Restaurant Street Food Trends: A World of Sandwich Choices
Sandwiches, of course, are the quintessential handheld food. Sandwiches have everything customers look for; made of mainstream ingredients with familiar flavors, they can be exciting with lots of personality and are appropriate for full-service sit-downs as well as grab-and-go or takeout.
Latin Torta
This is yet another example of a street-food sandwich that has crossed the border. Instead of a tortilla, tortas use a burillo roll—sort of a hybrid of a Kaiser roll and a hamburger bun. These hearty rolls are substantial enough to hold generous fillings without making a mess. Ground-beef taco meat, carne asada, shredded pork carnitas, and mole chicken are just a few of the Latin-style proteins that can fill a torta. Layered with tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, fresh or grilled onions, spicy mayonnaise, and flavorful cheese, these overstuffed sandwiches are the ultimate in comfort food.
Cuban Frita
Made of ground beef and chorizo, this sandwich is served burger-style on a bun and topped with a julienne of fried potatoes and “pink sauce”—typically a combination of ketchup and mayonnaise. Try putting your own stamp on it with a signature sauce, something like a Russian dressing, and a proprietary custom blend of ground beef, pork, and chorizo.
Colombian Perro
This sandwich features interesting parallels to the very American hot dog. Grilled, sautéed, or braised meats are stuffed into an oversize hot dog bun and garnished with something that might be considered pedestrian— potato chips ground into coarse granules and used as a topping to add crunch. This has a certain playful element that I love, and it begs for creative innovation. I imagine these sandwiches topped with a Latin-style melting cheese like queso panela or pepper Jack, and a creamy drizzle of flavored mayonnaise or sour cream. If the ground potato-chip topping seems too lowbrow, try substituting crisp shoestring potatoes or extremely thin, fried onion rings.
Integrating Street Food for Restaurants
From tacos to tortas, Asian fusion and a South American take on the hot dog, the explosion of ethnic street food into the American mainstream is a promising trend that I believe will continue to grow in popularity.
By combining bold flavors and playful components into a neatly wrapped package of comfort food, these handheld treats have broad appeal. With a little creativity, they can inspire menu items that satisfy customer demand for exciting new options without compromising your restaurant’s identity.
Throughout a groundbreaking, nearly 40-year career, Mary Sue Milliken finds the key to her success in following her insatiable curiosity. She is best known for Border Grill restaurants, trucks, and catering, which she runs with her business partner of more than 35 years, Susan Feniger. Mary Sue seeks to amplify the flavors of amazing ingredients, surprising guests with texture and color while maintaining harmony on the plate at every Border Grill location—Downtown Los Angeles, LAX, The Huntington Library, and Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, as well as gourmet food trucks and catering. In June 2018, Milliken and Feniger debuted a fast casual eatery, BBQ Mexicana, at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and later this year they’ll return to Santa Monica with a new all-day Mexican restaurant.
Sindy Lazo is an Los Angeles based Venezuelan actress, author, comedian and TV host. Currently one of the contestants of the successful first edition of Master Chef Latino for the Hispanic audiences in the US. Known for her charismatic and funny characters in many Latin “Telenovelas”, Sindy also hosted her own talk-show “La Cocinita de Sindy” (Sindy’s Little Kitchen) for several seasons in Venezuela. Author of two best-selling books, “No vengas tú” (Don’t give me that…) and “La Cocinita de Sindy”, in which she compiles funny, dark and poignant essays about being a single girl who likes to cook but has no one to try her food.
Iconic culinarian, author, and entrepreneur Susan Feniger may be best known for her Modern Mexican concept, Border Grill restaurants, trucks, and catering, which she runs with her business partner of more than 35 years, Mary Sue Milliken. Now with locations in Downtown Los Angeles, LAX, The Huntington Library, and Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Border Grill continues to serve street food-inspired regional Mexican cuisine with a commitment to sustainability and the best quality ingredients. In June 2018, Feniger and Milliken debuted a fast casual eatery, BBQ Mexicana, at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and later this year, they will return to Santa Monica with a new all-day Mexican restaurant. Feniger also launched her own solo ventures—Blue Window with Kajsa Alger at The Huntington Library in 2016 and to-go concept Grab & Global by Susan Feniger at both LAX and San Jose International Airports in 2018.
There’s little doubt that Enrique Olvera is the world’s best-known chef from Mexico. His restaurant PUJOL is widely considered the best restaurant in all of Mexico. And his New York eatery, Cosme, sets the standard for modern Mexican cuisine.
Growing up around expert and traditional cooks in Tijuana, Mexico, Marcela was raised to be passionate about food, and she jumped straight into a culinary life with her first job working at her aunt’s cooking school in Baja, Mexico. Marcela realized she, too, wanted to pursue this growing love for food full time and enrolled in the Los Angeles Culinary Institute. She then went to the Ritz Escoffier Cooking School in Paris to become trained as a classical French pastry chef.
Born in Lima, Peru, ‘the godfather of Peruvian cuisine’ Ricardo Zarate is synonymous with indigenous South American foods. Immaculately executed and fused with his underlying passion, drive and kitchen ingenuity, Zarate’s cuisine has earned him widespread critical acclaim and praise from media and consumers alike.
Josiah Citrin is a culinary expert and veteran of Los Angeles’s gourmet dining scene, with more than 25 years of experience. He is a two-star Michelin chef and owner of Santa Monica, California’s highly-acclaimed Mélisse, Charcoal Venice, and Dave’s Doghouse at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles and Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Growing up in Mexico City, Richard Sandoval would join his grandmother in the kitchen and gather around her large table with family to enjoy lively Mexican feasts prepared from scratch. From his grandmother, he learned to respect fresh, authentic, ingredients and to create the vibrant flavors that turned family dinners into celebrated events. Meanwhile, his restaurateur father – owner of Madeiras in Acapulco and Villa Fiore in Mexico City – imparted lessons in service and restaurant management.
