Piko Street Kitchen

I love love love their ribeye tacos. I saw this food truck right in front of Revolution (Brewery) and had to Unilocal it. It sounded interesting so, I tried it that day. I’m always up for good food off a food truck so why not?! Any who, I had ordered up the ribeye tacos, ribeye bao and the kimchi rice. The steak is tender and juicy (and flavorful). It comes with Kobu sauce and some slaw and cilantro. The bao’s are open-​ended buns withe pretty much the same ingredients with the addition of sriracha mayo! It’s equally good and mouth wateringly delicious. The steak is savory and the combination of the other ingredients are a really nice balance on the palate. I’ve ordered the kimchi fried rice a number of times. Kimchi combined with fried rice. Could there be a better duo out there besides these two foods? Not sure and can’t really question a good thing. If you’re catching a brew at Revolution and they’re out and about, order a taco, bao, or bowl. They’re definitely worth trying. Or if you happen to be in the area where they’re parked, definitely give them a try as well.

Tried the lemongrass chicken sliders from the food truck and while I did enjoy the flavors a great deal, the presentation is unsophisticated and downright too messy to eat on the go or at work (like I did). Work on the presentation and making sure that the slider doesn’t drip everywhere and I will be back!

The truck was at Imperial Oak Brewing in Willow Springs and I’d never heard of this one before. I was anxious to try a bao because I’d never had one before. I had the sampler: pork belly bao was excellent, ribeye slider: excellent, and the taco was awesome too. Great service also.

Based on the menu, this is a place I was hoping to love. However, I came away underwhelmed with no desire to come back. I got the sampler, as I was equally craving, the taco, bao and slider. I had the slider first, which in hindsight was a mistake, as it was the only one of the 3 that was edible. Nice little bite of a sandwich with some really flavorful brined like chicken. The taco was a mess, not only in terms of looks which basically looked like browned lettuce with dark meat chicken and a clumsily applied amount of mayo. As ugly as the appearance, it was mess to eat getting everywhere and chicken didn’t pop like it did on the slider. Not worth the hassle. The bao was the porkbelly, which was not cooked very well. It pulled apart but was totally dry and tasted like any generic pork belly you can get at hundreds of places across the city.
Expensive for the portions, messy for a food truck, which should have decently portable food, and food that doesn’t pass muster even if you looked past the aforementioned flaws.

Tried this for the first time at River Edge in Aurora. Oh my yikes! Lemongrass and bulgogi tacos were delish! Well worth the wait.

Ran into this food truck on my lunch hour today. I wanted to try the sampler, but I only had $ 8, so I went with the Kimchi rice and pork belly taco. The taco was more than good, and I wish I had gotten more of those! I love pork belly, and it truly didn’t disappoint. I have to admit that I didn’t like the Kimchi rice — it was just not my taste — and I was wishing I had tried the bao.
The most impressive thing about this place is the prices. A single taco, slider or bao is $ 3.25 — $ 3.50 and the sampler is $ 9. That’s a great price when you consider that other food trucks will charge $ 15 for a single sandwich.

Saucy! That’s exactly what I said when most of the sauce spilled on me after my first visit. I’m not that clumsy. I must have been wearing a «bump into me» sign that day, alerting other pedestrians to do so. When I got back to work, I was surprised to find that my order of bulgogi beef tacos were still flavorful and saucy despite the amount that spilled on me. I was also surprised at the amount of beef there was per taco. Let’s just say there was plenty of it. One taco is $ 3 something, and three tacos are $ 9+. For me, I was full after one taco and managed to scarf down the other two. I’ve been wanting to try this one for some time now. Just my luck — they’ve been by the NBC Tower area (one of the few food truck stops closest to my work) a couple of times, giving me an excuse to get out of the office and change up my lunch options.

It’s summer in Chicago and I’m all about that food truck life. I’ve tried Piko twice now and this time was totally wowed by the pork belly sliders. Seriously — maybe the best pork belly I’ve ever had. And you can get 3 for $ 9? Scandalous.
I also tried their citrus coleslaw, but would pass on that. It was a good portion, but I wasn’t a fan on taste. Apparently they have another option with a spicy dressing, so maybe try that instead and tell me how it is? Good lookin’ out Unilocalers! And thanks for another great lunch Piko. You keep me full and happy :)

I ran into this truck at the Schaumburg food truck festival. As with all food trucks, I kind of want to taste it all, so I ordered the sampler. Seriously every food truck should have a sampler. For people that maybe sometimes can’t make up their mind about what food will be the most delicious. Maybe that’s me. The taco was good as was the slider. However, I did have a huge quarter sized piece of fat in my taco which was kind of disgusting. The bao was decent. Of course, I’ve never had any other bao so I have NOTHING to compare it to. Take it how you will.
The green tea brownie is worth it, though the green tea flavor didn’t really come through very well.
Service was friendly and relatively quick. I think 3.5 stars would be more adequate, but I’ll bump it up to 4 this time. Had there not been a lump of fat in my taco, it would be squarely at 4 stars.

I really wanted to love this place as I’m always trying to find good food trucks in the area. I was underwhelmed with the overall taste of the food — was it just an «off day» as others seems to rave about their food?
First, the kim-​chee fried rice — it was just ok, not sure why they use that «crispy» rice at the bottom of the rice steamer, or maybe 2^nd day rice?, but I’ve never had fried rice made with that («nu-​reun-​gi»). It was too crunchy/​crispy, and perhaps even added some sugar to it. Not a fan. Kim-​chee quality (and level of fermentation) also make a difference in taste — somehow this combo was so-​so for me.
I also got the piko sampler — they were all decent, but none of them wowed me with its flavor profile. Bulgogi was a bit dry, pork belly was good, the chicken was odd-​flavored to me.
I also got the Thai iced tea, which for some reason I had hoped was fresh-​made. It was canned — what?!? To be honest, I took a few sips and was done — truly gross! What a waste of 3 bucks!
Again, I want to love food trucks so I’m going to try this place again, and next time I think I’ll try the rice bowl option. But for $ 17, I can’t say I got my money’s worth today. The search continues…

I had the sampler plate from Piko Street Kitchen at the Pilsen Food Truck fest and thought everything was just okay. I know the flavors are meant to be a fusion of Mexican and Korean/​Asian, though I thought the Asian flavors fell kind of flat, in particular the bulgolgi beef tacos and the lemongrass chicken. Where Korean flavors are meant to be punchy and deep, I just didn’t find it in the meats here.

Definitely a great addition to the food truck lineup on wacker… Went with 3 bao (lemongrass chicken, ribeye bulgogi and teriyaki tofu)… chicken was the least favorite, the ribeye was the best. The bao itself was great too, would try the other «vehicle» options next time…

4 stars just because I only tried one thing, but boy was it delicious. 5 spice pork belly bao… I will dream of you always! Tender, flavorful meat, hot steamed bun, crispy slaw, and sauce for $ 3.25, plus fast, friendly service. I’d definitely eat from this truck again!

I want to give this place a 4.5 if I could; it’s one of the better food trucks I’ve tried out. Piko has friendly and fast service. The bao are delicious, especially the beef bulgogi; it’s meaty and sweet and the texture of the bao is great. For some reason I wasn’t a huge fan of the pork belly even though that one is getting some rave reviews from other Unilocalers. These bao are surprisingly filling, and two (one bulgogi and one pork belly) was enough for a satisfying lunch. The rice bowl is even more filling, though I must admit I was disappointed in the only 2 edamame beans given in the rice bowl because I LOVE edamame. The lemongrass chicken is very very good and juicy.
I also love that they have Thai Iced Tea, you should definitely try it if you haven’t before!

I was ready to give up on the whole Chicago food truck push. I’ve tried a few and they have seemed to fall short of expectations. PIko has restored my faith, great food at a reasonable price. I tried the Piko sampler which included a ribeye slider, porkbelly bao and a chicken taco. I would say the first two stole the show, but all three are worth trying. The meat all had good flavor and they each had a different sauce that was the perfect complement to the rest of the sandwich. Excited to go back and try their other offerings.

Are you kidding me! Asian fusion goodness… On a truck!
This is one of those ideas that you see and you think to yourself, «Why didn’t I think of that?»
The food is delicious, I know because I’ve basically tried it all. I just wish the truck could dive close by my workplace, so that I could get lunch options.
Also, I was able to chat it up with some of the employees and they’re both friendly and really in tune with delivering great service alongside great food. Well done.

Food: easily 5 stars
Structural integrity of food/​ability to eat food neatly: less than 5 stars
Do I care about eating like a lady? No. No I do not.
Piko Street Kitchen was parked a block away from my office at lunch today. I’d vaguely remembered seeing the truck around at other food truck stops, but hadn’t tried them out yet. Chatted with one of the employees working in the truck for a minute and found out that they’ve been on the road for a few months already. A food truck that’s been around for a few months that I haven’t tried? Blasphemy.
In any case, I’m really glad I came by. They offer a number of different meats/​proteins which you can put into baos, sliders, tacos, or atop a rice bowl. I decided to go with the pork belly sampler — one each of the pork belly bao, slider, and taco. The flavors were on point, pork belly perfectly cooked, and I really liked the slaw on top of each item — acidity balanced out the pork belly nicely. I usually have a love-​hate relationship with slaw because I tend to not like pickled things as a general rule, but theirs was great. My only complaint is that it’s very difficult to eat their food neatly — I had sauce dripping down my hands and had to eat over the container since pieces were falling out, but that’s the cost of there being so much filling. I’d rather have more filling and deal with the messiness than have less filling for the sake of it being easier to eat. Just arm yourself with napkins. You’ll be fine.
The guy on the truck said that this is only the second time in their 3+ months on the road that they’ve been to the food truck spot near my office, so I really hope they make it a regular stop — I’m sure I’ll be back if they do!

This is definitely the best food truck I’ve tried in Chicago! The food tastes like that of a great restaurant. I’ve tried all three vessels: taco, bao, and slider, and they’re all unique and fantastic. It’s hard to decide, but I think the bao is my favorite. It’s one of the lighter, fluffier baos I’ve tried. The composition is very thoughtful as well with the slaw and sauce that’s included. The hints of ginger are great. I think the steak is my favorite of the protein options, but again, they’re all really good! Ask for some of their tasty and not too spicy hot sauce to kick it up a notch!
I also recently tried their chips and salsa and was pleasantly surprised at the great flavors packed into their salsa verde. And of course, you can never go wrong with edamame.
Lastly, be sure to save room for their mochi! I tend not to like mochi, but the dough on these is very thin, and they really hit the spot at the end of the meal.
The staff is always super nice. Don’t miss this truck. It’s worth waiting in line for, even if it’s cold out!

I just returned from the West Coast where they have a crazy big food truck scene (damn you, Chicago winters) and had a hankering to try a variety of food trucks at once. The search for a bridesmaid’s dress took me to Schaumburg where I heard about a «food truck rally» (not even sure if that is the right term) at Boomer’s Stadium. I figured the Chicagoan in me would never venture out this far again so I might as well check out what they were serving in the burbs.
Two things attracted me to the PIKO Street Kitchen truck: 1) Glowing menu in the dark (um genius!) and 2) Braised pork belly (somehow I will fit into that bridesmaid’s dress).
I was thoroughly impressed with their pork bally bao. I thought that their coleslaw and cilantro cut the fat of the pork belly and paired well with the sweet soy sauce base. I only ordered one bao when I initially got to the truck because… um there were tons of more trucks to try and my Asian belly can only fit so much.
When I noticed that the line had died down, I went back for a rice bowl (um, I can never say no to something that allows you to add an egg to it). I decided to be healthy and try their chicken bowl. There were nice subtle hints of lemon grass that mixed well with their hot sauce (mild with a little kick).
All in all, I would definitely go back again… and again for their pork belly and finish it with a different rice bowl (excited to try their other meats). What surprised me more was that it was their first night of service! My belly is going to be in trouble when they start coming downtown near my office.

Nom. Nom. Nom!
Oh mamma! The meats in the baos were soooo tasty! The slaw added a zingy crunch. Great combinations! The rice bowl with tofu was super good too.
My wife had the rice bowl, the boys had the baos. I had the sliders, and we all kept trying to eat each others’ food while fighting off everyone else!
Can’t wait to catch these guys on the street again.