JewBan’s Deli Dàle Food Truck At Riptide Brewing – Go For It

Food trucks are very much in vogue at the moment. Typically, a food truck owner does not want the constraints and/or costs of a brick and mortar restaurant and chooses a mobile venue instead.

One of the first trucks to pass muster in East Naples was JewBan’s Deli Dàle (JewBans). JewBan’s Ray Garcia and Julie Dana are a married couple, (she’s Jewish and he’s Cuban) that worked for many years in corporate America. Now they are pursuing their dream of running a business that prepares Cuban and Jewish foods.

They deli dàle (pronounced Daaally), like dilly dally, dàle being Cuban slang meaning “go for it”. They started this business in Miami, and their recipes reflect, in many cases, those passed down from family many generations earlier.

I have been hearing good things about them so when I found out they were serving at Riptide, I felt compelled to take a peek.

If you go to JewBan’s website, their menu offerings are prolific, too much for a food truck at any one time. One of the owners told me that is their entire culinary repertoire which is tailored to the venue in which they serve. At breweries, they tend to favor more of a protein laden menu while at farmers markets, Matzo ball soup may appear. Unbeknownst to my dining companion (DC) and I, we were in for a real treat.

Although JewBans’ menu was limited that night, DC and I sampled most of it. The first thing tried was the “Circa 1899 Hot Pastrami sandwich.” I am a fool for good pastrami, and even at the “classic” delis nationwide, it can be hard to find.

JewBans’ pastrami ($12) was a magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale, some of the best I have had. It is prepared over a week in house, and so much meat is served each plating requires 2 buns. Mustard and pickle are perhaps de rigueur, here an afterthought compared to the quality of the pastrami.

My DC and I also split a “Miami in the Hoose”, a classic Cubano. This was one of the best Cuban sandwiches I have ever had. Sweet ham, smoked ham, in house roast pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickle sealed the deal. Excellent and highly recommended.

We finished with the Cuban steak bowl. This was Palomino steak (thin sirloin) over Jasmine rice with black beans and in house “drunken” plantains. Good but eclipsed by the previous two dishes.

Although not sampled, we also caught a glimpse of the Cuban sandwich platter (Cuban sandwiches sliced in bite sized pieces) and the final menu item, their signature mojo chicken. This was mojo chicken served with a taco over jasmine rice and black beans.

The food from JewBan’s really works and is incredibly delicious. Although sampling only three of their menu items, they were for the most part, exceptional.  Their price points are modest, a relief from the prices at times for excellence in Naples.

They will be here for the foreseeable future, and post their schedule on their website. I hope readers will take time to smell the culinary roses. The beer and atmosphere at RBC are also very nice, a perfect combination with JewBan’s when I was there.

Riptides hours and food truck schedule are on their website.

JewBan’s schedule is also on their website.