Out of three food trucks I’ve seen here in downtown Harrisburg, the only one that seems to have survived is Mad Sandwiches, a royal blue truck with bright green lettering. It can be found in two locations in the city on different days, up near the Keystone Building on Forester Monday – Wednesday, and down by Strawberry Square at Walnut and Third at the end of the week. I generally hit the one near the Square since I do try to only treat myself occasionally and a Friday for lunch works well.
Prices are about average for anything you might get downtown, except for maybe a $5/footlong at Subway. And, well there is a reason those are only $5. I’ve fallen into my usual bad habit at a restaurant, finding something good and then being reluctant to try anything else in case I get disappointed. So, as of now, I’ve only had the beef empanada. For $2.50 (as of today), I get a tasty fried pie, about 7 inches across the fold, that is filled with beef, veggies, spices and the required green olives. At least I require them, that tangy, savory hit is what makes a empanada not any ol’ meat pie. It’s deep fried, having the clear blisters on the crust like my dearly lamented fried cherry pies that McDonald’s used to have (always with that one pit to crack my teeth on).
It comes with either mild or spice sauce. I get the hot and it’s tasty though not much hot at all, appearing to be essentially a salsa verde. Of course, I’m the gal who happily orders vindaloo to be “Indian hot”. The acidity of the salsa cuts the slight greasiness of the deep fried pie well.
The soda in the photo is a good basic cream soda. A beer would really rock with this, but as it is, I’m suprised no one bothered me swigging an amber beverage outside. With both it came to $4. Not bad for something unusual and good, at least here in central Pennsyltucky.
An empanada and a soda are more than filling for a lunch. Now I just have to get around to trying those pork sandwiches I’ve heard are so good.
Club Schadenfreude 