Off the Grid: Alameda at South Shore Center

Nice mix of trucks. Lots of easy parking. Folding chairs but wish they had some tables. Live music was OK, if a little too laid back for me. The 4 of us unintentionally rolled with an all pork theme for lunch today. Most of the food we bought featured pork in some shape or form.
Imperial rolls were surprisingly good even though they weren’t as crispy as I would have liked. The Coca Cola braised pork in a baked bun from Chairman Bao was reliably yummy as always. Fries with pulled pork and bacon from the Bacon truck was my least favorite. Fries were cold. Strip of bacon was difficult to portion out and share between 4 people.
Best thing was the sisig over adobo rice from Señor Sisig. Asked for half chicken and half pork. The atchara was negligible. I’ve tasted better pickled veggies.
Enjoyed yummy garlic noodles with BBQ beef skewer from Ahn on the Go. Noodles had great flavor but were just on the verge of being too soft. Eat first as they weren’t as yummy after they got cold.
For dessert, we each got a cupcake. It was each woman for herself. We definitely didn’t share. One friend liked her red velvet. She said it was dense but moist. Another friend got the double vanilla. No word from her but the empty cupcake wrapper spoke for her. A 3^rd friend got the salted caramel. A sticky smile said it all.
As for me, I got the smores. Crumbled graham crackers on the bottom of a chocolate cupcake with a torched marshmallow topping. I first thought the ratio of topping to cake erred on the side of too much topping. However, this was just right. Delicious.

As much as I dislike coming to Alameda (25 MPH really not a fan), it was a rainy Saturday afternoon and I was trying to kill time around town so I decided it’s time to make an appearance at the Off the Grid. It barely opened around 1130, but you could see the hustle and bustle.
They had some good trucks there too, with extensive menus and Instagram worthy plates. I liked the variety here from Asian, to fusion, to southern comfort, and finally ending with dessert. The spread out was comfortable, the trucks are the outer circle and lots of room to walk around and sit down and eat. Chairs are provided and animals are allowed!
I had the pleasure of trying An the Go– a combination order of garlic noodles with 2 choices of protein and an appetizer (14). I opted for shrimp and the chicken. It was delicious, since I never go to Thang Long to try their version of garlic noodles. Huge carb portion and the flavored were perfect, but proteins were beyond a little short for the amount of noodles there were. Nevertheless, it was authentic flavors and fresh.
Some other trucks that were there: Koja Kitchen, Karas Cupcakes, Southern Comfort Kitchen, Chairman Bao, Senior Sigsig, Kome Sushi Truck, and some others!
It’s a great addition to the South Shore area for Saturdays for lunch. I might just come back to taste test some other variety of foods there is to try.

Wonderful food from what I had. It was raining but they provided tents to get under which was perfect. My son loved the food from chicken roost it was amazing they provide syrup and hot sauce. I’ll Forsure be back to try more foods especially with the price.

Nice gathering of food trucks at the South Shore Shopping Center in Alameda. There were about 10 trucks that Saturday if I remember right.
Enough choices for everyone. That day I tried items from two different trucks. Cupkates food truck was decent. They sell little cupcakes at high prices. Senior Sisig was excellent!
I see myself going to Off The Grid again in the future. Their location in Alameda is very nice. Plenty of parking. Live music, but not too much seating though. 4 stars overall.

This Off the Grid is pretty small and quiet, but still has a good selection of food trucks to satisfy your food truck appetite!
My personal favorite is the chicken waffles truck because they serve really bomb chicken waffle! Their chicken is tender and moist, and their waffle is crispy. A definite must try!
What I like most about this OTG is that it is small, so you won’t have any problems trying to find parking. Seating is obviously limited, so don’t expect to find any unless you get there early. Seating with a table is just a luxury so don’t even bother.
Overall, good location for OTG. Alameda is a very family friendly town so a good place to bring your family to enjoy some good CA weather. The «beach» is also just down the street.

It really does depend on the trucks that are there, but the place is a cool spot to be at on a sunny day. Besides the food trucks there are other restaurants their to eat at. You can also shop some and go grocery shopping.

My son and I always enjoy this Off the Grid. He likes the Señor Sisig and I love the Lobtsa Truck. If we’re lucky, the CupKate Truck is there. I wish there was better seating and tables available but the food never disappoints.

Once in a while, Kome Truck will pop up. If you want to see the schedule, check online at the Off the Grid website.
I came this Saturday for Kome because I love sushi, burritos, and their lovechild, the sushi burrito. I bought the California with Kome Kazi Mayo. Didn’t really care for the mayo, but enjoyed my burrito.
Downside is food tends to be expensive. My order was $ 9.26. Chipotle is right across the street, though I encourage you to try a food truck if you haven’t already.

***********************200^th Review***************************************
Oh boy! Where do I begin with OTG! I am SO in love with food trucks on wheels!
I was S0 happy to know that there was an Off the Grid in this plaza on Saturday’s. Perfect day, perfect location and the BEST crowd!
My first time was on March 7^th and I was shocked to see OTG right in the South Shore Center.
Yes of course there was LONG lines but that’s how I just knew that this place was BOMB​.COM.
I have been to most OTG: San Francisco, Belmont, Hayward and Foster City but I have to admit this location had food trucks that I have NOT seen before. Let me just name them for you so your mouth can start watering:
~Licensed 2 Grill
~Señor Sisig (Long lines like always) **Very good**
~Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos
~Lobsta Truck
~Whip out
~Cluck it up
~Southern Comfort Kitchen
I enjoyed the band that they have there as well as the seating area so people can really enjoy there food!
You will mostly find families that come to this event! Its a lovely place to come and enjoy the nice weather and some GOOD food!
You have to check it out! You wont be upset :)

This was the very first time we made it here and I was stoked!
You know why? Because Koja Kitchen food truck was here:))) They are my very favorite food truck and I will travel to wherever they are at. I think I have been to most of their Off the Grid locations: in SF, Fort Mason, Treasure Island, Concord, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, San Jose and Redwood City. They have also made it to our SactoMoFo a few times too. If you haven’t eaten Koja, you must try it especially the shortrib. They do have a vegetarian Koja too. You are really missing out if you haven’t tried Koja. Remember to eat it with a fork~
There were other food trucks here like An the Go, Chairman, Bacon, Frozen Custard & a few others that we have yet to try. An the Go is another food truck that is our favorite. I love their garlic noodles. They are the best. Yummy!!! They may be a bit pricey but their portions are huge for me. I can’t eat this all the time. Just looking at the noodles adds inches to my hips:(((
Anyway, I had to look around for a restroom. Traveling with me people know that I need that. We saw there was a Panera bread restaurant among others like Chipotle,
Five Guys and more. We walked to the other side where there was a Safeway; bathroom was okay. Conveniently there was a Trader Jo’s where we needed our potato chips plus other items we picked up as well. I went shopping hog wild at the Old Navy there at the South Shore Center. They actually had a restroom at Old Navy!!! Plus we got gas at the Safeway gas station where you can only enter one way or you’re in trouble! One way out too.
If you are in the neighborhood stop by at this Off the Grid, it’s great as there are about ten food trucks so bring your hungry stomachs. The traffic is bad on Park Street but the weather was just gorgeous last Saturday after our day of rain the day before!!! I am so glad we made it as I missed out on Koja the day before.

Overrated Koja kitchen food is good, but I’m not blown away, the only thing blown away is my wallet $ 20 for a truck meal that’s looks better then it tastes, big disappointment

gourmet food trucks are all the hype but i don’t know why. about ten bucks a meal minimum. i think all the trucks are the same every saturday. always a long line for senior sisig and pretty much no lines anywhere else. theres kinders bbq, korean burritos, chicken place, cupcakes, lobster rolls. i think the hours are from 11am-​3pm. as long as senior sisig keeps coming, i’ll keep coming. i think thats my favorite truck of all time. i just gotta come early or else the line is about an hour.
located in south shore by chipotle. a big area with some live music and plenty of chairs to sit and enjoy the fillipino burritos.

It’s a smaller affair than the big one in SF, but the crowds and lines are not as crazy and they have some great trucks rotating — two of my favs, Señor Sisig and Koja and frequent parkers. Woohoo.

This review is only for the food trucks we got to try:
Seoul on Wheels. One STAR
I ordered their Korean BBQ tacos with the Kalbi. I was extremely excited because I love, love, love Kalbi! Such a disappointment. The Kalbi was dry, chewy, and it tasted disgusting. It just tasted like too much sugar and no other flavor. It was $ 9 for two pathetic tacos with nothing but bad kalbi, some relish, and a line of sour cream. On top of that, the food was cold.
Hiyaaa! Two STARS
Spicy Fried Tofu… was it spicy? No, but tasted more like sweet and sour fried tofu. It tasted like soy sauce mixed with sugar and maybe a dash of sriracha! It is called spicy, so I expected it to bring the heat. The tofu was fried to perfection though. A plus on that, but I don’t like anything sweet and sour and wanted spicy! $ 6
Kinder. 2.5 stars
A BBQ place. We order the ribs with beans and potato salad as sides. Rib had good flavor but it was super dry. This was not a dry rub, so it didn’t make sense. Their BBQ sauce tasted like it was from a bottle, not hand made. It tasted alright. Beans were okay. Potato salad tasted like it was from Safeway deli section. $ 15 for okay food, but the portion was generous.
CupKATES 4 stars
Vanilla Bean Cupcake. $ 3. The only decent item we tried was this cupcake. Really made our day at the end of this sad food adventure! LOL! The frosting was light and fluffy with good flavors. The cake itself was so moist and light. The look of the cupcake was nice also. Minus one star for the lack of Vanilla flavor, I wanted a stronger vanilla taste.
I probably won’t come back and won’t recommend this place. Unless you’re in the area and want to try it yourself. Just because it is a food on wheels, doesn’t mean you don’t have to wait to get your food. It takes a while.
**Senior Sisig was extremely popular. There was a line that was never ending. We didn’t try it though, so maybe that one is good.

I have fallen in love with food trucks so the day I heard that Off the Grid was coming to Alameda, I was so excited!!!
Trucks rotate every week so if there is one you like, you can come back in two weeks.
Live music, free parking, plenty of seating, minimal wait (NONE of the craziness of Fort Mason), and my favorite trucks are always here!!!
Love OFF THE GRID!!!

On this rainy Saturday, I had to drop by South Shore Shopping Center for some shopping. The mall is usually crowded during midday on Saturdays due to the popularity of Off the Grid and scoring a parking space in the mall lot can be a challenge. But the rains kept the food truck lovers away as the Off the Grid area was practically empty except for about 20 die-​hards. (
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Seeing the red Chairman Truck there and that it was not crowded, I knew I had to stop. Parked in the lot and headed straight to the Chairman for a Tender Pork Belly Bao, which I’ve heard so much about. Am was I glad I did!
Besides the Chairman, the trucks here today included An the Go, Bacon Bacon, Mayo Mustard, Frozen Kuhsterd, and Whip Out. The trucks rotate weekly and the schedule can be found at:
.
Given that how crowded it gets, I would probably check out the schedule to see if my favorite truck is there and will try to get there early to beat the crowds.

Real chilled, real mellow — that’s how it’s ought to be. Less than 5 minute lines and smiling happy faces. The location is easy breezy. Right in the parking lot at The South Shore Center — along with ample parking. You get the western breeze from the beach a block away. I like! Lots of chairs and canopies to shade patrons from the sun. There’s just something super enjoyable about less harried eating. In some OTG sites you need to strategize about seating and spots — here it’s pretty ample so no rush.
Like all other OTG sites — the trucks are on rotation. On my particular day of visit those present were:
The Chairman
Frozen Kuhsterd
Licensed to Grill
Bacon Bacon
Whip Out
Siam Wrap (?)
a few others — but this memory sucks!
As usual — my preferred food truck is The Chairman and Frozen Kuhsterd.
So come, eat, enjoy and Chillax at The Off The Grid– Alameda.

The good, bad and ugly…
Goods:
Great location
Tons of stores nearby
Good line up of trucks that rotate
Live music
Spread out
Bad:
Since the trucks rotate your favorite truck may not be there.
Parking (Alameda, typical even at a shopping mall. Find street parking)
Ugly:
Very busy
Not enough seating and tables
Limited number of tents and not many shady areas
Litter bugs
It is one of the better OTG that I have been to so far.

A place where I can sample delicious food trucks in one location on a Saturday afternoon… near the beach? What’s not to like!!!
I was only able to sample food from Señor Sigsig and Cupkates (btw…BEST CUPCAKES I’VE EVER TRIED) but I will definitely be back to try the others! And a plus for not having ridiculous long lines/​too crowded. I guess the perks of it being in Alameda.

Oh, South Shore. How far you have come these past 20 years. What started out a wee bit ghetto has now become gentrified with the establishment of Trader Joe’s and the world’s nicest Safeway ever. Now enters Off the Grid. With it comes some street flava to this area of town, where your dining options had previously consisted of either Sushi House or a chain (Daphne’s, Chipotle, Applebee’s, etc). Between the reallllly good selection of food trucks, the abundance of parking (there’s free parking in South Shore but also plenty on the streets and even across the street), I think it’s safe for me to say that OTG Alameda trumps the ones in SF by miles. It’s never crazy crowded and I don’t get the impression that the truckies are in a frenzy to pump food out ASAP. I swear, the portions I’ve gotten here are significantly larger than the ones I’ve had from the same-​named food trucks at OTG in SF.
So come, grab a can of coconut milk, find a seat underneath the shade of a gazebo tent, enjoy the live music, and nom!