Chazito's Food Truck

The "Savannah Food truck scene" is a misnomer, because there is no Savannah Food Truck scene. They had a food truck festival once last year that was interrupted by the hurricane, but by all accounts was a success. I didn't go, but I assume most of the trucks drove down from Atlanta or up from Florida somewhere. You'd think a drinking town with a proclivity for late nights that simultaneously has every other business closing at 9 PM would be a boon for food trucks. Yet, as with places like at Atlanta and other cities run by morons and fat cats, there is no doubt some stupid ordinances prohibiting foods truck from, you know, serving food from their trucks.

There is at least one food truck local to Savannah though, and we've encountered it in a few different places now. The first time was down on River Street when they had the Latin American Festival, which was underwhelming to say the least. However, the Chazito's truck caught our eye and we ended up getting an amazing pile of tostones (flattened, twice-fried plantains) topped with shredded roast pork and some kind of amazing pink sauce that was redolent of cumin. It was a bomb of a dish, but basically exactly what you would want to eat from someone in a truck. I mean, honestly, I'm not expecting someone with a kitchen the size of my half-bath to crank out bouillabaisse or duck confit. My sister got the same dish, but with maduros (fried sweet plataines) and it might have been an even better combination. Both were tasty and filling at any rate.

That same time my brother-law got one of their cubanaos, which was definitely not the traditional version you'd get at a cafe in Miami, using as it did lots of the same shredded roast pork that topped our tostones, but it was definitely a tasty sandwich nonetheless.

We found the truck again recently parked outside the Southbound Brewery while they were open for tours and tastings. Eager to get hold of that sweet pork-topped plantain dish we sauntered up to the window and started chatting with the owner, a fellow who called himself Papi (naturally.) He was the father of the titular Chazito (little Chaz) and he was wearing a hoodie with "Brazil" written across it, so obviously we bonded immediately. "Latin America!" He cheered.

I told him about the previous dish we'd eaten and I don't think he understood me because he steered me towards the carne frita, which is indeed pork but cubed and fried rather than roasted and shredded. Again, this is a truck and he was one man so I suppose you take what you get on any given day. He asked if we wanted tostones or maduros, and when it was clear that we couldn't decide he helpfully suggested both. Then he suggested avocado slices, and rice. Basically he handed us a full meal, as you can see below, complete with that awesome pink sauce (probably some form of mayo/ketchup mix with spices.)

It wasn't the same, but it was equally delicious. The fried pork was crispy on the outside from a bath in the deep fryer, but still juicy and tender in the center. When I make this dish at home it requires adding equal parts oil and water into a pan with the meat and then simmering until the water evaporates and the then-cooked pork begins to fry until golden brown. I have a deep fryer at home and might go that route next time.

Papi told us that there is a brick and mortar Chazito's located out on Highway 80 in Indian Country and that the first Sunday of every month they roast a lechon (whole suckling pig.) He further said that if we wanted to get that good crispy skin we needed to show up right at 11 AM when they started serving and ask for his abuelo to give us the hook-up. Ultimately we slept in and missed the party due to a combination of it being a cold, gray morning and there being play-off football. We will give try for February though and report back our findings. If you see that truck though, get some. I was under the impression that they habitually pulled up to Southbound on Fridays.

They are very active on Facebook and instagram, so it's not hard to find them in this tiny swamp town.