Food Truck Bite of the Week: From The Sunset Comes Sunrise Deli

By Lou Bustamante Tue., Sep. 11 2012 at 11:00 AM

Categories: Pavement Cuisine, Street Eats

Lou Bustamante

Our weekly bite explores the city's food trucks, one at a time, highlighting our favorite mobile dishes and snacks.

The Truck: Sunrise Deli
The Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Specialty Items: Falafel and shawarma
Worth the Wait in Line? Yes

In the crowds of reinvented comfort foods with a twist are a few original gangsters of street food, like the falafel -- a dish that's been around longer than the idea of streets. While the origins and history of falafel are fiercely debated and disputed, there's something we can all agree on: Sunrise Deli serves up some fine falafel.

For the past 28 years, the Sunrise Deli has been serving up those crispy pucks of deep fried chickpeas and herbs at their Sunset district location, but earlier this year, they took their show back out to the streets. With a large selection of wraps, platters, and falafel by the dozen, the Super Falafel ($8, falafel, hummus, eggplant, potatoes, lettuce, tomato, tahini sauce) validates itself as street food staple. Although the flatbread used to wrap the fillings contributed only in structure, the fillings were fresh, satisfying, and generously straining the foil cover.

While you can get the same dish at one of their four brick and mortar locations, there is something about the experience of getting off a mobile truck that feels more authentic, and in the sunshine, more delicious.

Lou Bustamante tweets at @thevillagedrunk. Follow SFoodie at @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook.