Update: Unfortunately, due to extenuating circumstances with their location, Lizzie’s Lunchbox is permanently closed.

My contributor status to Food Trailers Austin has its perks.  Thanks to my involvement I recently learned about Lizzie’s Lunchbox food truck currently set up near my office (North Austin ftw).  They’re doing “Tex Med”, which is basically Mediterranean flavors with some Texas charm sprinkled on top.  The bright pink truck, set up in a parking lot near a Blockbuster (still exists?) and a car wash, seems to be firing on all cylinders.

I strolled up to the window and read over the menu a good three or four times before deciding on the Tex-Med Pita Wrap over the Bourbon-Mango Pulled Pork Sandwich.  The pita is filled with my choice of chile-lime marinated chicken, and, are you ready?… romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, jalapenos, feta, tangy cucumber yogurt sauce, honey tahini dressing, and spicy sriracha.  Lots of fresh veggies representing the Tex-Med theme very well.

The wrap was awesome.  The grilled white meat chicken held up to the vegetable overload and the three sauces played very well together.  Everything was held together in a warm, soft pita that really served as the unsung hero of the whole meal.  The wrap would live or die by the quality of the pita, and on this day it definitely lived (at least until I got my hands on it).  I’d highly recommend it, and for the normal person, a perfect size lunch.

Still hungry after the wrap (marathon training will do that to you), I debated getting something else or just sticking with the cookie I ordered for dessert.  I did the smart thing and ordered up some falafel to go.  It’s drizzled with the same sauces that were on the wrap.  Each of the three pieces were soft and not dried out like too many falafel orders typically are.  I’m not a huge falafel fan, but these deep fried balls of chickpea goodness are definitely worth ordering.

If for some crazy reason things to work out with the absolutely delicious food I had for lunch, I have no doubt Lizzie could make a small fortune off of her sea salt chocolate chip cookies.  Fresh out of the oven and only a dollar this was possibly the best cookie of any kind I’ve ever had.  The edges were slightly crisp, the center was gleefully gooey, the chocolate chips were magically melty, and the salt crystals elevated everything six levels higher.  I can’t really put into words how good this cookie was; the best I can do is offer this humble picture that proves I had a cookie, but can’t convey how epic it really was.

Come to think of it, the cookie was so good that it called me back for another one.  The next day… I recruited two coworkers (Tyler and Marla.  Fight Club?) to join me for “lunch”, which was the code word I was using for Operation: BestCookieEverSeriouslyOMG.  This time I got the Bourbon-Mango BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich (and so did my Fight Club* coworkers).  The flavor of the meat+sauce was great and I loved the slaw on top.  The meat was tender and not dry at all considering how lean it was.  However, where the wrap lived by the pita, the sandwich died by the bun.  We all agreed it was stale and really underperformed.  It may have been saved if it were toasted, but felt like it came out of a bag and immediately topped with some amazing stuff.  All considered, the chicken pita wrap was better, but I’d be willing to give the pulled pork another try if the bun were improved.

Lizzie’s Lunchbox is a new kid on the block serving honest, good food with genuinely genuine smiles.  They officially opened on a Monday and I went both Thursday and Friday of that week, so that’s saying something.  I’m really pulling for them because everyone in North Austin knows there’s a serious shortage of food trucks up here for lunch.  But as long as they keep doing what they’re doing they should be just fine.

*Remember the first rule…