Food Truck Best Buys: 15 Meals for $6 or Less

When the food truck revolution started rolling across the country, this step up from the traditional push-cart felt exciting. Restaurant-worthy mobile meals replaced saturated hot dogs on the corner. But now that the concept’s novelty has worn off, sometimes paying sit-down prices to eat off a truck just isn’t appealing.

Dessert trucks are another animal, getting just a side seems sad and one lonely taco won’t cut it at the end of the day. So which food trucks roaming the area offer quality meals at an affordable price? Try these 15 trucks offering a decent meal for six dollars or less — or in the case of trucks like Chatpat, Fusion Confusion, Henhouse and El Fuego, multiple options.

Arepa Zone’s Queso Rallado, $6: Venezuelan crunchy corn pocket stuffed with queso fresco or cheddar cheese, served with their special sauce and a rotating side dish (like watermelon or sweet plantains). [Website, Twitter].

Bella Vita Italian Wheels’ Cheese Pizza, $5: Personal 8-inch pie, just forgo the toppings (or find a quarter on the sidewalk, since pepperoni or sausage brings the total to $6.25).  [Website, Twitter].

Borinquen Lunch Box’s Empanadilla, $3.50: Puerto Rican-style empanadas packed with seasoned beef, chicken or even a vegetarian pizza version just because. [Website, Twitter].

Borinquen Lunch Box [Photo: Facebook]

Chatpat, Multiple Indian Dishes: Spice things up with samosa chat or ragda (potato) patties, both $6.00 and topped with chickpea curry, yogurt, tomatoes, onions and tamarind sauce.  [Website, Twitter].

Choupi Crepes, $4.50 - $5.50: Choose up to three fillings, like ham-cheese-mushroom or tomato-mozzarella-spinach, for a chic French treat in Arlington. [Website, Twitter].

D.C. Ballers’ Hummus Sandwich, $5.50: Pita brimming with hummus, fresh tabouli, chopped Israeli salad, pickles and pickled cabbage [Twitter].

D.C. Empanadas, $4.00: Daily rotation with a gourmet twist, including best-sellers Badass (buffalo chicken and blue cheese), Speedy Gonzales (four cheese blend), and Divine Swine (BBQ pulled pork) [Website, Twitter].

DC Empanadas [Photo: Facebook]

D.C. Slices, $4.00: Choice of toppings from sausage-pepperoni-red onion to veggie. They're all the same price and topped with fresh basil upon request.

El Fuego, Peruvian Dishes: Range of menu prices including Ceviche Mixto (marinated shrimp and tilapia with corn and sweet potato, $6.00), El Choripan (homemade sausage sandwich finished with onion relish, $6.00), Salchipapa (traditional hot dog-topped french fries and special sauce, $5.00). Tamales are on hold until winter [Twitter].

Far East Taco Grille, 2 for $6.00: Build your own Asian tacos with BBQ beef, chicken, pork, and tofu and add sauces like spicy pineapple then slaw such as kimchi-lime [Twitter].

Far East Taco Grille [Photo: Facebook]

Fusion Confusion, Multiple Dishes: New truck on the block offers "Almost Square Pizzas" on Afghan bread ($4.00-5.00), or familiar favorites like hot dogs ($3.00) or a cheeseburger ($6.00), both served with fries [Website, Twitter].

Halal Grill, Gyro: Eaters can’t go wrong with a gyro or chicken (both $5.99) on pita with salad and sauce [Twitter].

Henhouse, Multiple Dishes: When feeling fried, try the chicken sandwich or three tenders (both $5.99) including one side like fries or corn on the cob [Twitter].

La Tingeria, Mexican Dishes: Match two authentic specialities like tinga, sopes, tacos, and quesadillas ($3.00 each) with elotes locos (grilled Mexican corn, $2.00) in Arlington [Twitter].

Yumpling D.C.’s Dumplings, 6 for $5.00: Try a half dozen pork, beef or shrimp dumplings. [Twitter]