Hot dog carts AND regular “roach coaches” peddling greasy tacos have been around for eons. But today’s North American street cart/food truck scene is decidedly high-tech and highbrow, with an explosion of multi-culti fusion in San Francisco, New York, Phoenix, Miami, Los Angeles and Vancouver. 

A new generation of entrepreneurial-minded mobile food vendors are serving upscale eats—think grass-fed beef hamburgers and crème brûlée. Cart owners are more and more likely to be professionally trained star chefs, and fans are tracking their locations via Facebook and Twitter. Take, for instance, Los Angeles food truck Kogi BBQ (that’s Korean beef in Mexican-style tacos), which has nearly 90,000 Twitter followers. 

So why forsake a fixed location for a truck? Start-up costs are low, while profit margins are as high as 50 per cent—versus an average 10 per cent for midday sales at a brick-and-mortar restaurant. While lunchtime dining room sales are fizzling, street-food sales are booming. Former Culinary Institute of America chef Joshua Henderson is roaming the streets of Seattle, selling 200 lunches a day at each of his two trucks, Skillet Street Food. He grossed US$400,000 last year.

Need further proof? Last summer, upscale mega-grocer Whole Foods Market jumped into the scene, wooing cart vendors into creating a line of Whole Foods to-go “Street Eats” products. But, for now, the movement sizzles out on the sidewalks, despite pesky city health regulations and tricky zoning issues. 

The latest comer is Vancouver, BC. In July 2010, the city approved 17 street-food vendors that, for the first time, could sell items other than hot dogs. Eight hundread applied, and this past spring added 20 more to the roster.

So what are you waiting for? Hit the pavement and bite into creative and exciting cuisine from some of the best food vendors across the WestJet universe. 

Vancouver, BC

Fresh Local Wild

Find it: Burrard Street and West Hastings Street
The gist: Locally sourced to the max from chef Josh Wolfe (the former executive chef at Coast Restaurant). 
Must eat: Juicy and plump panko-crusted oysters; tempura-battered salmon fish ‘n chips; poutine with chanterelle gravy; venison burgers. (freshlocalwild.com)

Eli’s Serious Sausages

Find it: Corner of Beatty and Dunsmuir streets
The gist: Handmade traditional German sausages.
Must eat: Just like how they make’ em in Berlin; currywurst—hot pork sausage in a freshly baked caraway-seed bun, smothered in a tomato curry sauce. (eateli.com)

Tofino, BC

Tacofino Cantina

Find it: 1184 Pacific Rim Hwy., across from the Live to Surf shop
The gist: For the past two years, Tofinotians were known to ditch their surf boards to queue up for a killer seafood taco and a lime freshie from this neon orange truck. No one’s sure if the funk factor will be as high on the corner of Denman and Davie but their über-fresh, Baja-inspired tacos are now being sold in Vancouver as well.
Must eat: Fish tacos with fresh mango salsa, tuna Ta-takos and wild mushroom quesadillas. (tacofino.com)

Los Angeles, CA

Coolhaus Ice Cream Truck

Find it: @coolhaus
The gist: Born of a passion for “farchitecture” (food ‘n architecture), sustainable is the buzzword here. Celebs and locals alike go gaga for the revamped pink-and-silver postal van’s organic, gourmet ice cream-cookie sandwiches. Even the wrappers are edible. 
Must eat: Try the Snickerdoodle-Bananas Norman Foster combo. (eatcoolhaus.com)

Kogi Korean BBQ-to-go

Find it: @kogibbq
The gist: Homemade tortillas stuffed with Korean BBQ-style meat and freshly picked vegetables make up this Korean and Mexican union. 
Must eat: Kogi’s first burger, Hell’s Bells, is a double-cheese burger with buttered kimchi, salsa, and sesame-mayo and includes a side salad. (kogibbq.com)

San Francisco, CA

Liba Falafel

Find it: @libafalafel
The gist: Falafel bar with an organic, locally sourced, co-op kitchen. All meals served in compostable take-away containers; the oil goes to biofuel. This is healthy street food, found both in the city and East Bay.
Must eat: Falafel—duh!—plus red cabbage with black sesame seeds, or red beets with lemon and thyme. (libafalafel.com)

Onigilly

Find it: @onigilly
The gist: Traditional Japanese snacks, Onigilly (“Oh-Knee-Ghee-Lee”) are seaweed-wrapped brown rice balls with fillings such as wasabi tuna and tarako (pollack roe mixed with aioli). 
Must eat: Get the miso-tuna. Dressed in miso aioli, this is one of the most popular items on the menu. (onigilly.blogspot.com)

New York, NY

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

Miami, FL

Miami Street Food Court

Find it: A vacant lot off Bird Road and 65 Avenue
The gist: Just what it sounds like—Miami Street Food Court is a cluster of street vendors in one spot, including Latin Burger, The Fish Box and The Gelato Truck. No wonder hundreds of foodies show up each night. 
Must eat: Banh-mi, especially the Banh-mi bun (with house cured pork), chicken liver paté and kimchi with the homemade pickle and cilantro  from Dim Ssäm à Go-Go. 

David’s Café II

Find it: 1654 Meridian Ave.
The gist: Some proclaim David’s Cuban food—a mix of trendy and traditional—the best Cuban food on Miami’s street food scene. With recipes courtesy of Cubanos Alfredo Gonzalez and wife, Maria, this is the street branch of the family-owned café of the same name. The best part? It’s open 24 hours.
Must eat: David’s Churrasco (Latin-style grilled meat), with onion and mozzarella; the Cuban pork ‘n ham sandwich. (davidscafe.com)

Phoenix, AZ

Truckin’ Good Food

Find it: @truckingoodfood
The gist: Parisian-style street food à la Jeff Kraus and wife Erin’s cart—think melt-in-your-mouth, made-to-order savoury or sweet crêpes. 
Must eat: The Garden, served with curry aioli stuffed buckwheat crepe, with roasted carrot puree, jicama and cilantro. (truckingoodfood.com)

Mobile Food Court

Find it: 14 E. Pierce St.
The gist: This new lunch-hour “mobile food court” at the downtown Phoenix Public Market debuted in November 2010. Open Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the market includes the aforementioned Truckin’ Good Food, gourmet hot dogs from Short Leash Dogs, killer crème brûlée from Torched Goodness, along with a slew of other vendors.
Must eat: At Short Leash Dogs, get the Aiko, a mango-chutney with diced jalapenos, red onions, cilantro and mayo. For dessert, try FruFru Pops’ cardamom-saffron or prickly pear popsicles.