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This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Food

Grilled Cheese Truck Vs. Coolhaus Truck: Road Testing Tastes

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The Grilled Cheese Truck's Cheesy Mac and Rib (Photo by Elise Thompson/LAist) versus Coolhaus' ice cream sandwich (Photo by carlos ※ rossi via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

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Picking a winning food truck is a matter of personal taste, experience, and, in teevee land, done through a series of contrived challenges. So how about in terms of the rides themselves? When it comes to two of the the most popular food trucks in Los Angeles--and maybe even the nation--The Grilled Cheese Truck and the Coolhaus Truck, if they went head to head in a comparison test like what cars are put through, who would serve up a tasty win?

When Nissan set up a duo of their NV2500 food trucks at the L.A. Auto Show and had the vendors handing out food samples,Car & Driver realized they had the chance to have "the makings of a delicious comparison test."

Here's how they did what they did:

The contenders were chosen based on price, features, and what we felt like having for lunch. From Coolhaus we had the Zookie, chocolate-chip cookies paired with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. The Grilled Cheese Truck supplied us with its fully loaded Cheesy Mac and Rib offering, a sandwich filled with a combo of macaroni and cheese and BBQ pork. Herewith, our food-in-cheek sandwich comparison.

So basically, what the publication did was talk about food truck food like they were vehicles. You know, how did the food handle, was there driver involvement, how long the item took to eat, and how the design affected the experience.

The winner: The Grilled Cheese Truck's Cheesy Mac and Rib.

Lauding its "comfort food holy trinity" elements, Car & Driver summarizes why the savory sandwich took the win: "Complex simplicity. Unlike a convertible SUV, the Cheesy Mac and Rib sandwich is not trying to be everything to everyone, only to be a strange something to very few."

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