Kristin Blacklock walked up to the yellow and white food truck parked outside Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway with one question on her mind.

"Can anyone order from this?'' Blacklock asked Amy Kirchmer, behind the counter of the Outslider truck.

The graduate student in chemistry had brought her own lunch - butternut squash soup - but found it "less appetizing'' than the mini-burgers she ended up ordering from the Outslider.

"This,'' said Gina Gazitano, who works at the Rutgers School of Public Health, "is the most exciting thing that's happened all week.''

Rutgers University, for years home of the infamous grease trucks and their cholesterol-crazed "fat'' sandwiches, is now allowing specialty food trucks like the The Outslider onto campus.

It's the latest proof of food trucks' growing popularity in New Jersey; the first full-scale food truck festival was held in 2012, and now food truck-themed events dot the Garden State social calendar.

The grease trucks, once found on the College Avenue campus, still operate at the university, but the newcomer trucks offer food you won't find at their legendary late-night brethren: Beef sliders and truffle fries from the Outslider. Pulled pork sliders, chili and quesadillas from the Oink and Moo truck. Authentic Belgian waffles with Belgian chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream from the Waffle de Lys truck. Crab soup from the Original SoupMan.

"I'm excited to be on campus,'' said Leahy, standing next to the Outslider, a converted Ford E-450 Super Duty truck.

The trucks started operating on campus several weeks ago.

"Rutgers wants to offer students and the university community a variety of food choices at different locations around campus,'' said Debra McNally, Director, Real Estate Planning.

The university started working with the owners of the grease trucks in late 2011, when it was determined that the parking lot at the corner of College Avenue and Hamilton Avenue, the grease trucks' home, would be used for student housing.

Four grease trucks remain in operation; they, the Knight Wagon and the four "outside'' trucks - Outslider, Waffle de Lys, The Original SoupMan and Oink and Moo - can set their own hours.

The definitive guide to specialty food trucks in New Jersey appeared in Inside Jersey magazine earlier this year. The package of stories and photos can be found here.

(Note: Waffle de Lys, Outslider and Oink and Moo are all personal favorites; if available, try the waffle with raspberry coulis at Waffle de Lys, the Black Forest burger at the Outslider and the tacos or chili at Oink and Moo).

There are 10 food truck spots on the College Avenue, Busch, Livingston and Cook/Douglass campuses.

The trucks cannot stay in the same spot for two days in a row, and must remove their vehicle between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. They can operate all seven days. The cost of a permit is $650 for six months.

The trucks' main competitor, ironically, is the university's own Knight Wagon, a food truck that shuttles between the campuses. Meals on the Knight Wagon are free to students on meal plans.

"It's hard to compete with free,'' Oink and Moo owner Josh Sacks said.

The other day, his truck was parked next to the RU Hungry truck, one of the former College Avenue grease trucks, on Senior Street in New Brunswick.

But employee Chris Ingrund was nonplussed.

"We're not worried,'' Ingrund said. "We're Oink and Moo.''

The truck will be found at Rutgers "all winter, every day,'' he promised.

Business may have been slow the other day, but Oink and Moo did get a first-time customer in freshman Bryan Vincello, who ordered the pulled pork tacos.

On the truck counter was a bottle of Haht Sahs, a hot sauce made by Ingrund. There's also a ghost pepper relish made from ghost, habanero, banana and jalapeno peppers grown on Ingrund's farm.

The challenge faced by the newer trucks is clear, according to Sacks.

"We have to change the culture of everyone eating Fat Cats,'' he said, referring to the original grease truck sandwich, a double cheeseburger with french fries, lettuce, mayo and ketchup - the french fries inside the sandwich, naturally .

Back at the Outslider, Blacklock, waiting on her order, enjoyed a cider doughnut, a bonus treat handed out by Kirchmer.

"Amazing,'' Blacklock said.

Two students behind her in line let out a mock-anguished "nooo'' when Kirchmer announced the truck had run out of doughnuts.

Grad students Jordan Woods and Stephanie Silleck split an order of parmesan fries. Silleck called them "delicious.''

Are specialty food trucks here to stay at Rutgers? Looks like it. Oink and Moo's success, according to Sacks, will depend on that business axiom: location, location, location.

'"There are only so many spots,'' he explained. "We'll drive around and find out which spots are good and which ones are bad.''

Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteGenovese or via The Munchmobile @NJ_Munchmobile. Find the Munchmobile on Facebook and on Instagram.