A relatively recent culinary trend originating from some of the more progressive cities in the U.S. has been the emergence of food trucks.The evolution ranges from shabby carts with unidentifiable ingredients and options to professionally trained chefs with adventurous culinary fare. Although many of these food trucks have existed in L.A., Seattle, and New York for some time, the Boston area with its numerous universities has finally begun to offer a decent amount of food truck options.

A popular destination among MIT students (and anyone else in “the know”) is the fairly new Momogoose food truck, behind the Kendall/MIT stop on Carleton St. Featuring what they refer to as Asian Fusion with a large Vietnamese influence, Momogoose is cheap (most entrees are around $5), creative (they have burritos, rice bowls, and baguette sandwiches), and tasty, which the long lines indicate. I would recommend this truck to anyone going into the Cambridge area looking for some cheap, delicious, and quirky food that’s not your standard slice of pizza. The Kendall/MIT area has other creative food offerings that are worthy of taking advantage of, like the Clover Food Lab, a locally sourced and all vegetarian truck, if you are looking for something more adventurous than the standard Dewick spread.

With locations just outside three T stops (Downtown, Park, and State), my next sampling, Karo’s BBQ, has quite the following. As I was told, there is always a line but it is always worth it. This cart offers some of the best deals for lunch in the downtown area. The most expensive meal is the “Large Dinner ,“ $6.50 for a chicken kabob, salad, and rice pilaf, which is incredibly filling. The beauty of Karo’s is that it offers simplistic, but high quality fare. I was shocked to spend around $5 and walk away full, totally satisfied, and convinced that I would go back. Karo’s stands out among the other offerings of food carts in the downtown area, and I would advise that you search it out next time you are in the city for lunch. Unfortunately, the cart is closed on the weekends, so a semi-hungover trek to Karo’s on a hungry Friday afternoon is in order.

After going in search of noteworthy Boston food carts, I realized that Moe’s is a moderately good option for those late-night Tufts munchies, but lacks the tastier and more creative food cravings that I have after a night of hard “studying.” Therefore, I propose we lobby for some new food carts and give Moe some much needed competition.