Los Angeles, CA
So what can you buy with a dollar?
A lot of things come to mind. With a dollar, you’ll probably get products that may be secondhand, low-quality and easily break, or useless. Your hard-earned dollars shouldn’t be used on these. Instead, the Chan sisters – Elvie, Josephine, and Nellie – invite you to spend your dollars wisely at their food truck at Temple Street in the Historic Filipinotown at Los Angeles, California.
Called Dollar Hits, the Chan sisters’ food truck offers Filipino food priced at – you guessed it – a dollar. However, Dollars Hits isn’t just a regular Filipino food restaurant. Pinoy street food is their specialty.
The truck opens for business at 6pm with diverse, pre-cooked street food selections – from Betamax (grilled, thickened, pig’s blood) to Enrile (fried, tempura-coated chicken head), to Adidas (marinated chicken feet) to Kwek-kwek (pigeon eggs cooked in batter). Of course, there’s Grilled Isaw – with which Pinoy street cuisine wouldn’t be complete. If you’re new to street food, you can start slowly with Filipino-style Pork/Chicken BBQ, marinated with sugar, garlic, and soy sauce, or some Fish Balls.
There are, however, exceptions to the dollar rule. With $2, you can savor a piece of Balut, and for $3, you can eat a nice bowl of Pares (a soup-like mix made of rice, meat with some spices) or Goto (the Filipino’s version of rice porridge but with chicken, garlic, and green onions). To wash it all off, you can buy a refillable glass of cantaloupe drink priced at a dollar.
Since food can get cold after a while, customers can reheat their food using the 3 large barbeque pits standing near the truck. Afterward, people can dine among other Filipinos under the stars but with some exciting music in the background, just like in the Philippines.
Strangers to this cuisine may wonder about the exotic nature of these foods. To some, they’re Fear-Factor-worthy and feel hesitant about trying them. Others will just skip them altogether. But Filipinos, born and raised in the country, have found that the taste, smell, and texture of these foods outweigh their “strangeness.” They know that once dipped into the large plastic jar of mouthwatering sauce – also offered at the truck – street food becomes even better. Even if Dollar Hits is situated in another land, eating a plate-full of grilled street food among fellow kababayans feels almost like you’re back home.
So again, what can you buy with a dollar? At Dollar Hits, a dollar is not just a dollar. You don’t just get a stick of exotic street food with that money but you also get to experience the exciting Philippine street food culture.
Dollar Hits
Thursdays to Sundays
(6PM to 12 AM)
2422 Temple Street
Los Angeles, California