Wheeling out lunch

Catch lunch from an eatery on wheels

Stacee Sledge

July 17, 2003 — It's easy to fall into a lunchtime rut. We rush around marking errands off the never-ending list, barely gobbling down a sandwich or salad before it's time to punch in again.

Recently, I decided it was time to shake up my routine and went looking for quick lunchtime options I hadn't yet tried.

What I uncovered were three interesting eateries that all serve meals on wheels — and I don't mean the type of quick lunch grabbed from your car at a drive-thru window.

Jacci's Fish and Chips

Jacci's Fish and Chips offers the traditional English fare, served from a 1928 double-decker bus imported from England.

The red bus is where all the food preparation takes place, while a small gazebo connected at the back end holds a few tables. Several outdoor tables are also scattered around, ideal for people-watching in charming downtown Fairhaven. 

Quick lunches

Fat Kitty Falafel  1311 Cornwall Ave.  Phone: 319-6791  Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday at the Bellingham Farmers Market  Serving: Falafel fitting for satisfying any craving for the Mideastern fare  Menu items sampled: Falafel $3.75   Jacci's Fish & Chips  11th Street and Harris Avenue, Fairhaven  Phone: 733-5021  Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday noon to 5 p.m., Sunday  Serving: British-style fish and chips served from a charming 1920s English double-decker bus.  Menu items sampled:  Halibut and salmon combo $7.75   Super Mario's Foods  1422 N. Forest St.  Phone: no phone number available  Hours: vary; weekday lunchtime  Serving: Traditional Mexican dishes that outshine any drive-thru dinner.  Menu items sampled:  Taquitos $3.75

Ordered at a window, the limited menu offers traditionally prepared Alaskan halibut or king salmon, fried in a light batter and served with chips and coleslaw. You can also try clam chowder or chicken strips and an array of drinks including espresso, tea, chai and hot chocolate.

I tried a combo of both the halibut and salmon, both drenched in malt vinegar and dipped in Jacci's homemade, lemony tartar sauce. It was a tie for which was best, as both were flavorful, flaky and memorable. They'd been fried to just the right crispness with no excess oil.

Hiding underneath the four pieces of fish was a sizeable pile of chips, wedges of potatoes with slightly ridged edges, fried golden and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The accompanying coleslaw was made up mostly of white cabbage, with bits of julienned carrot and red cabbage mixed with a tangy coleslaw sauce. Too often, coleslaw is served swimming in sauce, but Jacci's is balanced nicely.

You can also call ahead for takeout.

Fat Kitty Falafel

The first time I ever tasted falafel was five years ago in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. As yet another example of interesting cuisine that wasn't part of my Midwestern upbringing, the falafel proved an instant flavor favorite.

Al Herre opened his Fat Kitty Falafel cart in 2002 and has finally settled in one location on downtown's Cornwall Avenue in front of the old J.C. Penney/Woolworth building. He also serves up the mideastern staple at the Bellingham Farmers Market on Saturdays.

Ordering is easy, as the simple menu consists only of falafel, with a choice of regular, special tangy, vegan or cilantro tahini sauce.

Herre scrapes up three generous ice-cream scoops full of falafel mix, then drops them into a fry basket. A few minutes later, the crunchy spheres are flattened onto a springy, chewy fresh pita round.

Each pita is then topped with tomato slices, half-moon slivers of cool cucumber and shredded lettuce.

The entire dish is then drenched in tahini sauce.

The Fat Kitty falafel is one of the best I've had.

Several tables are set around the sidewalk if you want to eat outside, or you can call ahead to pick up an order when you're in a rush.

As for the cart's creative name: The original "fat kitty" is a 23-pound New York City transplant named Jeremy, adopted by Herre and his partner Sharon Merrill.

The Taco Truck

My friend Jeannine tipped me off to what her daughters call The Taco Truck a couple months ago. It's actually called Super Mario's Foods, but I find the nickname rather charming.

Perched in a parking lot on the edge of downtown Bellingham near Wilson Motors, this large, shiny kitchen-on-wheels serves a wide variety of Mexican favorites, as well as an assortment of drinks and small bags of chips.

A recent stop served up a very reasonably priced order of taquitos, but it took me quite some time to decide on my lunch, as the menu is extensive, listing 16 different lunch options, from chicken fajitas to string beef burritos.

Even if you want just a simple taco, be prepared to ponder an assortment, as you can choose from fillings of asada, chicken, carnitas or tongue.

I drove back to my office and opened the Styrofoam lid on my taquitos meal to find a still-hot spread of four large taquitos, a pile of shredded lettuce, a dollop of sour cream, refried beans, guacamole full of fresh avocado chunks and a small container of mild, slightly sweet sauce.

It certainly beat the Mexican meals I've had at any fast-food joint.

Next time you feel yourself rushing stressfully through your mid-day break, take a moment to try a left-of-center lunch at Jacci's, Fat Kitty or Super Mario's.