It's a wonder that it's taken this long for schnitzel to become trendy: What's not to like about breaded, deep-fried meat pounded to supreme thinness to maximize the golden-brown crust? Now, as fried chicken inches toward ubiquity -- with chefs like David Chang and Andrew Carmellini adding it to their menus -- New Yorkers (or at least those willing to follow food carts) are hunting down the Austrian specialty to get their sans-bones fix. Schnitzel & Things has practically cornered the market, and with good reason, too: Its juicy, pancake-sized cutlets (served with lemon and your choice of sauces like pesto mayo or ginger, garlic, and scallion relish) outdo nearly all of its lunch truck competition. In fact, it recently won in the "rookie of the year" category at the Vendy Awards. Though the khaki-hued meals-on-wheels outfit started with just chicken, pork, and cod options ($7 as a sandwich on ciabatta, $9 as a platter with two add-ons), it recently added the most classic incarnation, veal, to the mix ($8 and $10, respectively), and the stuff sells out faster than an Alexander Wang sample sale. At noon on a recent Tuesday I found the truck on 48th between Park and Lexington and got the second to last veal. So track down the truck early, order a platter, and make up for lunch from the fryer by ordering sides of roasted beets with feta and cucumber salad.

Check http://twitter.com/schnitzeltruck or http://schnitzelandthings.blogspot.com/ for location updates.