Plum on the Run

You miss a lot of things while on co-op. Working 9-5 every day has its perks, namely a paycheck, but a lot of the goings on around campus tend to close down before getting back from work. This week, I saw something on campus I’d never seen before: a food truck. A couple years ago Boken had food trucks parked in a row down by Palmer, but this was different. It was just a food truck, no huge fanfare, no gimmick, parked in front of Walker Gym. Apparently food trucks have been a thing on campus since last semester, with Plum on the Run being a new addition to the rotation. Seeing my chance and not wanting to venture far from campus, a group of friends and I tried it out.

Plum on the Run serves food on campus every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., takes Duckbills, and changes its menu every week (hopefully next week they’ll have crab cake). At first glance, it appears to be a pretty basic food truck (according to the story posted on their order window, it’s a repurposed Con Edison utility truck straight out of the 1980s). While the truck may look simple, they serve a healthy variety of burgers, sandwiches, and other comfort foods. This past week, we went closer to 3 p.m., which meant they were starting to run out of some food items; fortunately, they still had a decent variety to test.

First, the cheese steaks. Plum on the Run offers both regular and chicken cheesesteaks, both of which are pretty solid. One challenge with a cheesesteak is a roll capable of handling the sandwich’s contents; the roll was solid, but soft enough to handle the contents perfectly, and the cheesesteak itself was a nice balance of steak, cheese, and vegetables, which I affectionately call “fixins.” Next, the regular cheeseburger definitely didn’t look like something to write home about, but was surprisingly delicious, cooked appropriately with the toppings staying in place and mingling well. Finally, the veggie burger, about which I am typically skeptical, turned out tasting rather tangy and (almost) healthy, with the same wonderful combination of toppings. With all these meals, you have the option of, for only a couple dollars more, getting a combo meal with fries and a drink. While getting fries isn’t necessarily critical to the meal, they’re a nice complement to the sandwich. While their fries were a bit more oily than I’m used to, it’s a food truck; anything short of dripping is perfectly fine.

Aside from the sandwiches, Plum on the Run also makes macaroni and cheese dishes. Last week they had two options: short rib mac n’ cheese, and chili mac n’ cheese. Here, we reached a bit of a conundrum. The short rib mac n’ cheese was definitely the more flavorful of the two, with chunks of rib meat between cheese and orecchiette. Unfortunately, the further you got to the bottom of the cup, the more cheese pooled at the bottom. The chili mac n’ cheese was more balanced, but short rib meat is always going to win out over chili.

Nobody is going to Plum on the Run because they want to eat something healthy, cut down on their carbs, or kick-start a diet. That’s not what a traditional food truck is. It’s something messy, probably bad for you, and served out of a truck of seemingly questionable origins. Plum on the Run definitely checks off most of these requirements, but with a twist: aside from being the ultimate in convenience, the food is really good! They take some traditional dishes and do it right, while taking others somewhat upscale yet palatable (and affordable) for the typical college student. So, next time you see a food truck parked on campus, pay a visit to Plum on the Run, and find out for me if they have crab cakes yet.