Soul Man BBQ, 1723 MLK Way, Sarasota

A turn down MLK from 301 on a Wednesday afternoon yields a hint of wood smoke on the air. Several blocks in and the black, smoldering box from which the smoke originates reveals itself, attached to a spartan white food truck called Soul Man BBQ. The menu features the expected staples—ribs, chicken, mac-n-cheese, baked beans—but cheesesteaks make an appearance intermittently throughout the week. The chicken cheesesteak is the quintessential blue-collar lunch–heaping, hot and ready in a jiffy. Diced chicken, onions and bell peppers get the griddle treatment, seared and tossed with cheese and spices until the whole mass of savory parts amalgamates. Scooped into a hot dog roll and squeezed into a Styrofoam to-go container, diners would do well to abandon the idea of eating it like a handheld food. A fork works best to dig in. At $8, the cheesesteak is all that and a bag of chips (and drink). Beneath the Soul Man graphic on the truck is a query that implies a full stomach has been prioritized: “you hungry?” After the cheesesteak, the answer is “no.”

Soul Man BBQ, 1723 MLK Way, Sarasota

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