Recipe: Old School BBQ's Sedona Salad

From the famously meaty food vendors, Old School BBQ, comes this hearty recipe for a salad - full of greens and goodness! 


Old School BBQ's Sedona Salad


Ingredients:

12 oz. Baby lettuce mix
8 oz. Chicken Breast
4 oz. Bleu Cheese crumbles
4 oz. Walnuts – chopped
6 oz. Mandarin oranges
¾ cup Red onion
4 oz. Balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1.     Cut chicken into 1 ½” pieces and brown over medium-high heat with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2.     Thinly slice red onion and cut slices in half to form crescents.

3.     Place lettuces, walnuts, chicken, onion and bleu cheese crumbles in mixing bowl.

4.     Add vinaigrette to bowl and toss thoroughly.

5.     Portion on serving ware and garnish with Mandarin Orange sections.

Serve with a crisp, dry white wine like Pinot Grigio and hot crusty bread for a flavorful, fully satisfying light meal.

Recipe: Lucky J's Breakfast Waffle Taco

What's that? Lucky J's shared the recipe to make their Breakfast Waffle Taco?? Mornings get real when breakfast is served in a waffle.  


Lucky J's Breakfast Waffle Taco


Waffle Mix

1 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 T vegetable oil

¾ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

1 egg

Combine ingredients and allow to sit for 15 minutes before using

Breakfast Potatoes

1 cup red potatoes diced ¾”

½ cup red onions diced ¾”

2 oz vegetable oil

1 tsp season salt

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp dried thyme

Heat oil to medium high and add potatoes and onions.  Sautees until the potatoes are crispy.  Drain any excess oil and toss with the seasonings.

Waffle Breakfast Tacos

4 waffles

1 cup breakfast potatoes

4 slices cooked bacon cut into 1” pieces

4 slices cheddar cheese

Combine breakfast potatoes and bacon on a hot flattop or in a nonstick sauté pan over a medium high flame.  Allow the contents of the pan to heat through thoroughly (about 1-2 minutes).  Add the eggs to the pan and stir occasionally so that the eggs ‘scramble’ slightly.  In the meantime, place a slice of cheddar cheese on each waffle.  When the eggs are thoroughly cooked (about 4 minutes or until there is no runny parts visible), divide into four parts and place in the center of each waffle.  Fold the waffles and serve.

Recipe: East Side King's Thai Chicken Karaage

A destination trailer for Asian food aficionados, East Side King shares their Thai Chicken Karaage recipe with those equally adventurous in the kitchen to attempt a re-creation. Enjoy!


East Side King's Thai Chicken Karaage
Serves 4-6


Ingredients

3 lbs Chicken legs - Boned and cut into large bite size chunks

8 oz Thai Chicken Sauce (recipe follows)

4 oz white onion – Sliced thinly

2 oz Jalapeno – Sliced into thin rounds

3 oz Cilantro – Picked and washed

1.5 oz Mint – Picked and washed

1.5 oz Thai Basil – Picked and washed

2 C Corn Starch

4 cups Vegetable Oil

Method: Lightly toss the cut chicken in the corn starch, until each piece is evenly coated and there are no moist spots.  Preheat your oil to 375.   Fry chicken until golden brown and cooked throughout.   Move the hot chicken to a large bowl, add the onions, jalapeno, and herbs, and add the sauce.   Toss gently in Thai Chicken Sauce, and be sure to coat all the pieces well. Transfer to a serving dish, top with Sweet Chili Sauce, and enjoy!

Thai Chicken Sauce

4 oz Water

4 oz White Vinegar

4 oz White Sugar

1 oz Sweet Chili Sauce

2 oz Fish Sauce

1.5 oz garlic/thai chili – minced

Method: Combine in a bowl and whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Sweet Chili Sauce:

4 oz White Vinegar

2 oz White Sugar

1 oz Chili flakes

Method: In a small sauce pot combine the vinegar and sugar.   Allow the mixture to come to a boil without stirring.   Add the chilli flakes and stir.  

#19

- Location: East Side Drive In - 1001 E. 6th St. - @San Marcos
- Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 8 AM - 2 PM
              Thursday - Saturday: 7 PM - 3 AM
              Sunday: 11 AM -2PM
- Telephone: 512-799-6764
- Website: www.number19bus.com /  Facebook: #19
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - of the cheesesteak sort

From working in an engineering firm to owning a hair salon to managing a deli, Tim Lasater has a background as colorful as it is diverse.  It was when he was touring in Philly with his band Pop Unknown that he had the realization no one was doing a good cheesesteak in Austin.  Tim tells the story: “I had some business partners that were opening a beer and burger joint on the Eastside and the lease fell through.  While we were looking for another brick and mortar I found the bus on craigslist, but the investors were not interested.  I was talking with my old bass player and he said he would find the money.  He called me the next morning and said he found the money so I drove down to Dripping Springs and got the bus.  Driving the bus, I thought I had lost my mind.  We forgot to measure the height and I didn’t know if it would even fit under a bridge.”


The bus was originally built as a tour bus for the Cheshire Inn, a hotel in Saint Louis in 1975.  It’s the only factory made double decker bus in the US.  And as far as the name, Tim wanted something simple that everyone could remember.  He remembered the Clash’s song about a bus route that was number nineteen.  The history behind that was that in the UK, the 19 was a double decker bus route that would take people home from live music venues and bars.  So with his background in music and new found double decker trailer food business that serves lunch and latenight, the #19 was a natural fit.


For his best-selling cheesesteaks, Tim uses rolls and meat from Philadelphia, but he twists it up with some mushrooms and cheese.  And his brother Ryan, who is also a musician works the bus too. Tim says of Ryan, “He’s an assistant manager.  That’s what I tell him anyways, it makes him get up a little earlier in the morning.”  And on why he picked Austin as the spot for the #19: “After traveling Europe with the band and working in Yellowstone and Jackson hole, I met a lot of people and went to a lot of cool cities – but I love the laid back atmosphere and vibe in Austin.  You don’t have to dress up to go to the great spots.  Its got the best of all the worlds of music, rivers, people, put together –not too small and not too big.”

Royito's Hot Sauce Streamer

- Location: Downtown - W. 6th St. & Wood St. 
- Hours: Monday – Friday: 7:30 AM – 10 AM
- Telephone: 512-242-4594
- Facebook: Royito’s Hot Sauce Company /  Twitter: royitos
- Cuisine: Breakfast Tacos. Hot Sauce.

 On the surface, you may think Roy Spence with his history as the “S” of the illustrious GSD&M advertising agency is an unusual suspect in the trailer food business, but his down-to-earth core values are the same as all the other vendors.  In Roy’s words, he is ‘working his way down the corporate ladder.’  He believes that America was ‘built on small’ and he is passionate about supporting local, small businesses.  With his trailer, he believes he is representing part of the larger movement to revitalize small business in America.

Although, from an advertising standpoint, he has represented such restaurants as Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, On The Border, and more, Roy’s experience with the food industry stops there and starts in his own kitchen.  “I hand made tens of thousands of jars and sent to restaurant owners and friends and everyone kept asking ‘when can we buy this?’  I finally decided I was cheating the world out of the opportunity to have a big dose of spice in their life,” Roy says with a big smile on his face.  After fifteen years of experimentation, Roy developed a unique and simple blend of fresh, natural ingredients that when combined makes ‘Royitos’ hot sauce. 

Down at the trailer, Chef Sarah hand makes the tortillas and all the food is made fresh from scratch.   Crowd favorites from their best-selling breakfast tacos include migas, chorizo and picadillo, although Roy’s favorite item on the menu is his hot sauce which is about to be launched for sale.  He is planning a family of items that will support the real magic, which is the hot sauce.  We can expect a line up that includes queso, guacamole, tamales and more in the near future.

The hot sauce represents two of Roy’s values learned from his father: keep it simple and don’t do mild.  In Roy’s words, “The hot sauce is not a burning heat but it’s not mild.  It’s one flavor now, right where people like it.”  While the ‘don’t do mild’ motto rings true in the taste of the hot sauce, the broader meaning is meant to inspire other entrepreneurs to not do anything mild in their endeavors and to truly live their dreams.

Powdered Sugar

- Location: Longhorn Food Court - 1901 Rio Grande St. - @  Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd 
- Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 12 - 8 PM
- Facebook: Powdered Sugar
- Cuisine: Dessert


Amber Glowski is a social work student at UT.  Although she wasn’t technically in the food industry prior to opening Powdered Sugar in August of 2010, she brings up a good point: “Food has always been a part of me.  I’ve been eating and grocery shopping and cooking most of my life, so food is something everybody’s around no matter what.”  She bought her 1964 Shasta trailer from Kristin Gunn, who formerly operated Sugarstar, her ‘Martha Meets Metallica’ cupcake business out of the same trailer. 

In Amber’s words, “I started this business with an observation.  It’s such a piece of Austin culture – this isn’t a big thing in other big cities in Texas, Austin has it first.  I tried food trailers and I realized no one was doing funnel cake.  To me it seemed obvious: people are used to eating funnel cakes out of a truck.  Plus there is no where to get funnel cake year round – you can’t go to a store and get a funnel cake.”

Amber remembers being about 7 years old and eating her first funnel cake where she grew up at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo but not all of her customers were raised with funnel cake fun.  “It’s fun to find people who’ve never had one in their life that are 45-50 years old.  The funnel cake also spans generations from little children who are so excited or more mature people who have grown up with funnel cake – that grew up with it in the 50s and 60s – it’s fun to see their reaction.”  Amber reports the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo sold some 100,000 funnel cakes earlier in March of 2010. 

The funnel cake was traditionally made in cast iron skillet over a burner.  It is Dutch in origin and outside of the being well known as a ‘fair’ food, it is still very popular in Pennsylvania where large Dutch and Amish communities exist.  With Amber’s vision, Austinite’s can now relive the excitement and wonder of fair time funnel cake by visiting her “Powdered Sugar” trailer year round.

La Fantabulous

- Location: Gibson Trailer Park - 1318 S. Congress Av. - @Gibson St. 
- Hours: Varying. Follow Facebook page or take a chance and stop by! 
- Telephone: 512-619-3008
- Facebook: La Fantabulous
- Cuisine: Tacos - breakfast, lunch, & dinner


Josie Paredes had been cooking since she was seven and spent 25 years in commercial kitchens before opening her la fantabulous taqueria trailer in 2007.  Her menu is inspired from hole in the wall places she visited while backpacking the beaches in Mexico.  “I love the way they combine their seasons with their fresh meat and fruits, and a lot of avocado,” Josie says.


Josie’s mother can take credit for giving her the passion to cook.  Josie says, “My mom made her moles from scratch.  She used different dried peppers, peanut butter and chocolate.  What’s not to love, it’s reeses pieces on chicken.”  Her personal favorite item on the la fantabulous menu is fish tacos.   Currently the fish is red snapper, but she is moving to a ‘catch of the day’ so she can buy fresh fish daily.


If you ask Josie the best part of the trailer food business, she’ll answer: “I get to do my own thing.  I love to cook, I like to make people happy with my food.  I love the expression – that’s the best payment for me – that something that I made out of love, someone else is enjoying it.”

The Local Yolk

- Location: East Side Drive In - 1001 E. 6th St. - @San Marcos
- Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 8 AM - 2 PM
             Thursday - Saturday: 7 PM - 3 AM
             Sunday: 11 AM -2PM
- Telephone: 512-745-9110
- Website: www.thelocalyolkaustin.com /  Facebook: The Local Yolk
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - all feature egg!


Having catered, bar tended and waited tables; the trailer food business came naturally to Shelly Speer.  Her menu concept is centered entirely on the incredible edible egg.  “I just really love to make egg sandwiches… It is fun to see how many different ones that I can come up with.”  Her personal favorite is the tuna melt that comes with a fried egg on top.  The Florence is a crowd favorite.  It’s an Italian grilled sandwich with pesto, tomato, mozzarella and a fried egg.  She also has deviled eggs which you can buy one at a time or by the dozen that she anticipates engaging fun flavors to change things up and is currently using a curry.  

Shelly doesn’t have her own chickens yet, so she buys her eggs from Farm to Table.  All of her sandwiches come with Kettle chips and a pickle.  She developed her French toast dessert snack when she accidentally received a cinnamon swirl loaf instead of her normal sandwich bread.   “…so I made French toast and we passed it out for free for people to try and people loved it.  I just cut it up in squares with a toothpick and drizzle it in syrup over it.  It’s good for latenight or brunch.”

Iggi's Texatarian

- Location: Waller Trailer Park Eatery - 1112 E. 6th Street - @Waller
- Hours: Wednesday & Thursday: 5 PM - 12 AM
              Friday: 5 PM - 2:30 AM
              Saturday: 12 PM - 2:30 AM
              Sunday: 12 PM - 10 PM
- Website: www.iggistexatarian.com / Facebook: Iggi Pup / Twitter: iggistexatarian
- Cuisine: Vegan - Texas style

Zoja Ulesoo and Rebecca (Becca) Strong met when they were both living in a vegan cooperative in west campus with 26 other room-mates.  Becca was raised vegan and having cooked her whole life was starting to kick around the idea of operating a vegan trailer.  Her friend Zoja stepped in with the funding and marketing to help get Iggi’s Texatarian off the ground and they opened in August of 2010.


They were playing with different themes, but their trailer was already painted like a big Texas flag, so they decided the Texan theme was going to work.  “It is kind of ironic since most Texan-types aren’t normally vegan, but we wanted to have a more welcoming attitude towards omnivores,” explains Zoja; and for inquiring minds, “Iggi” is Becca’s pit bull mix.


Since their menu concept is southern comfort vegan food, they have a variety of healthy options that are sure to please your palette.  The mac n cheese tastes close to the real thing, but the sauce is made of potatoes, carrots, and mustard.  The Quintessential Chili recipe is Becca’s mother’s and step-father’s recipe which they have entered in the Texas Chili Cook-off the last 20-odd years and has won the people’s choice on multiple occasions.

Giovanni's Pizza Stand

- Location: Southside - 2900 S. Lamar - @Manchaca
- Hours: Monday - Saturday: 7 AM - 10 PM
- Telephone: 512-656-7033
- Website: www.giovannispizzastand.com
- Cuisine: Tacos for breakfast. Pizza & pasta for lunch and dinner. 


Julio Rangel might not be the first person you would expect to be running a high quality Italian style food trailer.  He says smiling, “I’m from Mexico – but my diet is more than beans.”  His menu is more than beans too.  From pizzas and pastas, the Giovanni’s concept uses fresh ingredients that tantalize your taste buds.  After 20 years of making pizza, he says he still eats it as if it were the first time.  Julio also loves the scampi, which includes shrimp with mushrooms, spinach and sun dried tomatoes in a garlic butter sauce with Romano cheese.


When Julio came to the states from Guanojuato, he said he didn’t even know how to cook an egg.  He started working in construction and then got a job at Mezzaluna, where he saw men in the kitchen for the first time.  He determined being in the kitchen is what he really liked to do and instead of going to school for a title, he decided to be a street chef.  He says, “You keep practicing til you get better and hopefully someone likes your stuff.’


When he first started out in 2007, he had a 14 x 7 trailer with a wood burning oven.  Julio tells the story: “Can you believe inside I had a 1500 pound oven? It was our family homework for me, my wife and our two children to get the oven in place.  She would tell me ‘you’re crazy.’  But you need to be a little crazy to make this happen.” 

He has some advice for new entrepreneurs as well: “I know its hard at the beginning, but everyday you gotta keep feeding the dream. If you don’t, you forget, you get frustrated and you keep working.  Everyday do a little bit to keep the dream alive.  If I had an extra $10 I would go buy a spoon.  My wife was like, why is this guy buying a spoon when I need milk.  You don’t have to spend $2,000 every time, but spend $5 to keep the dream alive.  It will be there, it’s just waiting for you to make it happen.”

Elixer Coffee

- Location: Eastside - 4209 Airport Blvd. @Mueller Park 
- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 11 AM
              Saturday & Sunday: 8 AM - 11 AM
- Telephone: 512-689-1448
- Website: www.elixercoffee.com /  Facebook: elixercoffee /  Twitter: elixercoffee
- Cuisine: Coffee & Breakfast Pastries

Keturah Somerville was a pediatric nurse before she started her family and decided to create a neighborhood coffee shop where she could stay at home with the kids.  She found a ‘52 Studebaker with a converted flatbed that was already outfitted with the espresso machine in Tuscon, Arizona via craigslist.  Keturah loves talking with her customers and getting to know them.  She gets to hear lots of Studebaker-related stories that bring the older customers back to memories of their youth.  The atmosphere of the coffee-car sparks a childlike behavior in one retired couple who come to hula hoop with Keturah.

About her children growing up in the coffee business, Keturah shares: “I have three children and two of them have been avid coffee drinkers since they were very little.  I’m sure they’ll be able to grow up and tell stories about the disk that comes out of the espresso maker.  When you pull a shot, you have a little 2 inch by 1 inch puck – my babies love to break them into crumbles in the yard – they get covered in grounds and wreak of coffee for days.”

Counter Culture

- Location: UT Campus area -120 E. North Loop- @Avenue F
- Hours: Wednesday - Saturday: 12 - 8 PM
                Sunday: 12 - 6 PM
- Telephone: 512-897-2602
- Website: www.countercultureaustin.com / Facebook: Counter Culture / Twitter: CCVegan
- Cuisine: Vegan & Raw foods


Sue Davis traded one art form for another when she moved from a black and white fine art printer in the photography world to a chef in vegan restaurants.  She has been a vegetarian since the early 90’s and has been eating a vegan diet since 2002.  Originally from Massachusetts, she moved to San Francisco in the late 80s, to Austin in 95, and spent some time in LA before returning to Austin to develop her vegan trailer food business.

Sue opened Counter Culture in July of 2009 with a small basic menu that includes mainly sandwiches, salads, raw food and desserts.  The Philly Seitan is probably her best seller and it’s not hard to see why since she makes the seitan herself without the help of preservatives.  You won’t find any tofu on Sue’s menu, she feels like it’s everywhere and is used as a substitute for meat too often.  Rather, she makes everything from scratch.  Since she doesn’t over advertise about her vegan menu, it’s one of her favorite things to serve an unknowing citizen and have them be pleasantly surprised.

In addition to her background with photography and culinary art, Sue is a vinyl record collector and former DJ.  She has singer/songwriter-style acoustic music at her trailer during Sunday brunches.  Sue rationalizes, “A brunch tab can get pretty high if you order mimosas, but here it’s different.  Every Sunday I do a different themed brunch from Southern home cooking to breakfast burritos, and you can bring whatever you want to drink.”

Max Parfait

- Location & Hours: 
  Roving - follow on Twitter and Facebook or sign up for newsletter to learn varying times and locations.
  Saturdays: 9 AM - 1 PM - 4th and Guadalupe @Austin Farmers Market
  Sundays: 11 AM - 3 PM - 414 Waller St - @HOPE Farmers Market
- Telephone: 512-522-6514
- Website: www.maxparfait.com / Facebook: Max Parfait / Twitter: maxparfait
- Cuisine: Texas Burgers & Belgian Fries


Zarghun and Edeaicsa (Eddy) Dean opened Max Parfait on July 4, 2010 after a ten year run starting and selling Tribeza magazine.  It might surprise you to find out that Zarghun passed up a career in law to pursue a trailer food business but he seems destined to be successful at whatever he puts his heart into.  Regarding the leap into the food industry, he explains, “Food has been the center of my family as long as I can remember.  I’m originally from Afghanistan, I was 8 when we moved here.  A lot of Afghan families would have a weekly get together and bring food and prepare something.  My mom was the stand out cook in that community – she did a phenomenal job of cooking for us – the burger she made was one of them.  So once I met my wife and we got married, she is from Veracruz, Mexico and she is a phenomenal cook when it comes to Mexican food.  She and my mom really bonded over the cooking and passage of information took place as a result of that.”




Their menu is limited to a few items that they do really well with the burger being Zarghun’s favorite and their best seller.  In his words, “We used a recipe my mom developed and passed on to my wife – my wife tinkered with it and she makes home made buns.  It’s a stand out burger; we season it a bit so it’s different from other burgers you’re going to eat in Austin, Texas.  We wood fire it so it adds another dimension.” 

The couple wasn’t crazy about offering a veggie burger, so Eddy came up with a recipe for a portabella sandwich for any vegetarians who might come by and it has been surprisingly popular with even their meat eating customers.  Their Belgian fries are right up there with the burger in terms of crow favorites.  I asked Zarghun to explain what makes it ‘Belgian’ and he said, “It is the process of cooking them.  They are cooked twice – at a lower temperature first, and then the fries have to rest and sweat a little.  Then you cook them a second time at a higher temperature.  This gives them a crispy outside and a mushy inside like baked potatoes.  We go a step further by using organic potatoes and we fry them in olive oil.”


As far as their name ‘Max Parfait’, it was inspired by an old duke Ellington song that was a tribute to his drummer Max Roach.  When Zarghun heard the song and album he thought about a fictional character called Max Parfait and the trailer was born.

East Side King

- Location: Eastside - 1618 1/2 E 6th St - @Liberty Bar
- Hours: Everyday: 7 PM - 1:45 AM
- Telephone: 512-422-5884
- Website: www.eastsidekingaustin.com / Facebook: East Side King / Twitter: eastsidekingatx
- Cuisine: Asian Fusion

The famed East Side King trailer concept of “Good South Asian Street Food” was developed by business partners Moto and Paul and opened in December of 2009 since it seemed to be lacking in the Austin area.  They found their trailer appropriately sitting on the East side of Austin in someone’s yard via craigslist.  Hailing from a small island in the south part of Japan, Moto has been in Austin for 20 years.  The trailer’s namesake comes from Moto’s Blues and Soul band which has the same title.  Some of their best customers are bar tenders from Liberty bar and chefs from Mulberry.  The chicken karaage is a best seller and Moto’s personal favorite item on the menu

Along Came a Slider

- Location: Waller Trailer Park Eatery - 1112 E. 6th Street - @Waller

- Hours: Everyday - 12 - 3 PM / 7 PM - 3 AM 

- Hours: 512- 522-8284

- Website: http://www.alongcameaslider.com/ / Facebook: Along Came a Slider

- Cuisine: Burgers - sliders fashioned upscale

Business partners Tyler Johnson & Jeff Shaver have taken their 26 combined experience in restaurants and developed a new concept for Austinites to enjoy.  These two Marriott chefs ‘Along Came a Slider’ concept involves using sustainable, local and organic products that are raised humanely as often as possible.  Why Sliders, we asked?  “We see it as being the perfect vehicle to do any dish – classical French, Asian, Mexican and beyond.”

For Tyler, nothing beats their “Barbacoa Style Brisket” which starts with pressure cooked all natural beef brisket that has been marinated using a traditional mexican barbacoa recipe.  This gets topped off with a lime infused crema and house pickled red onions.  Austinites who love their tex-mex will agree that the crowd favorite has been the “Chicken Fried Guac”, which besides the corn guacamole has crispy tortilla strips and a STR sauce featuring smoked, toasted, and roasted chiles.  Jeff's favorite is their "WD Pig" short for 'wired and drunk'.  As the name implies, the all natural pork shoulder is rubbed with a pecan coffee and braised in Firemans 4 before it lands on a bed of jalapeno cole slaw and gets drizzled with a Texas Pinot  Noir BBQ sauce.  All of their signature sliders are served on preservative-free fresh baked daily buns from the New World Bakery.

Jeff was born in Flatonia and Tyler in Kansas, but they both agreed on Austin as a landing place for their trailer food business: “Austin, Texas is one of the greatest cities.  It is beautiful, there is a lot going on for it. I (Jeff) also do music so I can release that passion as well here.  It’s a funky cool town people are open to new ideas and new concepts.”

Kate's Southern Comfort

- Location: Southside - 1900 Barton Springs Rd - @Sterzing St.
- Telephone: 512-573-5215
- Hours: Every Day (except Tuesday): 11:30 AM - 9 PM
- Facebook: Kate’s Southern Comfort
- Cuisine: Comfort Food - Meat Pies

Kate Bellinger has been a chef in Austin for over 20 years with experience in such well-known restaurants as Shoal Creek, Shoreline, East Side Café and more.  She had been watching local trailer food businesses explode in the past year.   When she was unfortunately laid off from an executive chef position, she decided it was time to give opening her own business a shot.

The concept behind Kate’s Southern Comfort is Louisiana Fried Pies.  The pies are “affordable for me to make, affordable for anyone to eat, and they are good grab-and-go food you can take on a picnic, down to the (barton) springs, or sit at the trailer,” Kate says.  She grew up in East Texas in the early 60’s with some pretty bland casseroles but upon moving to Louisiana, Kate learned to cook from people’s grandmothers at big Sunday afternoon family get-togethers.  Kate’s fried pies involve an Argentine crust and she makes all the fillings from scratch.  The ‘Nak.i.tish’ has a spicy, peppery pork filling that is super savory.  Although her crusts do contain some beef fat, she gives a nod to her vegetarian customers with the ‘Humble Pie’ which involves mustard and collard greens along with sweet potato.  You might also be interested in the ‘Bleudan’ which was made by mistake but contains boudin sausage and bleu cheese.  Although Kate claims not to have a best seller or a personal favorite, she speaks highly of the current special which is a hatch green chile chicken and cheese fried pie that melts in your mouth.  But don’t take Kate’s word for it.  She’s had customers from New Orleans that have been so impressed they had to call their Meemaw and come back for a second helping.

Man Bites Dog

- Location: South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery - 1311 S. 1st St - @Elizabeth 
- Hours: Sunday - Thursday: 11 AM - 9 PM
               Friday & Saturday: 11 AM - 10 PM
- Telephone: 512-445-5591
- Website: www.manbitesdog.com / Facebook: Man Bites Dog / Twitter: manbitesdogtx
- Cuisine: Hot Dogs


After receiving his MBA in May of 2009 and with 12 years of restaurant experience, Jeremiah opened the first Man Bites Dog trailer in November of 2009 and the second in March of 2010.  After having spent some time in Chicago, he decided there wasn’t anything like the dogs there back in Austin, so he put together some 40-odd variations around a hot dog theme and narrowed the menu down to 12 of his favorite combinations.  The Buffalo Hottie, which won the critics choice award for the best nontraditional hot dog in the Chronicle Restaurant Poll is a Jeremiah’s personal favorite, but the Abe Froman is his best seller. 

Originally from Bowie, Texas, Jeremiah grew up in Oklahoma.  He was brought to Austin for his 21^st bday and knew that this is where he wanted to stay.  Simply put, Jeremiah states what Austinites love about our town, “Austin has all the big city stuff in a small city environment.”  He employs artists, waiters and people seeking part time work while they pursue other endeavors.  His best suggestion for anyone wanting to get into the trailer food business? “Learn to be handy.  My first trailer on South 1^st – I thought it was a good deal but I spent a bunch of money fixing it up.  I know a lot more about trailer plumbing and electrical than I did before – it’s good to fix it yourself if on small budget.”