I hate, hate, hate eating in hotel restaurants. And given the number of hotels I overnight in while traveling the convention circuit each year, I’m given many opportunities to do so. But I scorn those restaurants with the heat of a dying star.

There’s only one meal a year I’m forced to eat in one of those usually little more than competent dining establishments which tell you nothing about the city in which they’re located but instead represent both everywhere and nowhere. And that’s to breakfast with an elder in the science fiction field (because the conversation is worth it) whom I can never seem to dislodge from the site where the convention is being hosted. But other than that lone annual encounter, I bolt from hotels for all other meals.

Some have said to me, hey, aren’t you missing out on the convention itself that way? But I don’t see it that way.If I wander off for multiple meals with three or four different con attendees each time, I see myself as taking a part of the con with me while experiencing food that represents a city, rather than a chain.

Which is how I ended up Sunday afternoon at the Pilsen Food Truck Social, which was being held about three miles from the Palmer House. I’d found out about it from a squib in Eater, which is a site I always hit before visiting a city to make sure I miss nothing I’d regret. I wasn’t sure who’d end up joining me for that roving lunch, but five of my friends ended up tagging along—Greg and Astrid Bear, Francesca Myman, Arley Sorg, and Jacob Weisman.

That’s Francesca and Greg above resting between our sampling. Based on the storefront sign under which they’re sitting, she’s healthy and he’s … breakfast, I guess.

The way the Pilsen Food Truck Social worked was that if you didn’t want to simply hit one food truck and eat a full-sized meal, for $20.00 you could buy tickets good for samples at five of the trucks, which is much more fun. So that’s what we did, though none of us hit all the same trucks. (No cupcakes for me, for example.) Thanks to the use of tickets, lines moved quickly, as there was little need to deal with cash and make change.

Here’s the food I scored with my five tickets.

Stop #1: Pierogi Street

We got about halfway down the double row of food trucks before we fell under the spell of pierogi.

One ticket could be traded for two pierogi and one topping, and I chose braised beef plus cheddar and potato, and of course … bacon! (If you know me, you already know—what else would I have chosen?)

Stop #2: Dia de Los Tamales

Next, a few of us were attracted by the smell of tamales …

… and I went for the slow-roasted Cuban pork tamale with Cuban fricasé. Surprisingly, this tamale turned out to be larger than sampler-sized.

Stop #3: Honky Tonk BBQ

I and I alone gave into the BBQ. What can I say, I’m a carnivore!

My ticket got me a few rib tips. They left me wanting more. Luckily, there was another barbecue truck to come.

Stop #4: NaanSense

Next up, I pretended I was eating healthy, by going for …

… a potato samosa with chutney. I don’t think I was fooling anyone, though.

Stop #5: Husky Hog Barbecue

While others used their fifth sampler ticket for cupcakes—there were two such food trucks there—I went for the only dessert that makes sense—meat!

A burnt end slider seemed like the perfect way for me to end our food truck experience.

And how’s this for culinary validation—two of these food trucks were on Eater’s list yesterday of 10 Essential Food Trucks to Catch This Summer in Chicago—plus I’d sampled two more as part of my National Doughnut Day expedition two days earlier (about which I shall share shortly).

Further proof (as if any were needed) that it pays not to settle for a hotel buffet. Good food, good friends, a walk through the sunshine in a part of Chicago that seemed real rather than touristy … what’s not to like?