Favorite Food Trucks and Trailers

Most of us can recall our first lunch truck experience (mine: 10am burgers from the roach coach that pulled up to my high school). Though I love what's on the menu at traditional street vendors (e.g., burgers and tacos in LA; kebabs and hot dogs in NY), the surge of food trucks and trailers across the country offer some fun and tasty alternatives. A few of my faves:

The Dessert Truck, New York
This was the first truck I had ever heard of that didn't sell the standard street food fare. After devouring a few of their tasties, I was smitten and wanted a mobile bakery of my own!

Skillet, Seattle
High-quality food out of a beautiful Airstream trailer. We briefly looked into retrofitting a vintage trailer, but overhauling one to handle the weight of all our kitchen equip. costs a pretty penny!

Fresher than Fresh, Kansas City
Although I didn't have time to go the last time I was in Kansas City, this tiny trailer with its tasty rotating menu has me enamored.

Green Truck and Kogi, Los Angeles
The first is a great example of how to run an environmentally conscious mobile eatery and the second did something different with a classic street food.

We're gloriously weird!

People are noticing us in the press, which is really exciting. I saw a Frysmith article posted yesterday on Jaunted.com. They called us "gloriously weird." That's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. I hope to live up to their billing in our specials. I whipped up a possibility last night with mussels, corn, white wine and harissa. It might not be too weird, but it was pretty tasty.

A Poutine Obsession

Ever since we let the news out that we were planning to open Frysmith next month, people have been talking about the possibility of poutine on the menu. I think I first saw mention of it when Serious Eats did a write-up about us.

For those of you who have never heard of poutine, it's probably because you've never been to that great land to the north, Canada, where the fries, cheese curd and gravy dish rules! I tweeted a simple query yesterday: Anyone in LA interested in eating poutine (or a poutine-like concoction)? The answer?A definitive, uppercase YES!

All the talk of poutine made me crave it, so we headed out to Dusty's Bistro in nearby Silverlake where they serve it as a side dish (still need to head to Animal which @zhyatt recommended). The massive portion was a bit salty for my taste and the mozzarella cheese curds were melted, but it still had a lot going for it.

Poutine will make it to the menu as a special, but don't expect it to be the classic trio Canadians know and love. E's tinkering with his own variations!

Designing the Frysmith Logo

When we decided to call our mobile eatery Frysmith, an anvil as the logo immediately came to mind. To us it evokes craftsmanship and the distinctive shape just looks neat! I drew a couple in my original scribblings, using a fry basket instead of a hammer (and imagined E wearing a blacksmith apron while cooking... not going to happen).

Then we got an actual graphic designer, Michael Francia, who came up with several more great concepts. But by that time E and I were just too hung up on an anvil, which for some bizarre reason doesn't make the average person think "tasty fried food." Michael was able to make it work though, creating fry sparks that hit off the edge and a color theme that makes you think fries!

The Cola War

I didn't want to leave any soda untasted, so I went to Galco's in Highland Park and the new Rocket Fizz in Burbank and said, "I'll take one of everything." Our first tasting was colas.
China Cola: Nuanced and pleasantly citrusy. Some might find it medicinal but I dig it.

Virgil's Real Cola: This stuff tastes like someone accidentally poured a crapload of vanilla extract in a Coke. Virgil's root beer is good, but this not so much.

Not See Kola: It's clear, get it? It makes me half amused, half offended and half thirsty. Tastes like seltzer water with cola flavoring.

Rush Cola: This is good and balanced. The ginseng is definitely there, though, which brings me bad memories of my dad's extra gingsengy samgyetang. He said it was good for my body and mind. This is the same guy who used to eat whole raw beef liver because it was good for the eyes. Dr. Tima Honey Kola: Good. Extremely honeyed, which makes sense seeing as there's "a bee in every bottle." I wonder if anyone looks for an actual bee like a worm in mezcal.

Coca Cola: I've had a long and serious relationship with Mexican Coke.

Filbert's Cola: This has the bitterness and tannins that make cola kick-ass.

Red Cola: If you come across it, get it. See if you can take a sip or even a sniff of it and not cough. You can't.
Ancient Cola: Should have been left in the past. Too dark, cloying and malty.

GuS Dry Cola: Grown up Soda is a whole line with half the sugar as other sodas and natural flavors. This one had nice cola flavor but little else going on.

Empire Cola: Tastes like a Mexican Coke with serious brown sugar overtones and even more sweetness. It has enough bitterness and tang to make it work, though.

Gettin' Our Soda On

We're not allowed to sell alcohol on the Frysmith truck. Despite it, I googled up mobile liquor sales, and I came across possibly the best Yelp review of all time.

We can't get our daiquiri on, so instead we're carrying fancy soda. We're gonna have soda pairing suggestions for each dish. We've been testing a ton of 'em. Believe me, after five bottles, the sugar crash is fast, hard and unrelenting. I'll post some thoughts on the sodas later.

Thinking up the Frysmith Menu

I thought of the concepts for two of the Frysmith dishes because my car stereo broke. I was sitting in bumper-to-bumper on the 101, and I actually had to entertain myself. It was weird.
The first thought that popped up was kimchi. Mmm, fermentation. Stir-fried kimchi and pork is a Koreatown staple. There's a good version served with tofu at the one-of-a-kind Prince. Kimchi's got sour funkiness, pork has depth and they fit real well with cheese and potatoes. Throw in a little green onion for brightness and that one tasted good in my brain.
Then I thought about the #6 taco at the legendary teal shack La Super Rica in Santa Barbara. The rajas combo of poblanos, onions and cheese is badass. For Frysmith, I figured it'd be even badassier with steak and caramelized onions.

Building the Frysmith Truck

When you build anything, they always say expect it to take longer and cost more than you had planned. Well, we started planning Frysmith in March and had a kitchen plan submitted to the county by April. It was supposed to take a month tops to get the plans approved. It ended up taking two!

Now the truck is being built in full swing, though still taking longer than initially advertised! The 18-foot kitchen is huge to allow for a variety of culinary high jinks. It features two deep fryers, an oven, grill, charbroiler, two fridges and tons of counter space.

Un-painting the Frysmith truck sucked

When we bought the truck, it had some ugly-ass house paint on it. We didn't want a standard white truck, but we didn't know what would be the best color. I asked Brook's dad, Ed, and he said, "Hell, if it was my truck, I'd just strip it down to the aluminum and leave it like that." I said, "Crap, that's cool. Like a giant Delorean. Where are we gonna put the flux capacitor?" He didn't laugh.

To make a long, infuriating and excruciating story short, it took 10 days to take the paint off the truck. Under the house paint, there was a giant Lay's sticker that had to be peeled off. Under the sticker, there was a layer of sticky gray glue. Under the glue, another layer of paint. Under that paint, aluminum! Aluminum that had to be sanded and steel-wooled. We went through 15 gallons of paint remover. That stuff burns like hell, especially in sensitive areas. But I don't want to get into the details of why I know that.


A bunch of friends and family came out to help with the process, but Ed was the man. We'd show up in the morning, and he'd already be going whilst rocking out to K-Earth. Man, we listened to a lot of K-Earth. I think they played "Brandy" four times a day. But not this slick version with ukulele and upright bass.


Anyway, Ed's the hardest-working old guy ever. I owe him big-time, so I promise that if he ever buys a catering truck, I'll be there to help him take the paint off it.

Finding the Frysmith Truck

After a few weeks of research, we decided to build our own truck vs. purchasing a used one or renting some old roach coach. The primary reason: our menu. We need to pump out a lot of fries while keeping the oil fresh and clean. That means more fryers and a custom kitchen.

We found a truck builder who primarily specializes in awesome fair trailers. We almost considered going for one, but despite my fascination with trailers I'm not about to haul one through crowded Los Angeles streets! The builder could build a mobile kitchen to our specifications, we just had to find a stepvan.


In came Sean with his Craigslist posting. He had been running the truck on home-brewed biodiesel (and was using its capacious storage for biodiesel-making equipment since his wife threatened to leave him if he kept the stuff in his garage). My dad found Sean's biodiesel operation intriguing, but we planned to convert the Frysmith's diesel engine to run straight fry oil instead (more on that later).

Los Angeles Food Truck Manufacturers & Repair Firms

AA Custom Cart, 750 E Slauson Ave., Los Angeles (323) 235-6650

Armenco Cater Truck Mfg., 8526 San Fernando Rd., Sun Valley, (818) 768-0400

Beto’s Sheet Metal, 2600 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 267-1824

California Cater Truck, 15329 Colorado Ave., Paramount (562) 408-2377

Deluxe Inc, 9071 San Fernando Rd., Sun Valley, 818 768-6300

H&H Zamora Brothers, 703 S. Palm Ave., Alhambra, (626) 284-1516

L.A. Carts, 12549 Washington Blvd., Whittier, (562) 696-5962

L.A. Catering Truck Mfg., 6901 S. Stanford Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 750-4020

MSM Catering Trucks, 15702 Illinois Ave., Paramount, (562) 272-4595

Olympic Cart Manufacturing 1218 Gerhart, Commerce, (323) 722-5724

Pacific Cater Truck Mfg. 855 Truck Way, Montebello, 323 728-3463

Polo’s Mobile Catering Truck, 1225 S. Eastern, Los Angeles, (323) 265-4148

Superior Catering Manufacture, 8833 Lankershim Blvd, Sun Valley, (818) 767-0167

Van San Corporation, 16735 E. Johnson Dr., Industry, (626) 961-7211

West Coast Catering, 1217 Goodrich Blvd., Commerce, (323) 278-1279

Wyss Catering Truck Mfg. 14831 Spring Ave., Santa Fe Springs (562) 921-7050

Los Angeles County Food Truck Commissaries

A-1 Catering, 14311 Lemoli, Hawthorne, (310) 679-9161

Avalon Foods, 5625 S. Avalon, Los Angeles (323) 231-5116

Carson Catering, 21221 S. Wilmington, Carson (310) 830-2495

Catercraft Foods, 924 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 749-1147

Royal, 5442 E. M.L.King Blvd., Lynwood, (310) 537-0021

East LA Caters, 6233 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 721-0740

Eagle Caterers, 7782 San Fernando Rd., Sun Valley, (818) 768-6493

Hi-Dessert, 53061 N. Sierra Hwy, Lancaster, (661) 945-3548

Industry Wholesale, 235 Turnbull Cyn. Rd., Industry (626) 855-4711

Royal, 2617 Stingle Ave., Rosemead, (626) 280-9780

Las Palmas 1202 E. 1st St., Los Angeles (323) 268-6897

Lucky Catering Park, 12906 Branford, Arleta, (818) 897-5123

Red’s II Catering, 7437 Scout Ave., Bell Gardens (562) 928-2530

Royal, 2627 N. Durfee Ave., El Monte, (626) 448-8652

Royal, 1224 E. Franklin, Pomona, (909) 629-0537

Rudy’s Wholesale Corp, 8450 Otis St., South Gate, (323)357-6997

S&A Wholesale 730 S. Maple Ave., Montebello, (323) 722-9366

Santa Fe Catering, 13315 Imperial Hwy., Whittier, (562) 944-5710

Slauson Foods, 762 E., Slauson Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 235-6659

Standard Catering, 7549 E. Alondra Bl. Paramount (562) 634-0282

Triangle Catering, 15455 Cabrito Rd., Van Nuys, (818)781-2823

Ezzat’s #1, 3930 E. Gage Ave., Bell, (323) 560-1822

Genesis of the Frysmith

Erik and I've always wanted to have a food-related business, but weren't sure what to sell and how to go about it. E grew up cooking at his mom's teriyaki burger shack and cheffed for a bit at a high-end restaurant in Berkeley. And, between the two he preferred the burger shack! So, we knew we wanted to make fast food with a gourmet edge.

One day, Erik was having lunch with his now-defunct band. He had ordered chili cheese fries and the non-native-Angeleno keyboard player asked, "What's that? It looks amazing!" Gooey cheese, spicy chili and crispy fries do make a pretty amazing meal. Recipes started to take form in E's head. We had our concept.

As soon as he told me he had an idea for a fry truck, I started brainstorming for a name and look. I've always loved mobile anythings: trailers, RVs and lunch trucks! The Fresher than Fresh snowcone trailer in Kansas City is so cute, so at first I thought we should go in that direction.


We also had to think of a name. E has a penchant for puns, birthing such ideas as Lord of the Fries and, my personal favorite, Rosespud. Eventually, we toned it down and came up with FryBot and Frysmith. Unfortunately, FryBot had already been thunk up by McDonalds.



That left us with Frysmith... and that's what we really are: Frysmiths hand-crafting fries, one boat at a time.

Frysmith Cookies

Frysmith cookies are available to order in cute gift boxes. Each box fits one or two dozen of our unusual varieties (which are made with cage-free eggs!). Flavors include:

Chili Chocolate: milk chocolate chunks, pecans and a variety of chili powders
Chocolate Chunk: Milk and dark chocolate chunks with pecans
Orange Cardamom: Chocolate cookie with candied orange peels and a hint of cardamom
Cherry Chip: Sour cherries, dark chocolate chunks, walnuts and a dash of espresso
Green Tea Cranberry: Green tea cookies with cranberries and white chocolate chunks
Apricot Curry: Apricots, almonds, white chocolate and a touch of curry
Coconut Lime: Coconut, white chocolate chunks, macadamia nuts and lime zest
Oatmeal Cranberry: Dark chocolate, cranberries and pecans

One dozen cookies costs $12 and two dozen, $22.50. Choose up to 2 flavors per dozen. To order, email info@eatfrysmith or call 818.371.6814. Orders must be placed one day prior to pick-up at the truck. For mailing via Priority Mail, please inquire as postage varies.

Core Menu

Chili Cheese Fries:
Angus all-beef chili made with beer and chocolate. Topped with cheddar cheese. Try it on top of sweet potatoes!

Vegan Chili Fries:
Organic tomato and mixed beans with soy chorizo and smoked paprika, with or without cheese. (Here they're pictured on sweet potato fries.)

Rajas Fries:
Fire-roasted poblano chiles, caramelized onions and shawarma-marinated steak with Jack cheese

Kimchi Fries:
Kimchi with Kurobuta pork belly, onions and cheddar cheese.




Chicken Sweet Potato:
Free-range chicken in tomatillo-tamarind sauce over sweet potato fries topped with cashews.

About Us

The Frysmith truck serves fries that eat as a meal. How does that work, you ask? The scientific answer is: we throw stuff on top. Stuff like all-beef chili flavored with chocolate and beer or kimchi and heirloom pork under gooey cheddar cheese. It all gets piled on hand-cut Kennebec potatoes cooked in canola oil (the only oil good enough to be named after Canada).
Frysmith's number one goal is to bring the fine folks of Los Angeles really good, really affordable food made with a modern twist and top-notch ingredients. Our number two goal is to learn how to walk under water while holding our breath and pulling a giant rock tied to a rope. But it's a distant second.

We Cater!

Options include all-you-can-eat, late-night snacks and custom menus. We tailor our catering packages to meet your specific needs! For more info or to discuss your event, please contact Brook at brook@eatfrysmith.com or call 818.371.6515.

We vend!
If you'd like us to come to your office, function or soiree, email brook@eatfrysmith.com. We'll need to know the number of people and parking info.

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