Stroll into the Podski Food Cart Lot on Arizona Avenue, and you’re sure to catch a whiff of the savory smell of carnitas and veggies as burritos are seared on the large outdoor grill outside the resident food truck, Earl-n-Mabel. With an aim of cooking up modern comfort food that’s both fresh and healthy, the truck specializes in burritos from south of the border, salads with an Asian flare and Wild West-inspired skillets. This medley of global flavors is the brainchild of owner Dagny Magelssen, who moved to Bend from Seattle in 2012. She had long been passionate about preparing food, so when the food cart industry started to boom, she decided to leave behind her job in sales and renovate a vintage trailer into a food truck. “I wanted to do something that meant something and find out what I was made of,” she says. Magelssen is famous for her “F-Bomb Burritos.” (“F” stands for “fresh.”) The grilled burritos — heavily inspired by those of Puerto Vallarta — come with a creamy, lime chipotle sauce, which Magelssen says is “more flavor than spice.” She continues,“The menu is highly inspired by places I've been, flavors I've tasted and wanting to bring that together.” Magelssen found a home for her renovated, vintage trailer at the Podski in 2019, after spending a year serving burritos at seasonal events and at the Facebook Data Center site in Prineville. She launched Earl-n-Mabel in hopes of focusing on fresh comfort food, like the “Wild West Caesar” or the “Cowboy Skillet,” but she soon added her signature burritos to her menu. Magelssen explains that with the changing seasons and pandemic shutdowns, it’s been important to keep operations “fluid.” This winter, Earl-n-Mabel is serving breakfast all-day-long and opening earlier to meet local demand. EarlnMabel.com
Article by Hanna Murzbach
Originally published in Bend Lifestyle