Elina Shatkin
The undisputed king of Los Angeles' rolling sandwich brigade has, until now, been South Philly Experience (@southphillyexp), with its mammoth but not too greasy cheesesteaks on real Amoroso rolls. Even our Philly-born friends vouch for this sandwich's bona-fides. The popular truck — set to appear at tomorrow's Santa Anita Food Truck Festival — finally has a worthy challenger in The Pit Stop (@thepitstopla).
The truck, which is almost three months old, specializes in melts and dips, big meaty sandwiches perfectly sized for a lunchtime appetite.
Here, the roast pork French dip ($6) is shotgunned into a happy marriage with melted Provolone, spicy-sweet giardiniera and the mild, smoky heat of chipotle mayo. The whole thing arrives on a squishy, supple French roll, pre-dipped in drippings (this is not a sandwich to save for later). This may offend French dip purists, but seems a reasonable concession to the limits of a lunch wagon.
Despite its superior sandwiches, The Pit Stop hasn't gotten as much attention as it should. With its bold orange and red paint job and cheerful if generic Italian chef logo, the truck shouldn't be hard to find, and its husky sandwiches are well worth the trip.
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