Hometown Eats: The Backyard in Forest

FOREST, Va. (WDBJ) - What’s better than featuring a local food truck on National Food Truck Day? Featuring a whole bunch of them! Which is exactly why The Backyard in Bedford County provided the perfect solution.

WDBJ7′s Katey Roshetko got an in-depth tour with property developer Chip Duff before eating her way through the venue.

“You almost have to see it to really understand what it is,” he said.

It’s an outdoor food court with a dozen options. Choosing where to start is no easy task, so Roshetko asked her new friend, Robert, who said, “Papa O’s Hot Dogs. I give it a ten out of ten.”

“I think we need to take Robert’s advice and go to Papa O’s!” Roshetko said.

“Welcome to the Dog House!” Papa O shouted enthusiastically. “The Papa O’s dog is the number one best seller. Then if you look over there we have the Rover. That’s probably a close second. And then if you’re a hot fan, if you love hot stuff, we have our Caution Dog and our Danger Dog.”

“Let’s do the Caution Dog then!” Roshetko said.

Spicy chili, habenero jalapenos and crunchy onions top this hot dog!

“Okay, Katey. I got your hot dog,” Papa O yelled when it was ready.

“Thank you! I haven’t even taken a bite and I can already feel the heat,” Roshetko said, then took a bite. “That is so good. I can’t even imagine what the danger dog is like. I’m gonna be back. That’s for sure. This is so stinkin’ good.”

Time to check out the next place, Al Pastor.

“I think we need to go get some tacos!” Roshetko said. “What is the best thing to get on the menu?

“The tacos,” Liz said from inside the truck.

“I feel like tacos and food trucks, they’re almost synonymous with each other,” Roshetko laughed.

“Look at that,” she added when Liz handed her the al pastor and steak tacos. “That is one of the most authentic tacos I have probably had in months.”

“It ain’t like the tacos at Taco Bell,” one of the patrons said. “This is authentic.”

“Alright, I got my tacos from Al Pastor, now I’m going for my southern comfort food,” Roshetko said before heading down the strip.

Julian Davis with JD’s Mobile Cafe is serving up an array of classics from hamburgers to Philly cheese-steaks.

“I make all of the food when you order it,” Davis said. “A big thing for me is to give you food all hot. I actually like the box to be smoking a little bit when I give it to you.”

And JD wasn’t just titillating our tastebuds when he showed us where the magic happens.

“Look at this. They have loaded us up. And I’m going to try every single one of these,” Roshetko said with her arms full of food. She sampled the catfish po boy, the Philly cheese-steak, the cheeseburger and the country cordon bleu sandwich called The Virginian.

“I thought it would be easy to choose my favorite, but I don’t think I can so I’m just going to have to eat them all,” Roshetko said.

But there was one more stop she wanted to make. Something to wash it all down with. And she found that at Paragon Tea Company.

“Oh look at this,” Roshetko said. “I love Boba Tea. That is so sweet. Those tapioca pudding balls are really good.”

By the end of her tour, she’d only stopped at four places, but there just wasn’t room in her stomach for any more. So she’ll just have to come back again and so will you.

Each of the food trucks operate on their own days and hours, but most of them are open Thursday through Saturday.

You can see the full list of food truck venders here.

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