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kogi truck line
Sometime last year my homegirl Karen told us about the Kogi truck and she had asked if we were hip to the game. We weren’t. When I asked Karen how she liked the tacos she said it was “BOMB†(that’s exactly what she texted me)
One day back in Feb. I was on my daily blog stroll and read that the Kogi truck was going to be right around the corner, in front of the Golden Gopher at 9pm. My man and I decided to see what all the hype was about. The truck didn’t arrived until about 9:30-ish. The line was already to the corner. The line did not move for a long ass time. We were starving and I’m not in the best of moods when I’m that hungry.Â
They use the standard, place order first then step to the side and wait for your name to be called. But I must say it’s my first experience being at a food truck that have their own skinny security dude in full security gear sans gun. As we got closer to the front of the line I noticed the only Asian (just ‘cuz it’s a Korean taco truck I’m not going to assume he’s Korean) was the dude taking the orders.  And the rest of the crew?  Yup you guessed it, all Latinos including the lady heating up the tortillas.  I think all Kogi truck personnel should intern at my favorite spot,  Taco Zone to learn pure taco truck efficiency.  At this Kogi truck they had the guy taking the orders, one dude calling out your name, 3 dudes making stuff and one lady holding it down at the tortilla station.  At Taco zone there’s only 2-3 ladies whipping stuff out quick fast and killing the efficiency game. Â
After we finally got our order we noticed the line shrunk significantly. If the Kogi truck says they’ll be there at 9pm, best thing is to get there around 10ish to avoid the initial line.
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finally up to order
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We ordered:
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beef and chicken tacos
kimchi quesadillas
Everyhing we had was tasty. They are truly Korean in taste and only the tortillas gave them that latin twist. I love me some kimchi but the quesadilla was a bit too much. After one slice I was cool. You can order them with meat and I think that would be the best move next time. All in all it was great food but I’m not going to be fiending over them like I do Taco Zone tacos. I do fiend for Korean BBQ in general but tacos, not so much.
Okay that’s my story now back to the hustle and grind.
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Thanks for breaking it down! Did you notice if they had any options for us annoying veggies? I don’t want to wait in line just to find out I can have a tortilla! 😉
sorry i didn’t and they don’t have a menu posted on the truck maybe just kimchi and tortillas sans queso? oh and let me just say even though they are meat they have nothing on Asi Soy Tacos.. whaaaaaaaat?!
Hi!
They indeed do have a menu: the basics are chicken, spicy pork, Korean beef, and tofu. You can also get a burrito with the same choices for $5
here’s my review of my experience at Little Tokyo a while ago:
http://pamelameekorouse.blogspot.com/2009/02/kogi-bbq-taco-truck.html
They have specials sometimes like the Kimchee quesadilla which was mentioned.. but the tacos and burritos are the basics.
I agree the lines can get crazy long at first but get shorter later. I think the security has more to do with it being the Golden Gopher than someone working the truck. They don’t have security at the Little Tokyo locations. Sometimes LAPD shows up but only to get in line with the rest of us!! =)
Good stuff I like them alright.. the spicy pork is the best and the tofu.. it’s ok.
Thanks,
Pamela
I’m sure they have a veggie option — if they didn’t, the “indie/artsy” blogs wouldn’t give them the light of day.
hey pamela
great post. maybe since they were running late they forgot to put the menu in the window.
soledadnmasa- according to Pamela you are correct.
they are getting mad press.
I heard through some friends that the tofu option is worth passing up, nothing special. Damn soledadenmasa way to pigeon-hole all veggie-heads.
And man do I hear about this “taco truck” from EVERYBODY; the same with some sausage place in Downtown.
julio- what sausage downtown?
Wurstküche is the name.
800 E 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90013 is the address.
And yes, they do as well have vegetarian options.
WHERE IS GLORIA MOLINA !?!?!? In order for a lunch truck to operate in the L.A. County they have to have a health permit and a business permit. On top of that, there are certain NO,NO areas that the health inspector says you can’t go to. I smell BS here. Regular lunch trucks get the shaft but the Kogi can roll around anywhere it wants and be hailed as kings ? Nah son, I don’t play that. I’m not questioning the food, just the BS that seems to be going on. CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG.
random – you are totally correct. and i knew i wouldn’t have to mention that in my post cuz i knew most of yous are knowing.
i just told someone that i think there’s also a lot of hype cuz people this truck is cleaner and safer. its getting mad press positive press while the real deal trucks get the shaft.
i meant to write “people think this truck is cleaner and safer.”
Ya I had a try last night when it was in Torrance, my friend waited in line and he let me have a peice of the Kimchi qesadilla which I loved the tofu tacos where good but like I said on Twitter Chavo and Chimatlis Tacos where better. I keep hearing the meat was bomb so I guess one day I will try but I won’t wait in line that is way tooo long the lin in Torrance was like 80 people wtf?? (thanks getto for letting me taste your food after you waited lol)
damn all the way in Torrance. they are doing it.
As to the GloMo question, technically, they would only fall under her attempted laws if they were parking in unicorporated LA County. Of course, they are in violation of the city laws when they’re parked on the street, but those go mostly unenforced. Still, I agree that Kogi could park in Mt. Washington without complaint from the resident politicians because it doesn’t carry the same “stigma” of the traditionally hispanic trucks. I’ll leave it to you to figure out why that might be.
As for my Kogi experience, the food was pretty good the first time (also at the Golden Gopher) but on their second trip to “Eagle Rock”, where they park right next to the large “Glassell Park” sign, they stood us up and were pretty combative when I shot them a frustrated email the following day. Good food, crappy service. Nice photos BTW.
Ya missed the cat-fight/taco-throw at the Kogi truck in front of Golden Gopher the next night…I almost thought I was at a Raiders game! I was innocently enjoying a jack&coke and some Ms.Pacman inside GG when the truck and crowd rolled up…never hearing of Kogi and figuring I’d better check out what the rave was about I secured a place in line. Only to have 2 gals chat my friend and I up when we were 1st in line. When the biker behind me asked if they were with us and I denied he began berating them – but it wasn’t until about 5 minutes later that 2 girls were yelling at each other and a taco was thrown…a scrawl was only mildly avoided. Good spicy pork taco — but a bad even if slightly amusing vibe.
That Molina comment was just me being dramatic, as always. I still question the whole permit thing. They don’t opperate in the day time, so it could be possible that they’ve never had a health inspector drop in on them. Course, judging by how everyone seems to love their food, they must keep everything clean. I just want equality for ALL taco trucks, no matter what they sell.