A Taste of N’Awlns

By Anthony M. Fuda

Rolling, rolling, rolling... See those burgers rolling, now stop on by...

The new trend (OK, they’ve been around a while) in the food industry is the food truck. It’s a restaurant on wheels. Just walk up to the window, place your order, wait your turn, then take your food and find a nice piece of the outdoors and enjoy your meal. In this case, the ever popular burger, surrounded by a delicious selection of New Orleans’ foods.

A simple sit down, or stand up, food - the quick access, high quality meals are what keep the mobile restaurant thriving. We found ourselves staring down the Taste of Nawln’s food truck. The best way to find out exactly where they will be each day is Facebook, or call 330-980-3373.

Owner Alan Franco said they carry only one burger, but they have occasional specials. “What makes our burger special is that we grind it ourselves. It's a mixture of chuck roll, inside round and brisket, along with leg of lamb.”

The burger is a 1/3 pound masterpiece called the House Ground Gourmet Burger. It is served on a brioche roll with Chipotle slaw and smoked aioli.

It is as delicious as it sounds.

One by one we walked up to the magic food giving window and placed our order. And one by one we heard our order and picked up our food. The aromas surrounding the Nawln’s truck kept teasing us, trying to bait us into ordering more and more.

The burger was our main dish, but we ordered some of the featured foods as our sides.

• Bayou Nachos - $6 (fried flour tortillas topped with andouille sausage, spicy muffelatta mix, 5 cheese blend and a Cajun sherry cream sauce)
• Gumbo - $6 (rich and savory roux based soup, slow cooked with andouille sausage, chicken and vegetables. topped with steamed white rice)
• Gator bites - $12 (wild caught alligator dusted with cornmeal and fried, served with Cajun aioli) Alan says they go through 75 pounds of alligator a month.

I had the burger and it was cooked perfectly. It went really well with the Cajun slaw. The slaw was down home spicy and combined with the meat to produce a lip-smacking flavor. This is a burger I can see eating many times in my future. I also tried a little bit of everything for the sides. The nachos were amazing - spicy, cheesy, and tasty. I could have eaten them as my meal and would have been content. Of course I had to try a gator bite or two. Dipping the in the aioli sauce, these little guys were great. This is a food truck I would flag down just to place an order.

With his take on the Taste of Nawln’s food truck, Johnny “Gotham” remarked, “This was a totally new experience for me as I have a rookie taste palate for the Big Easy. I started out with the Gator Bites. I've never had Gator in my life and was a little unsure about eating it, but it was excellent. I can compare it to an upscale chicken tender. It was quite tasty and very well seasoned. I then moved onto the Chicken Gumbo. This southern style thick and hearty soup had everything a guy could want chicken sausage slow simmered in spices and bursting with all the right flavor. I washed all this southern style goodness down with fresh strawberry lemonade that was to die for. This was a very pleasant first for me and definitely will not be a last!

Spatman said, “The House Ground Gourmet Burger had a very distinct flavor that was grilled well and had a bite that made my taste buds want more. I also tried the alligator bites and thought they tasted like chicken to me. Also, the nachos with sausage were a very tasty dish. Topped of with the Strawberry Lemonade it was a very good eating experience. Definitely worth a return visit.”

After sampling a bit of everything, JT said, "I thought I had Cajun cooking before, but after trying Alan's, I know I haven't. So, this is what Cajun is all about! I loved everything I sampled including something I never thought I would try... alligator! Delicious, all of it. I have to say, I'm guilty of associating all food trucks with deep fried fair/carnival food, of which I am not a big fan of. I have been enlightened. That is far from the case with Taste of Nawln's. Alan is an actual Culinary Institute of America in New York trained chef and has 25 years experience. This is indeed, high quality food prepared with expertise!"

Chiz thoughts on the Taste of Nawln’s were, “It encompasses what a food truck should be. A true instant classic that will not be easily rivaled. This gorgeous, massive kitchen truck has all the love you need when it comes to New Orleans/ Louisiana style food in general. I had some of the Bayou Nachos that rocked my socks off. They were hot, crispy, spicy (decent level of heat too!), cheesy, and had a touch of some semi spicy andouille sausage to top it off. My oh my was it good stuff. I could eat just that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The burger sample I had was delicious and unique. Not only was it seasoned perfect, but it was cooked to perfection and juicy as could be! The burger meat itself seemed to have a unique blend and could easily be a top rated burger patty in any higher class burger establishment. I washed that ALL down with a cold refreshing berry drink. I really can't ask for more! Well, actually I can. I have been craving that amazing burger with the fried mussels and other delicious toppings ever since The Midwest Burger Championship/ Burgers and Beards festival. What I want to ask is... Where will you be tomorrow and would you stop at my dealership sometime? C'mon man, my mouth is watering as I finish this article!!!”

You might be wondering how a New Orleans-style food truck featuring only one burger crossed our paths.

Well, to answer that we say you must try this burger and enjoy the flavors -- as well as all the New Orleans inspired items on the menu.

Alan says, “Our main focus is that we do New Orleans Lowcountry cuisine, and everything is made on truck from scratch, and the seafood is all wild caught.”

As we were leaving, Alan’s mom, Marjorie Hernan, who also helps in the truck and makes desserts hands us some of her Banana Fosters cupcakes (6 for $5), because you can’t end a deep South meal without any of mama’s homemade desserts. And to this we said YES, mama did right by us.

A burger, some Nawln’s food and mama’s dessert. If you see this food truck parked with the windows open, stop in and have a fantastic meal!

Keep reading the Valley food section each Wednesday for the best food the Valley has to offer.

If you know of a burger that should be on our hit list, send the info to burgerguyz@hotmail.com, or on our Facebook page BurgerGuyz