. Currently Mitchell’s carries two vegan flavors: 72% Belgian Dark Chocolate and Salted Caramel Pecan. I have had the chocolate before and due to the fact it is made with Coconut Milk AND 72% chocolate, it is very, very rich. Not that I’m complaining because the darker the better but I was interested in trying the Salted Caramel this time. I have never been a caramel fan so I was hesitant but it tasted like pie crust mixed with Snickerdoodles. I loved it. Even Lylah got it and she has no interest in vegan flavors. I knew they had fruit toppings and I was trying to think outside of the box so I asked for a sliced banana on top. Bananas with ice cream… you can’t go wrong really. You just can’t. A single scoop with a sliced banana in a cup ($4). All ya need on a Saturday evening.
Overall great night and I only spent $12 on my dinner and dessert. I loved experiencing food trucks for the first time, along with some of my favorite ice cream. Even if the night was meant for Jazz music… oops.
-Addie
