It’s an au jus adventure at this truck

Lots of choices, but the payoff is lip-smacking

There are food trucks of all types, but the Dip Shack stakes claim to an original idea. It sells half-pound sandwiches on butter-toasted rolls au jus. Nothing more, nothing less.

It’s a relative newcomer to the San Antonio street-eats scene, having made its debut about three months ago.

The menu is simple: pork, beef, chicken and cheese sandwiches that can be mixed with grilled onions, roasted mushrooms and an assortment of cheeses for an extra dollar each.

You also can get a creamy horseradish sauce, mustard and pickles as freebies. The Dip Shack makes its own chips, which can be added to an order for three bucks.

There is a lot of “choose your own adventure” at the Dip Shack, so you sort of have to wing it on your first visit and build on that. But it’s a lot of fun, and I can envision many future trips to this land of au jus bliss.

The dipping sauce that comes with every sandwich is clearly beef based and loaded with a pantry of seasonings — the exact blend is top secret.

Best dish: The pork belly ($13) sandwich with cheddar cheese and mustard might be one of the best sandwiches in the city. Sliced ultra thin and served crispy with a quick flash fry, the roasted meat wasn’t overly fatty and melted in my mouth. The bold and smoky cheddar was complemented by hot mustard.

There aren’t a lot of pork belly sandwiches on San Antonio menus, so consider this one a treasure.

Other dishes: Grilled cheese sandwiches are a domestic staple, but the Big Cheezy ($9) is something special. I added mushrooms to mine, and it tasted like heaven. I almost thought there was too much cheese in the sandwich, then I slapped myself and got over it. This is the most vegetarian option on the menu, and nobody will regret ordering it.

The prime rib ($14) — seasoned with garlic, rosemary and plenty of black pepper — is the most popular item on the menu. I added grilled onions to mine and caked it with the creamy horseradish sauce. The sauce provided a needed kick, and the crunchy Cuban hoagie roll was up to the task of containing it.

I was less thrilled with the pastrami sandwich ($14) and the Swiss cheese that I added to it. It comes billed as a meat that is cured for eight days and cooked low and slow, but it failed to deliver. I would place it more in the realm of ready-cooked meats that you can find in the grocery store.

If you really want pastrami, it works, but there are better places to get that fix.

Photos by Chuck Blount / Staff The pork belly sandwich is one of the best sandwiches in the San Antonio area.

The Big Cheezy grilled cheese sandwich is something special, especially with mushrooms.