Top Shelf Catering
FOOD TRUCKIt’s summer time in downtown Kalamazoo and that means Friday’s are Food Truck Friday’s.
The City’s Lunchtime Live returned to Bronson Park a few weeks ago. We were out of town for the first couple of Friday’s but last week, I carved out some time to walk over to Bronson park to see what was new this year.
There are a lot of the same trucks that have been there the last few years but there are also a couple of new ones that I have been following on social media for a while.
I didn’t make it too far down South Street when I came across one of those trucks. I stopped there and figured I have a whole summer to keep exploring all the new options.
Top Shelf Catering is a Portage based business that is both a cartering company and a food truck. The catering side predates the food truck by a couple of years but the truck has been rolling around the Kalamazoo area for about four years now. I don’t remember seeing them at Lunchtime Live in years past but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been there. I’ll go on streaks of several weeks in the summer without getting over there for lunch so I miss trucks from time to time.
This truck caught my attention right away because they’re doing smash burgers. It seems like the popular food trucks are doing tacos and BBQ but I was super psyched to see on that does burgers and fries. There are others that have come and gone but the pictures I keep seeing of their burgers has had me drooling for a while.
I ordered the Piggly Wiggly which comes with an order of fries. The cost was $15. I was given a slip of paper with a number on it. The burgers are cooked fresh then an employee sticks their head out of the door and yells out the number when it’s done. Instead of using to-go boxes, they put the meal on a disposable plate. There were a few people complaining about that because they were going to eat at the park but it keeps the food from steaming and getting soggy in a to-go container. I was walking back to the office but it’s only a couple of blocks away so I snacked on the fries as I was walking.
Those fries. So good. They’re fresh cut fries which you can order separately as Truffle Fries that include truffle oil and grated parmesan. The fries served with the burger don’t have that. They’re still tasty. I make fries like this pretty much every weekend when I grill at home. I always do a double fry to get them crispy. These were kind of limp but still are far superior fries to anything that comes out of a bag. I had pretty much eaten all of them by the time I got back to the office.
The burger was amazing. The Piggly Wiggly is two smash patties topped with bacon, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and secret sauce. This was a pretty substantial sandwich for $15. The patties had those good crispy bits around the edges that good smash patties have. The bacon is thick cut and crispy adding a little saltiness. The secret sauce is there but it’s not dumped on by the gallon. It’s a perfect layer to get the tanginess but there’s not so much it’s dripping out of the back and making a mess all over my shirt. This sandwich instantly became one of my favorite burgers. Every layer just adds another bit of perfectness to the sandwich.
I love a good burger and Top Shelf Catering nails a good burger with their food truck. Don’t get me wrong, I love tacos and BBQ but it’s always nice to see food trucks doing something else. Burgers are something that can be time consuming in a food truck but they’ve got a good system going to get them out quickly. I will be happy if I see this truck roll down the wrong way on South Street to park next to Bronson Park more often this summer.
SW Michigan Dining 