champs2005 wrote:I wonder how many naanwiches they can pack in that truck?

Clearly, not enough.

=R=

They posted on Twitter that they ran out of sandwiches after 90 minutes . . . but they'll be in Lakeview around the 5 o'clock hour.

Update: A friend just spotted the truck on Lake Shore drive. It is 1:45PM. Rumor has it that they will exit the drive at 1:48PM.

Kennyz wrote:Update: A friend just spotted the truck on Lake Shore drive. It is 1:45PM. Rumor has it that they will exit the drive at 1:48PM.

A truck on LSD? Now that WILL get a ticket.

champs2005 wrote:Update: my co-workers who were in line were told by staff that the truck ran out of food. There were police writing stuff down and inspecting but my co-workers said it did not appear that the truck was issued a ticket. Still a shame because there were TONS of people in line turned away. I wonder how many naanwiches they can pack in that truck?

I have an idea. What if the truck was actually able to make more food when they run out without having to go back to "home base" to restock? Oh...wait...

Seriously, regardless of whether the truck has to continue to sell pre-made naanwiches or if they get to make them to order, there'll come a time when they run out of stuff...especially in the early going while it is still a novelty to buy food from a truck. I wonder if there's a logistics plan in place where ingredients/naanwiches are replenished throughout the day by a delivery vehicle bringing stuff to the truck. That would seem to make more sense than having to pull up stakes every time they need a refill.

stevez wrote:I wonder if there's a logistics plan in place where ingredients/naanwiches are replenished throughout the day by a delivery vehicle bringing stuff to the truck.

Yes. I've heard they be will air-lifting in supply replenishments via helicopter.

=R=

champs2005 wrote:They were in front of 300 E Randolph for a while today around noon unitl some bike cops ordered them away. I was lucky enough to have a very tasty wild boar, olive, fennel naanwich with yogurt sauce. There were probably 60-80 people in line when they had to leave. That's a shame.

Did the owner not have all his regulatory approvals? What the heck? I loved the food and the concept of checking the web for locations and all is cool but this will not really be sustainable if you line up and wait and they have to pull up anchor.

60-80 people?????

I wonder if there's a logistics plan in place where ingredients/naanwiches are replenished throughout the day by a delivery vehicle bringing stuff to the truck

I remember reading an article that he was routing himself each day to take the truck back every 2 hours to replenish and make sure everything was relatively fresh.

Chitown B wrote:

champs2005 wrote:They were in front of 300 E Randolph for a while today around noon unitl some bike cops ordered them away. I was lucky enough to have a very tasty wild boar, olive, fennel naanwich with yogurt sauce. There were probably 60-80 people in line when they had to leave. That's a shame.

Did the owner not have all his regulatory approvals? What the heck? I loved the food and the concept of checking the web for locations and all is cool but this will not really be sustainable if you line up and wait and they have to pull up anchor.

60-80 people?????

I can confirm that the line was quite impressive. I would put it a 40+ deep when I passed by.

The police did in fact make them leave. Something about not being able to park the truck in the 'First District". I got there right when they were told to shut down. I bet if they were selling donuts the Police would not have made them leave!!

pizano345 wrote:

I wonder if there's a logistics plan in place where ingredients/naanwiches are replenished throughout the day by a delivery vehicle bringing stuff to the truck

I remember reading an article that he was routing himself each day to take the truck back every 2 hours to replenish and make sure everything was relatively fresh.

you also have to remember that people have to make these things. They don't magically appear - the restaurant isn't that big, and they also have to take care of those customers.

I had my first experience with the Gaztro truck yesterday in Ravenswood.....I am sorry to say I was disappointed. I thought the naanwiches were put together on sight but obviously I was dead wrong. They are prepared ahead and wrapped in foil and kept in a warming oven. I arrived about 12:30 and they were out of the Pork Shoulder and the Short Rib so I ended up with the Lamb with carmelized onions, tomato jam and some cheese I forget now.
While the lamb had decent flavor and very tender, after hours in the warming oven it was a hot mound of mush. The naan was soaked through with juices...think of an Italian Beef that has been dipped. While I usually never whine about pricing, I thought $8 for this size sandwich and $2 for a 8 ounce Diet Coke were a bit high.

Does anyone know if the city ordinances prohibit them from assembling the naanwich in the truck? This would make all the difference in the world in my opinion.

I am hoping to give them another try and maybe a better outcome.....

chgo36 wrote:Does anyone know if the city ordinances prohibit them from assembling the naanwich in the truck? This would make all the difference in the world in my opinion.

Yes. That's what the whole food truck proposal right now is all about. Currently, food can only be sold if it's made/prepared in a licensed kitchen, and trucks don't get licensed.

Thanks for the clarification. I thought they were not allowed to "cook" the food on the truck but cannot for the life of me why they would not be allowed to take meat from a warmer and assemble a sandwich?

Any legal eagles know the intrepretation of the city code?

ronnie_suburban wrote:

champs2005 wrote:I wonder how many naanwiches they can pack in that truck?

Clearly, not enough.

=R=

Yes. I got down there today a mere 10 minutes after the first Tweet went out... and they were sold out. What? I don't know what kind of wizardry is involved to get one of these sandwiches at lunchtime, but if it's this hard, count me out.

chgo36 wrote:Thanks for the clarification. I thought they were not allowed to "cook" the food on the truck but cannot for the life of me why they would not be allowed to take meat from a warmer and assemble a sandwich?

Any legal eagles know the intrepretation of the city code?

I'm not sure you need any special legal interpretation. They are not licensed to prepare food, period. The food has to be completely prepared in a licensed kitchen and wrapped for takeout.

geno55 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

champs2005 wrote:I wonder how many naanwiches they can pack in that truck?

Clearly, not enough.

=R=

Yes. I got down there today a mere 10 minutes after the first Tweet went out... and they were sold out. What? I don't know what kind of wizardry is involved to get one of these sandwiches at lunchtime, but if it's this hard, count me out.

Why do I think that if Naanwich operated out of a regular storefront, they wouldn't have nearly the same amount of business?

aschie30 wrote:Why do I think that if Naanwich operated out of a regular storefront, they wouldn't have nearly the same amount of business?

But they do operate out of a regular storefront. See page one of this thread.

eatchicago wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Why do I think that if Naanwich operated out of a regular storefront, they wouldn't have nearly the same amount of business?

But they do operate out of a regular storefront. See page one of this thread.

Yes, I know. I meant out of a regular storefront downtown.

Glad to hear about the storefront location. I'm not interested in running after tweets or tracking down wagons especially since I'm not downtown. It looks like they'll be open on Saturdays too. Great.

I just tried one of the sandwiches from the truck, which was parked at State and Lake. I had the potato, goat cheese, arugula pesto, which was the only veg option. (I hope the menu rotates because it was a carb fest.) It was very tasty. The pesto added a fresh element, the onions melted into each bite, and the potato skins had a nice earthy flavor.

The downside is all related to the silly Chicago rule prohibiting cooking on trucks. The bread was steamed from being wrapped and warmed, and the whole sandwich had a similar soft texture. It isn't really feasible to add fresh vegetables for crunch into a sandwich which will be held in heat for a long time, but the sandwich could have used some crunch. I hope the City agrees to allow assembling food on the trucks soon. Until then, it seems like they're working to make very good food within those limitations.

Overall, though, I thought it was a really fun lunch option. There wasn't a crazy line when I went. If I'm going to eat lunch out, I'd rather get food where there is vision, rather than a corporate mandate.

veghound wrote:It isn't really feasible to add fresh vegetables for crunch into a sandwich which will be held in heat for a long time, but the sandwich could have used some crunch.

They could get around that by packing vegetables separately for you to add to your own sandwich.

the gaztro wagon was in the whole foods south loop parking lot saturday, so i grabbed the opportunity to try it. i was very disappointed. i had duck confit, brie, apple chutney. the wrap was tender, which was fine, but had cracked along the seams and an extra flap of wrap which i threw away; the duck tasted like nothing much- i might have assumed chicken, and it needed something crunchy to balance the soft textures of all the ingredients. i also found it shockingly small for almost $9(including tax). it was basically a 4 bite sandwich. i doubt if i'll try it again- at least not before the wagon is allowed to assemble the sandwiches on the truck. justjoan

We grabbed our first Naanwiches earlier this week when they were parked at UIC. We had the Wild Boar and the Duck Confit.
The fillings were very tasty, and quantity wise was probably the same amount of meat you'd find in a bigger sandwich (e.g., Xoco) with bulkier bread. Sadly, the naan was terrible. It wasn't anything resembling Indian naan or what MikeG posted in his pics upthread. It was dry, dense, mealy, tasteless, yuck. More like this http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1Ni3CuASRv0/THdPQhQUQMI/AAAAAAAAAOU/n-nHbn59K1g/s1600/IMG_20100826_123420.jpg
I'm sure the fact that they were probably hours old didn't help. But I don't think they'd be much better fresh.

Is there a different version of naan on the truck than the storefront? Have they changed the recipe?
I'll give them another chance and hope to get something closer to real naan, because a sandwich with crappy bread (or naan) is a crappy sandwich.

my naanwich looked like your picture, but except for cracking at the folds it was moist, though not very tasty, i'd agree. why do you think it was 8 hours old? i thought i read that he reloads the truck every 2 hours.justjoan

justjoan wrote:my naanwich looked like your picture, but except for cracking at the folds it was moist, though not very tasty, i'd agree. why do you think it was 8 hours old? i thought i read that he reloads the truck every 2 hours.justjoan

It definitely seemed hours based on the fact that the edges were so hard as to be inedible and somewhat disintegrating in the middle from the moist filling. I also had the impression from the tweets that they came straight from their lunch spot to UIC at 6pm. Looking back at the timestamps of those tweets, I was clearly mistaken, so I just edited out the "8" in my post.
On the other hand, do they actually throw out sandwiches left over from lunch?

griffin wrote:Is there a different version of naan on the truck than the storefront? Have they changed the recipe?

Sounds like the same naan that myself and others experienced at the storefront.

-Dan

having gone back to read the entire thread, now, and recalling what a naan is supposed to look like, i want to add that my one and only naanwich, mentioned in my post above, had no browned or blistered spots. some of the pics in this thread clearly show naans that i bet were much more flavorful because they were blistered. and mine had smooth edges, more like a tortilla would have, rather than the puffy, uneven edges i'd expect to see. it's a new operation and i hope that they will get more consistent with the wraps.
i'm rooting for the gaztrowagon and feel bad that i didnt like my naanwich much. just adding my 2 cents....

justjoan wrote:having gone back to read the entire thread, now, and recalling what a naan is supposed to look like, i want to add that my one and only naanwich, mentioned in my post above, had no browned or blistered spots. some of the pics in this thread clearly show naans that i bet were much more flavorful because they were blistered. and mine had smooth edges, more like a tortilla would have, rather than the puffy, uneven edges i'd expect to see. it's a new operation and i hope that they will get more consistent with the wraps.
i'm rooting for the gaztrowagon and feel bad that i didnt like my naanwich much. just adding my 2 cents....

you're not going to have that on a wrap sandwich that is mean to be soft. It just won't work. IMO, that's a silly thing to be complaining about.

you're not going to have that on a wrap sandwich that is mean to be soft. It just won't work. IMO, that's a silly thing to be complaining about.

if you actually read my post, you'd see that i was looking at earlier pictures of the wraps in this thread, where there WERE browned and blistered spots. i believe they add to the flavor. my wrap was fairly tasteless and would have been improved, IMO, with a browner wrap. justjoan