Two Radcliff Food Trucks Reviewed — Papa Pasta & Contreras Eats

Key Takeaways

• Papa Pasta (Radcliff) — handmade gourmet pasta, fresh each day, new state-of-the-art trailer, old-school Italian discipline.
• Contreras Eats (Radcliff) — husband-and-wife operation, Heartland Food Truck Championship winners for best fries, birria tacos and birria egg rolls are the standout dishes.
• Where to find them this week: Phillips Grove (tonight), Vine Grove Optimist Park food truck rally on Fridays through April.
• Two mom-and-pop trucks that started small and grew the right way — Britten and Michele said it felt like home cooking, not contract cooking.
• Next week's review: Laker on Dixie. Already filmed, Britten teased it as "a very interesting experience."

Summary

Britten and Michele McDowell took the audience to the Vine Grove Optimist Park food truck rally and reviewed two Radcliff favorites side by side. Papa Pasta brought a fresh carbonara and a story about culinary discipline — the owner is old-school Italian and refuses to use cream outside of dessert. Contreras Eats brought a championship trophy and a full lineup of birria.

Both trucks are family operations that started in a tent or a Facebook delivery DM and built up from there. Britten's read on both: the food eats like somebody's mom and dad made it. That's the highest compliment this segment gives.

If you're looking for somewhere new to try this week — head to Phillips Grove tonight or Vine Grove Friday night. Both trucks will be out.

Full Article

It is food truck season in Hardin County. Britten and Michele McDowell — The Experienced Eaters — took the segment out of the studio this week and into the Vine Grove Optimist Park food truck rally on a Friday night. Two Radcliff trucks, two reaction videos, one easy recommendation: try them both.

Papa Pasta — Old-School Italian Out of Radcliff

Papa Pasta started last year inside what Britten described as "a big camping tent — an eight-by-twenty tent, a double tent." They worked it for a season, got their licensing done, then graduated to a state-of-the-art food truck this spring. Britten reviewed the carbonara on camera — fresh, cheesy, salty, hot. The honest disclaimer: "It's hard to eat good pasta with a plastic fork — note to self." But the food itself held up. "That's a really good bite. Definitely should give these guys a try."

The story behind the truck is where this one really lands. Britten talked to the owner on Facebook after the review and came away impressed. "I was really impressed with their — I don't know how you'd say — I guess culinary discipline or culinary opinion. Hey, guys, when it comes to Italian food, there's a very specific way to do things and he is very old school, very legit. Like, the fettuccine he makes with pasta water, butter, and Parmesan cheese. He says the cream doesn't belong in Italian cooking, except in dessert. So I mean, that's pretty hardcore."

Their tagline is straight off the Facebook page: "Life is a combination of magic and pasta." — Federico Fellini.

Where to find Papa Pasta:

• Wednesday — Brandenburg
• Friday — Vine Grove Optimist Park (food truck rally running every Friday through April)
• Facebook: facebook.com/PapaPastafoodtruck/

Contreras Eats — A Trophy on the Counter and Birria Worth Driving For

Contreras Eats has a similar build-it-as-you-go origin story but a louder résumé. Husband-and-wife operation, kids involved, started by delivering off Facebook orders, then a food truck, then a trailer. And sitting on display when Britten rolled up to film: the Best Fries trophy from the Heartland Food Truck Championships. "They won the best fries — they didn't know I was behind them kind of just filming and, you know, that's the beauty of it."

The reaction video this week ran longer than planned because every table around them at the rally had also ordered from Contreras. By the end, Britten had a full sampler in front of him.

The roll call:

• Loaded chicken cheese fries (the championship dish) — "Tons of flavor. Cilantro. Grilled onion. Chicken, cheese, absolutely great."
• Chicken taquito — "Crispy. You can smell the seasoning in it. Crunch, great crunch. Same chicken that's on the fries. That's tasty."
• Birria tacos — grilled, hot, melty cheese, dunked in the consomme dipping sauce. "The sauce is nice and rich. That's a winner."
• Birria egg roll — "Great crisp, great crunch. All birria, a little bit of cheese. That's a winner too."
• Birria ball — breaded in hot Cheetos. "I don't even know what to think about this. That's delicious. That's delicious. That's delicious."

Britten took a minute to explain what birria actually is for the audience that hadn't tried it: "Birria is — my wife says I should tell everybody because I didn't do it in the video — it's kind of a braised beef. It's slow-cooked. They seared off and then it's got all kinds of peppers and the consomme that goes on it." The deep orange color comes from the dried peppers, not food coloring.

The owner's own Facebook line tells you everything else: "My passion is delivering fresh authentic foods. I have been a chef for 10+ years and love to cook."

Where to find Contreras Eats:

• Tonight (Tuesday) — Phillips Grove
• Tuesday and Thursday — E'town Farmer's Market
• Friday — Vine Grove Optimist Park
• Facebook: facebook.com/contreras.eatz/

The Through-Line

Both trucks are mom-and-pop operations that started without the full plan in place and figured it out as they went. Britten landed there at the end of the segment: "Contreras is another example of a mom and pop that got started. They didn't have the end product in mind. They got started and they figured it out. And they built it as they went, which is something we're familiar with and we have an appreciation for that."

That's the segment's whole bias in one sentence. The Experienced Eater highlights the food trucks doing the work right — and right now, in Hardin County, that means heading to Radcliff or chasing the rally schedule.

Rachel closed it out the way Hardin County would: "I'm headed to Phillips Grove tonight because I have to have those spicy birria balls. Like I have to."

Next week's review is already filmed. Britten teased Laker on Dixie — "a very interesting experience." Stay tuned.