The Food Trucks/Carts Are Here! pt. 2 - Urban Cowboy

As Ottawa's fledgling romance with food trucks and carts continues throughout 2013, I've had a chance to try a few more of them (although I end up back at Angry Dragonz a whole lot, it being 3 blocks from my house). One place that has stood out in my travels in food quality, and being a neat experience in general, was the Urban Cowboy "Texas Street Food" truck.

Urban Cowboy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/UrbanCowboyEats
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Urbancowboyeats


Spiffy set o' wheels!

A long time ago, I worked at Big Daddy's Crab Shack and Oyster Bar, which was one of the first places to serve Cajun food in Canada. It was owned by former Ottawa Rough Rider (CFL football team) Val Belcher, who also started the Lone Star restaurant chain. Val unfortunately passed away in 2010, but his tradition of bringing the tastes of the South to Ottawa is being carried on by his son Layne and his business partner Matthew Hinds via the Urban Cowboy Food Truck. Located in Old Ottawa South at the corner of Bank St. and Glen Ave., they offer all kinds of tasty goodness like ribs, oyster po' boys, portabello sandwiches, sweet potato fries and more. But, having only had the chance to sample their wares once (so far), I had to go with the menu item dripping in tradition (and sauce): the Belcher Burger.

The Belcher Burger is about halfway in size between a slider and a full-on burger. At 6 bucks, it's an affordable and magnificent slice of Texas, comprised of a whack of saucy smoked beef brisket on a potato bun with a dill pickle spear on the side. It's simple, but sublime: the brisket is smokey and rich with just the right tangy counterbalance from the sauce and pickle, and is melt-in-your mouth tender (which is a feat to be proud of with brisket). The potato bun is a little more solid than your standard burger bun, which added a nice chewy quality to the bite. All in all, just freakin' awesome.



The Belcher Burger is just the beginning!

Also awesome was chatting Layne up to get the story behind the Belcher Burger: Back in the day when Val was a linebacker for the Riders in the late 70s/early 80s, he and his wife would whip up brisket burgers for the tailgate parties and later sell them at the games (apparently there was quite the demand, unsurprisingly). So, quite a fun little Ottawa tradition being kept alive at the Urban Cowboy truck. I can't wait til circumstances send me back their way!










A mittful o' delicious!

I'll be back soon with another truck or two!

Cheers!