First Look: Big Cheese Truck

Photo courtesy of
‘347/365’
courtesy of ‘BrianMKA’

Food on wheels has been (and I’m thinking it will be continue to be) all the rage in DC. And with each new truck’s appearance, I get giddy about the prospects of expanding my lunch horizons. Big Cheese Truck launched in mid-December and I finally caught up with them to give them a try. It was a cold, blustery day and I thought a hot grilled cheese and warm tomato soup would be just the thing to get me through the workday. Unfortunately, I’ll be honest and say that I was disappointed.

The tomato soup was chunky and had a strong basil flavor. While I could have handled the basil, the salsa-esque consistency threw me off. Something about warm, chunky salsa under the pseudonym of tomato soup just didn’t do it for me. The grilled cheese with cheddar on sourdough should have had more cheese and definitely could have been melted more to reach the point of gooey-deliciousness. The cheese from the local Cowgirl Creamery was a good pairing with the tangy sourdough bread. However, for a sandwich coming from a truck named “big cheese,” I was expecting huge, gooey gobs of cheese, not a thin, apparently shredded, layer of the stuff.

I know the initial launch for a food truck (or any restaurant, for that matter) can be rough, and there’s some level of trial and error on the menu. So I’m hoping that the Big Cheese Truck will improve with time and deliver a bigger and better lunchtime favorite to the hungry cheese-eatin’ people of DC.

Marissa was born and bred in New Jersey, but moved to DC for undergrad at GWU (Go Colonials, go!), fell in love with the District and learned that there was life and civilization beyond New York City. She loves eating at white-tablecloth-three-forks-at-your-place-setting restaurants, but she’ll also be the first to suggest we scarf down some chili dogs at 2 am. Simply put, she loves all things food. You can also read about why she loves DC. Follow her on Twitter and email her at mbialecki (at) welovedc.com.

6 thoughts on “First Look: Big Cheese Truck

  1. I felt exactly the same way you did. I did not enjoy the tomato soup at all. Tomato basil I can handle, but the consistency didn’t work for me and there was definitely too much basil for my liking. The grilled cheese showed a lot of promise, but the cheese on my sandwich was barely melted. I, too, hope they improve over time. I was VERY excited to see a grilled cheese truck be introduced.

  2. Have to agree with the assessment. Love cowgirl creamery, but the complete outer rim of my sandwich was lacking any cheese, providing the dreaded cheeseless bite anytime you went at the crust. For $6.50, I would certainly expect to have full coverage, and maybe a little bit of oozy goodness off the edges. I also found the tomato soup lacking. Didn’t mind the texture as much as you did, but I found it to be pretty tasteless.

    Hopefully the truck gets this kind of feedback and can change

  3. I completely agree. I was so looking forward to a delicious sandwich and soup from the truck (I’ve had good experiences with the other trucks in the area) and I was quite disappointed. The truck wasn’t very efficient, and on a cold day standing outside it took a little too long. Especially since the sandwiches were pre-made! I agree on the soup as well…definitely didn’t sit right with me. I hope they can work out the kinks b/c a good grilled cheese truck is needed!

  4. I would think tomato and basil would remind the reviewer more of brushcetta than salsa…

  5. Pingback: Tweets that mention First Look: Big Cheese Truck » We Love DC -- Topsy.com

  6. Well, glad I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The soup had the consistency of salsa, so despite the strong basil flavor, that’s why it felt like I was eating salsa soup. It’s a shame that a truck with such potential fell short of all our expectations!