Trailer of Lights is ON: Dec 18th

Exciting!  Trailer Food Diaries and partners are bringing another unique event to Austinites and those visiting our city during the Holidays.

If you're in need of family-friendly Christmas nostalgia in a funky Austin setting, come check out the first-annual Trailer of Lights event at Seaholm (the Power Plant) just off Ceaser Chavez. Trailer food vendors will be there to offer you samples from their menus at $5 or less and local artisans will provide you with some unique gifts for a fun shopping experience. Rumor has it we will be playing a classic holiday film between small sets from local musicians. Experience the swanky light display and come get your hot cocoa on for an eco-friendly celebration all for a good cause.


Saturday, December 18th
12p(noon)-10p


Seaholm Power Plant

*Free to the public; suggested donation of 1+ canned food item benefitting the Capital Area Food Bank

Please help us plan by with your support on Facebook: Trailer of Lights

Contact Tiffany@trailerfooddiaries.com if you would like to be an artist vendor or trailer food vendor.

A current list of trailer food vendors includes:
Hey Cupcake
Chi'Lantro
Torchy's (trailer repair willing)
Austin Daily Press
Crepe Crazy
Sugar Shack BBQ
Short Bus Subs
Colibri Cuisine
the Peached Tortilla
Kate's Southern Comfort
the Flying Carpet
Cutie Pie Wagon

Conscious Cravings

- Location:  Longhorn Food Court - 1901 Rio Grande St. - @Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
- Hours: Monday -Saturday: 11 AM - 8 PM
- Telephone: 512-782-0546
- Website: www.consciouscravingsaustin.com / Facebook: Conscious Cravings / Twitter: ConsciousCrvngs

- Cuisine: Vegetarian

Rishi Dhir spent four years as an auctions trader on the Philly stock exchange before looking for something more laid back to do.  As a vegetarian, he had created unique recipes based on his own dietary needs and thought he had something that might hold up with the general public.  As such, he heard about Austin and the trailer food scene and opened Conscious Cravings in August of 2010.  His menu is mostly hot wraps and cold sandwiches.  Rishi loves to eat the Black Bean Slider Wrap, and his customers report the Chimmichurri Seitan Wrap is sure to please.

The name Conscious Cravings was developed to inform people the food is healthy while also being short and catchy.  What does Rishi say the best part about Conscious Cravings is? “The fact that I’m allowing people to have affordable healthy tasty food that is not offered widely.  It’s cheap, healthy, organic, and environmentally food.”

Short Bus Subs

- Location: Roving - follow website and twitter to learn location
- Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays: hours vary according to location
- Number: 512-535-7827
- Website: www.shortbussubs.com / Facebook: Short Bus Subs / Twitter: ShortBusSubs
- Cuisine: Sandwiches

Eric Klusman hails from a sandwich shop family in the Midwest but he got to Austin as quick as he could.  Alongside his brother Dane and business partner Ryan Campion, the three opened “Short Bus Subs” in August of 2009.  The concept to serve cleverly named quality sandwiches out of the window of a 23-foot school bus actually came to Eric in a dream.  After the economy had crashed, he decided instead of opening a shop he would do something a little less expensive so the Short Bus Subs idea was born.

“The Principal” is Eric’s personal favorite item and he claims to eat one everyday.  Similar to a club, it has swiss, bacon, ham, turkey, roast beef, Dijon, lettuce and tomato.  “The Bully” is probably their best seller, which is their version of an Italian sub.  With six vegetarian sammies to select, the “Hot Teacher” sells like hot cakes and includes a tomato/garlic pesto spread with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, and marinated/roasted Portobello’s.  The bus does not have one location.  They roam freely to catering events and deliver to offices.

Kronic Krave Arepas

- Location: Downtown - 5th & Colorado St.
- Hours: Thursday – Saturday: 7 PM – 4 AM
- Telephone: 606-369-5860 / 814.206.4090 / 512.968.0769
- Facebook: Kronic Krave Arepas / Twitter: kronickrave
- Cuisine: Sandwiches ...in an arepa-pocket


Brothers Nicolas and Andres Pombo, along with their friend Juan Carlos Delgado, opened Kronic Krave Arepas in September of 2010.  In addition to providing traditional Colombian mouth-watering arepas, Nicolas sees their food trailer as a way to share something nice about their Colombian culture. 

If you were to travel in Colombia today, you would find many different versions of the arepas the young men grew up on depending on what region you are visiting. An arepa is a cornbread-South-American version of a pita pocket that contains whatever fillings and flavors the consumer desires.  For Nicolas and Juan Carlos, their favorite arepa is the “Blondie”, which combines pulled chicken, guacamole and Monterey jack for the filling.  Andres might say his favorite is the “Don Pablo” which has pulled chicken, kronic sauce, feta and sweet plantains, or the “Mystic” which has sweet plantains, guacamole and feta.  In addition to the three described, Kronic Krave also offers two pulled beef arepas: the “Mariachi” which is embellished with cheddar cheese, and the “Carribbean Craze” which adds sweet plantains to the mariachi. 

The two brothers grew up in Bogota with a population of 8 million people, and their partner grew up in Barranquilla, where Shakira is from.  They all came to the states for a college education.  Nicolas completed a degree in industrial engineering from Penn State and his younger brother Andres is currently attending the University of Texas for supply chain management.  They have a third brother, Miguel, who is in law school in Bogota, where their parents live as well.  The entire Pombo family enjoys water skiing as a hobby and Andres is on the UT ski team as a competitive sport.  Juan Carlos graduated with a degree in finance from Arizona State.

The political climate in Colombia is changing with the inauguration of a new President in August of 2010.  The effect has been a diminishing of the terrorist groups and guerilla activity, although displaced families due to drug trafficking remains an issue.  Nicolas remembers being in high school and offering mentorship programs as a service to a smaller school for displaced children.  In fact, if you are interested in supporting displaced families due to the drug wars in Colombia, please contact one of these organizations: UNICEF or ACNUR which are international organizations, or Antioquia Presente is a local one from Medellin.  The Pombo family as well as Juan Carlos would consider travel to Colombia safe at this time and hope you will take a taste of the Colombian cuisine as a positive thing from their beautiful country.

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.

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.”

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.

Big Top Dogs

- Location:  Downtown - 201 E. 6th St. - @Brazos

- Hours: Thursday -Saturday: 8 PM - 3 AM
- Telephone: 512-484-0050
- Website: www.bigtop-dogs.com

- Cuisine: Late night hot dogs

Long before John Dawson had his hands in the mobile vending scene, his grandfather was selling peanuts out of a push cart in Toledo, Ohio.  A Greek immigrant coming through Ellis Island at age 16 his grand-dad eventually developed his street food business into a brick and mortar restaurant/diner that was called ‘Clean Bite’ where John’s mother spent time as a waitress during the depression and war years.  So it was a bit of fate that John would develop ‘Big Top Dogs’ after traveling to and living in New York, where his grandfather started their family’s journey to pursue the American dream.
 

As part of his mission to provide authentic New York hot dogs, John contracted with Sabret, which is a New York family owned business that offers nitrate-free 100% all beef dogs with natural casing that are also gluten free.  In addition to the quality of his food, the stainless steel cart also lends to the authenticity of his business.  So what makes a New York Style dog so unique?  John instructs, “Take a bun and a stick, put some push cart style deli mustard on the bun, then put the dog down and add the sauerkraut with onion sauce (Vidalia onions and tomato sauce).  Mustard is the foundation of everything.  If someone wants ketchup, they have to do it themselves.”

Veracruz All Natural

- Location:  Eastside - 1704 E. Cesar Chavez St. - @Chicon

- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 7 PM

              Saturday: 7 AM - 6 PM
- Telephone: 512-963-1428 / 512-964-8414
- Website: www.veracruzallnatural.com 

- Cuisine: Breakfast & Lunch ...fruit cups, sandwiches, smoothies, tacos...

As you might suspect, Reyna Vasquez, owner of Veracruz All Natural is from the sunny shores of Veracruz, Mexico.  She moved to Austin 11 years prior to opening her trailer.  She had experience working as a waitress but ultimately wanted to be in business for herself so she and her mother and sister started making smoothies and other fresh treats in 2008.  Her personal favorite items on the menu are the smoothies and the fruit cups.  She sells the most smoothies that have a blend of berries and orange juice.  When asked what her favorite part about owning her own business is, Reyna says, “I like to talk to different people from different countries or cultures.  I like to meet new people all the time.  The weather is similar as Veracruz, where I came from and the people are really friendly.  This is a really nice way to live.”

Austin Daily Press

- Location:  Downtown - Red River & 9th St. 

- Hours: Tuesday -Saturday: 8 PM - 3 AM
- Telephone: 512-644-2959
- Website: www.austindailypress.com / Facebook: Austin Daily Press / Twitter: AUSdailypress

- Cuisine: Pressed Sandwiches

Cory Nunez was traveling through Austin from his hometown of St. Simmons Islands, Georgia, visiting his brother when he decided to park it here permanently.  He worked at his chef-brother’s restaurant for a few months before eventually opening up his own Austin Daily Press with his business partner Amy Hildenbrand.  At first, they did a lot of deliveries of hot sandwiches to people’s bar stools from his downtown location.  57 different bars were the recipients of Austin Daily Press delivery, and the team anticipates getting back into their delivery aspect with an emphasis on green via their new electric scooters. 

Meanwhile, back at the trailer, Cory recommends the Steak and eggs which has Munster with Habanero Cream Cheese or the Baloney Sandwich.  Their Gyro is another crowd favorite which is a play on the wrap containing Israeli salad with lemon juice and parsley plus Tabasco(TM), Tzatziki  and Feta cheese all grilled on a fresh sandwich.  You can hear Amy & Cory cooking to the tunes of 70s and 80s jams such as Hall and Oates, Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and the News, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and beyond.  Cory & Amy have served Elijah Wood, Drew Barrymore, the entire cast of ‘Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, and a ton of UT football guys out of their trailer.

Old School BBQ

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

- Hours: Monday & Tuesday: 11 AM - 3 PM

             Wednesday: 5 - 10 PM

             Thursday & Friday: 5 PM - 12 AM

              Saturday: 12 PM - 3 AM 

- Hours: 512-947-6830

- Website: www.oldschoolbbqandgrill.com / Facebook: Oldschool Bbqandgrill / Twitter: oldschoolbbq

- Cuisine: BBQ

“Old school quality of service without the rip off pricing”

Having gone to the Cordon Bleu school under a master chef in France, his corporate experience with Hard Rock Café and TGI Fridays as well as having opened 56 restaurants in 2 continents and 3 countries, Dan Parrott brings over 35 years of experience to the table at Old School BBQ & Grill.  As a single Dad he brought his son Danny with him to build restaurant concepts from the ground up.  They would hire and train the staff and move on to another project.  So the restaurant business was in Danny’s blood early on.   Their third business partner Trey is responsible for the trio’s move from L.A. to Austin and it was driving around with realtors that they noticed the boom in the trailer food scene.  Thus, the Old School BBQ concept was born.

Dan says, “Old school going back to when it was your pride and your pleasure to serve others because they were giving you their most precious commodity – their time.  We aren’t trying to make all the money we can – I was making ridiculous money and left it all behind to come back on this hot bus just to look at someone when they take a bite and I can see their face.”

Their brisket is their best-selling item and although their namesake highlights their BBQ, the grill side of this trailer is pretty strong too.  For their hamburger, they start the day with two choice cuts of angus steak that they grind every morning themselves.  On top of the burger, they add caramelized onions and Vermont aged sharp cheddar cheese that is melted on the patty.  If you want tomatoes on it, they will slice it right in front of your eyes.  There is a limited amount of this product, so when it’s gone for the day, that’s it. 

Dan offers his perspective on how the food industry has changed and why he feels it is important to serve his guest good quality food at a reasonable price:  “I love what I do but I don’t respect the industry I’m in anymore – after 35 years, the industry has defaulted into one more us corporate structure.  People in offices are making decisions about people in food – I don’t think that’s right.  Back in the day when you went out for food it was a special event, a really big deal you looked forward to – and the people feeding you knew it was a special event – they knew they had to capture your grace that one time.  When you went to eat and someone else did it, you would get dressed up, service and quality were incredibly important.  After all, if you are going against ‘mom’ you better be good.  Then there’s the aspect of value –the money the patrons raised in their livelihoods had to be used to buy farm parts.  The food culture back then, you knew you were working with a group of hard working people that deserved the best.  And that is what we are doing at Old School.  The main thing for us, I really hope people understand that if nothing else, we do what we do with great passion.  We are going to give it our all.  We just love making people smile when they have a really good meal.”

Izzoz Taco's

- Location: Southside- 1207 South 1st St. - @Gibson
- Hours: Tuesday - Thursday: 8 AM – 9 PM

               Friday 8 AM - 10 PM

               Saturday 9 AM – 10 PM

               Sunday 9 AM – 9 PM
- Telephone: 512-326-4996
- Website: www.izzoztacos.com / Facebook: Izzoz Tacos / Twitter: IzzozTacos

- Cuisine: Tacos - breakfast, lunch, & dinner

 

“Where good friends make tacos and good tacos make friends.”

Being a fourth generation Austinite with a family history in the restaurant business, John Galindo is a hometown hero.  Austinites will recognize his great grandfather’s efforts in working to open the iconic ‘Tavern’ on 11^th and Lamar as well; and his grandmother used to waitress at Jaime’s Spanish Village which sadly is now closing.  In fact, there are over 100 years of combined experience in the food service industry working in the Izzoz trailer today.  Izzoz is a shortened word in Spanish for twins.  Since twins run in the Galindo family, and John has niece and nephew twins, the name ‘Izzoz’ made since.

Having cooked with the some of the best, John’s food certainly stands out as does his customer service.  He calls you his guest, never a ‘customer’ and goes out of his way to remember your name and what you like to be sure to put a smile on your face the next time you visit his establishment.  Having been rooted in the business for so long, he has some suggestions for new vendors: “It’s not what you’re selling, it’s how you sell it – it’s the same with tacos or cupcakes or pies or stuff in a cone – attention to detail, the character you bring every day is what matters.”

Hero's Frozen Treats

- Location:  Longhorn Food Court - 1901 Rio Grande. St. - @Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
- Hours: Tuesday -Saturday: 11:30 AM - 7 PM
- Telephone: 512-961-3372
- Website: www.herosfrozentreats.com / Facebook: Hero's Frozen Treats / Twitter: HerosAustin
- Cuisine: Dessert - Frozen Yogurt
 
Although Dustin McMillian’s “Hero’s” shaved ice trailer is super-hero themed, the business is actually named after his Town Lake Animal Shelter adoptee, Hero.  Half Rottie, half hound, she doesn’t come to work with Dad because of the health food regulations, but Dustin serves free dog treats for his canine visitors.  With a background in online marketing, Dustin’s creativity is evident in multiple aspects of his business.  From the name of the size of the cones (small for a ‘villain’, medium for a ‘hero’, and large for a ‘super-hero’) to the quirky board outside with daily Chuck Norris factoids the Hero stand is ripe with eclectic humor that Austinites of all varieties appreciate.

The frozen zombie is a crowd pleaser with shaved ice as fine as snow on top of a frozen yogurt.  You can select flavors for both.  The best selling shaved ice is the Tiger’s Blood, which is a combination of berries and coconut.  When you walk up to place your order, you can hear a mix of indy rock and Dustin’s current favorites playing off of Pandora: Bowling for Soup, Japan Joy, Against Me, What Made Milwaukee Famous, and of course the Foo Fighters ‘Hero’ is on a constant loop.

Dustin got his start in the trailer food business after being laid off from different websites he was working on, which was common given the current economy.  He was surfing on craigslist when he stumbled across a trailer park that wanted trailers, so he explored the idea.  After becoming excited about trailers in general both as a consumer in Austin and as a business opportunity, he decided to embark on a unique trailer version of frozen yogurt.  Dustin says, “I love being my own boss and having my own trailer.  I really like customer service – I like interacting on a daily basis with customers and representing my brand as I want it to be represented.”