Jeff Orlick handed out about 100 copies of hand-drawn
maps at the Roosevelt Avenue Street Food Crawl.

So many people gathered at the starting point of the Roosevelt Avenue Street Food Crawl this past Sunday that I wasn’t sure whether my fellow Queens food blogger Jeff Orlick had organized a food crawl or a taco truck flash mob. Rather than leave with the first 50 or so people, I stuck around to find a smaller party to join.

“There’s at least 20 must-hits. I don’t know them all,” Orlick said of the carts and trucks that line Roosevelt Avenue between 74th  and 104th  Streets.  Pausing for a moment he then said, “There’s probably 50 must-hits, hopefully people will come back and tell me about them.”   

Quesadilla Sabrosa was my first stop.

The offerings at Tacos Huejotzingo and its neighboring cart Sabor Mexicano both stationed at the crawl’s starting point of 75th Street and Roosevelt Avenue were quite tempting, until I saw the Quesadilla Sabrosa Taqueria cart across the street.

A huitlacoche, or corn smut, quesadilla filled
with gooey cheese and earthy mutant corn kernels.

From a list including flor de calabaza (zucchini blossoms) I chose huitlacoche, or corn fungus. The pickled hot peppers provided a counterpoint to the mushroomy tasting blackened corn kernels and cheese. Who cares if the owners of the cart are from El Salvador their quesadillas are still muy sabroso.

No shrimp ceviche for you, or me.

Given that it was about 90 in the shade the consensus was that a cool ceviche was in order. Sadly by the time we got to Guayaco’s Comida Ecuatoriana (79th and Roosevelt Avenue) they were out of shrimp ceviche. The hungry horde that preceded us wiped them out.

Guayaco’s seco de chivo or tender braised goat.

In lieu of ceviche my friend John and his fiancée, Ari, shared a plate of seco de chivo, braised goat stew. The brownish red chunks of meat  were tender and delicious.

A fellow food crawler ready to dig into an elote.

I didn’t have any, but the elotes at the stand on Roosevelt Avenue near 82nd street proved quite popular. The Mexican treat consists of corn on the cob slathered with mayo, rolled in grated cotija cheese, and dusted with cayenne pepper. 

Tacos Mi Mexico Lindo is one of my all-time favorite carts.

Our next stop was Tacos Mi Mexico Lindo located at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Gleane Street. Last year the wisecracking ladies who run the cart were kind enough to let Dan Delaney and I shoot a VendrTV segment of them.

Mexico Lindo’s taco de lengua.

I opted for a taco de lengua. The creamy bits of beef tongue had been given a crisp sear on the plancha. The fried pepper on top was nowhere near as hot as the pickled ones I had earlier in the day at Quesadilla Sabrosa.

Why would anyone want to escape from Chila City?

Chila City Escape at Elmhurst and Roosevelt Avenues is a place I’ve passed right by many times, so I’m glad Orlick included it. To someone unfamiliar with Mexican Spanish the name smacks either of low-budget horror movies or low-rent getaways. Orlick marked its location on his map with a huge cactus, denoting one of its specialties, nopales. I’ve had the green delicacy made from the paddles of the prickly pear cactus, but never thought much of it until I had it here.

Chila City’s nopales and chorizo taco.

By the time we got to Chila City, I was getting full. I’m so glad John convinced me to try a bit of his nopales and chorizo taco. It tasted a little like a Mexican version of my father’s sausage and peppers, save for the fact that the nopales also had a meaty, mushroomlike flavor.

Food crawlers crowd the Tia Julia truck.

The Tia Julia truck on Benham Street just off Roosevelt had not one, but two televisions showing the World Cup game between Argentina and Mexico, one inside for the truck’s staff and one outside for its customers. I looked at the specials list, which included barbacoa de chivo (slow-cooked goat), with great disappointment as I had reached my taco capacity.

Judy Kellis lent her kitchen shears to ace shutterbug Stella Dacuma Schour.

If only I had brought the proper equipment like Jackson Heights Food Group Member Judy Kellis I wouldn’t have been so full.

John finally gets his shrimp ceviche at Mini Picanteria El Guayaquileño.

When I approached the second El Guayaquileño truck on the Ecuadorean food cart enclave that is Warren Street John was happily enjoying some ceviche de camarones. (Yes, there are two such trucks, the other one on 80th Street was out of ceviche.) John offered me a shrimp, but I decided to have an order all to myself.

Ceviche de camarones topped with crunchy cancha or toasted corn kernels.

Even though I was bursting with tacos I thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing shrimp ceviche. 

Waiting for Dominican frio frio—literally cold cold—
at the shaved ice stand outside El Bohio Grocery.

When your food crawl falls on the hottest day of the year, it’s a good idea to include some spots for frozen treats. Orlick ended his with three. First up the shaved ice stand outside El Bohio, on Roosevelt Avenue and 99th Street.

Making a tamarind frio frio.

A refreshingly tart tamarindo would have been my normal choice, but when  I noticed everyone ordering the same bright pink concoction peer pressure took over.

In theory it’s supposed to taste like raspberrys.

It might be named frambuesa (raspberry) but this shocking pink shaved ice topped with condensed milk tastes more like sugar water. Delicious, ultrachilled sugar water.

The crawl’s last stop: the Lemon Ice King of Corona.

After swarming Timmy O’s Frozen Custard the crew stopped off for a final treat at the Lemon Ice King of Corona. I had a large serving of my new favorite flavor, orange and vanilla. It’s like a creamsicle in a cup. I savored it in nearby Spaghetti Park watching the zen-like process that is raking the bocce court before the evening’s games. It’s something I highly recommend. As for undertaking the Roosevelt Avenue Street Food Crawl you’re on your own.

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