Monday was Give & Grub's first day of sales.
Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the region's newest mobile kitchen — a give-back collaboration between Laser Spine Institute and the Tampa Bay Lightning — slung warm and chilled eats at a St. Petersburg office park.
For every food item eaters purchased, the institute donated a meal to a Tampa family in need. Similar lunchtime events will be held throughout the year, and a family will receive a meal each time the #giveandgrub hashtag is used, too.
The project's goal is to donate 150,000 meals.
Julie Borm, the institute's director of marketing communications, said her organization wanted to do something different with the food truck and its Lightning partnership. She also said she was surprised by how good the food is.
The truck's menu consists of team-themed chow, including a Cooper's Candied Burger (coach Jon Cooper), Hedman's Steak Tacos (defenseman Victor Hedman) and a Chicken Parmkos Sandwich (center Steven Stamkos). Each offering was $9.
Bryan Goodell and co., of the Wicked 'Wiches restaurant-on-wheels, cooked up the afternoon's fare. According to Goodell, everything from Give & Grub is made from scratch — the bread, coleslaw, salsa. Its tacos are the most popular.
This reporter's favorites were Callahan's Mac Slam sans sausage, and the Slapshot Chicken Salad, which was on special. She's also still thinking about that burger's candied jalapeño.
Q105 host Mason Dixon, who was at the event, said he'd recommend the burger, chicken parm or mac. The tacos, he said, packed with grilled steak, veggies and more, looked like they'd drip all over on the way into someone's chops. (Yum.)
Give & Grub's next event will be Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
