Barry Piser

For 34 years, Oscar Hernandez has been serving regulars from his stand on a pie-shaped piece of land at the corner of Post Road and Third Avenue.

Mobile food businesses, which have grown in popularity over the last decade in the Lower 48, can be seen on city streets hawking everything from skewered meats to cupcakes, with more trucks in the works. Even the Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race," currently in its third season, features Momma's Grizzly Grub, a truck staffed by three Wasilla women. Here's a look at three of the new kids on the block in Anchorage's mobile cuisine scene.

Even if May, with its partial solar eclipse that was eclipsed by cloudy skies, has been largely stubborn, there's another sure sign summer is here: the familiar smell of grilled meats and fish wafting out of backyards around Anchorage.

The strip mall, that ubiquitous aspect of American architecture, is often derided for its ugliness and impersonality. But the structures supply a proliferation of affordable space where entrepreneurs can take a chance on adventurous, food-focused establishments.

Sure, De La Soul hasn't released an official album since 2004, but don't think the groundbreaking group from Long Island has been sitting idly by. In some ways, the group has been more productive than ever in the past eight years: a world tour, special projects, major festival gigs including Coachella and Rock the Bells, Internet-only releases and eclectic collaborations, one of which earned a Grammy.

March Madness has dominated the water-cooler talk at Play headquarters for the past month -- mostly about how busted our brackets are. So while the NCAA finishes its basketball season with this weekend's Final Four, we here at Play held our own tournament. The purpose was to answer once and for all, in the most scientific way possible, one burning question: Who serves the best burger in town?

With two popular restaurants called Ronnie, the name has become somewhat synonymous with sushi in Anchorage. Ronnie Lee opened Ronnie Sushi on Jewel Lake Road seven years ago and Ronnie 2 on Muldoon Road in late 2010.

Swimming upstream -- it's an apt description for opening a restaurant in the competitive downtown Anchorage dining scene. Sure, you'll get your fair share of seasonal diners in the summer, but locals are more discerning when they head into the heart of the city. You've got to have a hook.

With about two weeks left before Christmas, it's likely you'll have to venture out into the madness that is mall shopping to find the last minute gifts for friends and family. It's a mad, mad, mad mall world out there -- crying kids, long lines, packed parking lots -- and the dulcet tones of Wham's "Last Christmas" can only calm your nerves so much.

As a bachelor/glutton/ex-server/humble restaurant critic, I eat out a lot but rarely pick up the phone to order in, so I consulted friends, Facebook and Urbanspoon to research the top options to have your dinner delivered to your door.

With NFL games starting at 9 a.m., Sunday mornings have most Alaska NFL fans waking up earlier than their Lower 48 counterparts. To see your favorite team play, you either splurge on NFL Sunday Ticket at your house or you venture out to find a friendly, comfortable spot to watch all the action.

Anchorage, put away your Johnsonville brats, head to Spenard and "essen als gäbe es kein morgen." That's "eat like there is no tomorrow," according to the front door and menu of Fressen, a newish Spenard eatery featuring German cuisine.

In the last few years, fueled by best-selling Michael Pollan books and documentaries like "Food, Inc.," more and more restaurants are touting a farm-to-table approach to their menus and an ever-conscious public has sought out such fresher fare in force.

From well-known franchise Great Harvest Bread Co. to South Addition's mom-and-pop-ish Fire Island Bakery to Midtown stalwart Europa Cafe to Spenard's out-of-the-way Paris Bakery & Cafe, the business of baking bread is booming. Just ask John and Ginna Baldiviez, who opened House of Bread on the Old Seward just north of Dimond in December.

Operating in close proximity to Glacier Brewhouse, Orso and Sacks Cafe, among many other options in a one-block radius, Pil's must be doing something right to be pushing the 20-year milestone.