Boxcar and Tacofino tuck hosting pop up chefs this summer

This new Backyard Cookout summer series has popular chefs popping up on the Tacofino truck at a cool Main Street patio

Buzzy burgers, tacos meet shawarma and Japanese small plates all from one of the city's favourite food trucks

Between 2 Buns will be sizzling up smash burgers from the Tacofino truck parked at The Boxcar on Main Street Monday June 7 and 14, 2021@the_boxcar / Instagram

We might need to have a word with Mother Nature, because Monday evenings are heating up in Vancouver thanks to a fun new weekly food event that kicks off June 7.

Tacofino and The Boxcar are having a weekly Backyard Cookout every Monday that will find popular local chefs and restaurants running out of the Tacofino truck at the Main Street bar.

The pop-up will be taking place all summer long, and the first four Monday schedules are set.

Here's who is on the roster for the Backyard Cookout this June:

Monday, June 7: Between 2 Buns: The popular roving (and soon-to-be settled) smash burger spot
Monday, June 14: Between 2 Buns.
Monday, June 21: Jason Sussman (Tacofnio_ and Dallah El Chami (Superbaba). Tacos and shawarmas, together at last!
Monday, June 28: Keith Allison: Sea Monster Noodle, Pizza Coming Soon. Keith was born in Japan and raised in Vancouver. He pursued a culinary career back in Japan before once again settling on the west coast. He’s now partner/owner/head chef at Pizza Coming Soon.

Expect to learn soon who will be behind the stoves of the Tacofino truck at The Boxcar for July and August.

The series was inspired in part by the incredible coming together many in the Vancouver restaurant industry experienced this past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event has also worked in another way to give back.

In addition to the Monday night eats, The Boxcar will have incentive to imbibe; one dollar from The Boxcar’s weekly cocktail special sold on Mondays will go toward a different local charity. This month it's QMUNITY, a non-profit that provides resources to queer, trans and Two-Sprit folk in Vancouver.

The Boxcar patio is decked out in cheery colours with picnic tables that seat the current max of six people under provincial orders.

If you can't make it on a Monday, there are still reasons to enjoy The Boxcar's patio the rest of the week. On Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. Tacofino is firing up its Boxcar Menu, featuring things like buttermilk chicken tacos, stadium spuds (loaded tots), chorizo crunchwraps, and taquitos.