Miss Shirley's Food Truck Nominated To Be America's Favorite

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A popular Baltimore food truck is in the running for a big prize. A win would mean some big money and some national attention for Charm City.

Ron Matz reports it would also result in an opportunity to help others.

Miss Shirley's Food Truck, a popular fixture on the streets of Baltimore, serves up a galaxy of gastronomic delights.  Now, the Food Network has nominated Miss Shirley's to be America's favorite food truck.

"Six to eight weeks ago the Food Network announced the launch of Season 2 of 'The Great Food Truck Race.'  At the same time, they said they would take nominations for the favorite food truck in the country and narrow the nominations down to 200.  Those 200 trucks are being voted on around the country.  The favorite truck will win $10,000 and be a contestant on Season 3 of 'The Great Food Truck Race,'" said Eddie Dopkin, owner of Miss Shirley's and Miss Shirley's Food Truck.

If Miss Shirley's reaches the top of the food chain, it would win $10,000, money it plans to donate to the United Way.

"We're giving them 20 percent of the proceeds from the truck now until Sept. 12, as well," said Dopkin.

"It really is a big deal. It means the most vulnerable in our community have an opportunity to get even more help.  What Miss Shirley's has done is selfless.  They're a great organization. We hope people get out there and vote for them early and often," said Chuck Tildon, United Way of Central Maryland.

Miss Shirley's truck is famous for its blueberry pancakes, sweet potato fries and chicken and waffles.  It's been on the street since June.

"We had talked about it for about six months.  It's going very well.  We have probably six to 10 emails and Facebook posts a day about people who want the truck to come to their place of business or to a museum or a festival.  We're really getting inundated. We have six to eight regular stops and we are doing the festivals and some other mass gathering events," said Dopkin. "We're serving chicken and waffles, our southern pulled pork, our famous blueberry pancakes, sweet potato fries, fried green tomatoes and our Louisiana gumbo.  We really have a blast with it."

The voting will end Sept. 12 and you can vote for Miss Shirley's Food Truck every day.

"We're competing against trucks in big cities and little cities all across the country.  Currently, we're about 17th and we're trying to get into the top 10.  You can vote on your computer or your smartphone, and you can vote up to 10 times a day," said Dopkin.

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