Like other cities around the country, Austin, Tex., recently tightened its rules for its ever-expanding mobile-food contingent. New regulations include needing to provide proof of a state sales tax permit, passing a fire-department inspection and filing an itinerary of truck routes. (Apparently Twitter doesn’t count.) Despite these new regulations, the food-trailer scene is still thriving: the city estimates that there will be 1,620 mobile food vendors by the end of 2011; in 2006, there were only 648. Here are a few highlights:

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer (1219 South Lamar; 512-695-6922): This popular food truck was started by Bryce Gilmore, who learned the culinary ropes from his father Jack, of Z’Tejas in Central Austin, and later at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Here, by the glow of moonlight and the nearby fluorescents of an Exxon station, diners will experience some of the best food-trailer cuisine south of the Colorado River. In fact, it’s highly recommended to arrive early. (On a recent Friday night, the entire menu was sold out by 8:20 p.m.) All of Gilmore’s ingredients are locally sourced. For example, the pork is from Richardson Farms in Rockdale, and the quail from Texas Quail Farms in Lockhart. Popular dishes include the delicious pork-belly slider and the soft-boiled farm egg on a mound of goat cheese polenta with mushrooms, butternut squash and sunchokes. In mid-December, look for Gilmore’s new restaurant, Barley Swine, next to the Horseshoe Lounge in South Austin. As its name suggests, pork and beer will be featured prominently.

Chi’Lantro BBQ: Tapping into the popular food trend set by Kogi BBQ in Los Angeles, Chi’Lantro has found no shortage of customers in Austin — including University of Texas students, downtown business folks and club-hoppers — since it opened eight months ago. Housed in a traditional commissary truck, Chi’Lantro issues its daily coordinates on Twitter and then offers up an inventive blend of tacos, quesadillas and burritos with a Korean bent. Three bold flavors stand out in these dishes: caramelized kimchi, bulgogi (“fire meat” in Korean) and sriracha sauce. For $2 per taco, you can’t go wrong. Favorite tacos include bulgogi pork and fried tofu served with a heap of shredded lettuce, toasted sesame seeds, cilantro and Korean soy vinaigrette. Chi’Lantro’s signature dish, kimchi fries, demands return visits with its tasty, almost indiscernible pile of French fries topped with caramelized kimchi, bulgogi ribeye, melted cheddar and Monterey cheese, cilantro, onions and Korean peppers.

Coolhaus: This retro mail-truck trailer started to make the rounds in August. (Like Chi’Lantro, Coolhaus’s roving location is posted daily on Twitter.) The Texas counterpart to the already popular Los Angeles version, this mobile unit embraces the same whimsical marriage between architecture and ice cream. The name is a nod to the famed Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas, and the ice cream sandwiches are meant to appeal to the architecturally minded. The concept: Pick your cookie and then your ice cream flavor. All sandwiches are served in an edible wrapper made from potato flour and soy ink. On a recent fall evening, in the courtyard outside the Blue Starlite drive-in theater on East Cesar Chavez, the following combinations were sampled: balsamic and fig ice cream sandwiched between chocolate cookies; coffee toffee with snickernoodles; and dirty mint chip with chocolate cookies. The balsamic fig, with the classic Italian pairing of flavors, delivered a subtle yet sophisticated punch. And the smooth blend of fresh mint leaves and molasses put a flavorful spin on traditional mint chocolate chip. Treats of frozen soy and peanut butter are on hand for four-legged friends.