Grab Some Lunch at The Gypsy Picnic

As we prepare for the first annual Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival, we are featuring the unique tastes you will have the pleasure of enjoying on Saturday, November 6th. Here is a look at the mid-day offerings from Gypsy Picnic trailers.
Continuing the exploration of one of the most popular questions I get asked, here is a question I personally ponder daily: What’s for lunch? Whether you have a friend in town that you want to share the trailer food scene with, or are just up for trying something new, I have you covered.

If you’re on South Congress, check out The Flying Carpet for some fresh and healthy Moroccan cuisine made with local love from the Souktouri family. While you’re in the area you might try the popular Mighty Cone, one of the landmark trailer businesses in Austin that offers a unique take of fried chicken with ancho sauce in a tortilla wrapped to go. Turf n Surf Po'Boys is another popular downtown trailer vendor who has a killer shrimp po’boy. You can enjoy eating it outside the trailer Ralph Gilmore green-built himself at their 2nd and Congress Av. location. Nick Patrizi, owner of The Jalopy, will slide you a gourmet rotisserie chicken sandwich from the top of his big rig that is as much a mural as it is an eatery over on 15th and San Antonio. For something south of the border, Kronic Krave Arepas is serving traditional Colombian arepas on 5th and Colorado.

Skipping over to South First, if you dine with 4th generation Austinite, John Galindo, at Izzoz, he’ll be sure to remember your name and order the next time you stop by for his tacos. Down the street from John stands the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery: home to Torchy’s Tacos, Holy Cacao and Man Bites Dog. There you can sample tacos, cake balls, and hot dogs  - all in one spot! Further down South 1st stands Pick Up Stixx, home to chef, Cowden Ward, who is developing multiple sauces for his unique fare. Down on Barton Springs, you can catch some Louisiana fried pies at Kate’s Southern Comfort, where even folks from New Orleans come crawling back for more. Last but not least, if you are up in Pflugerville, be sure to check out the Multi-tasker sandwich from 86 This, which has slow roasted brisket with cheesy mashed potatoes.


Lunch on the fly? Austin is also home to many roving units that will post their locations and hours online or via social media. Try finding Chi’Lantro for a Korean/Mexican fusion experience or Mmmpanadas for, you guessed it, empanadas. Short Bus Subs offers hot, toasted sub sandwiches on freshly baked bread out of a short yellow school bus.

Can’t get out of the office? Most of these vendors will cater upon request, but ALL of them will be at the Gypsy Picnic, showcasing up to three of their favorite menu items. If you’re still wondering "what’s for lunch?" post-picnic, you can keep a Trailer Food Diaries magazine, featuring a guide to all the vendors in Austin, in your car. We are giving away 5,000 sample copies at the picnic and will distribute a full size version in time for SXSW. Happy eating!

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.”

Turf N Surf Po'Boys

- Location: Downtown - 2nd St. & South Congress Ave.
- Hours: Sunday - Wednesday: 10 AM - 3 PM
               Thursday - Saturday: 10 AM - 3 PM / 5 PM - 3 AM
- Number: 512-965-4679
- Website: www.turfnsurfpoboy.com / Facebook: Turf N Surf Po’ Boy
- Cuisine: Sandwiches - po'boys, to be exact

photo credit: JTpics.com

I liked cooking before cooking was cool,” states Ralph Gilmore of Turf n Surf Poboys.  Ralph brings his background not only in the restaurant industry but also his experience in designing and building custom homes and choppers to the table as the designer and chef of his trailer that is currently located downtown.  After buying the most raw and rustic unit he could find, he began molding the cart with a turf and surf feel.  The majority of the items on his décor are recycled and he used less than 5% of wood in his build-out.  Continuing with the overall green feel of his food trailer, Ralph buys his produce locally.  “I just wanted to do something that gives back to the people,” he explains about his choice to buy from Austin-area farmers.  

Most proud of his fried shrimp, it is also his best-seller.  Having opened in April of 2010, he has some advice for new vendors: “Watch out for August.  The heat factor, getting back to school, and last minute vacations puts you in the hole if you don’t have the capitol to get through it.  But if it’s your dream, stay with it.”

I don't think Ralph is hiring, but as the sign states - I will work for poboys!

photo credit: JTpics.com

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

Lulu b's

- Location: Southside - 2101 South Lamar
- Hours: Tuesday – Friday: 11 AM – 4 PM

              Saturday: 11 AM - 5 PM
- Telephone: 512-921-4828
- Website: www.lulubssandwiches.com / Facebook: Lulu B's Sandwiches / Twitter: lulub0107

- Cuisine: Vietnamese Sandwiches

Laura Bayer was teaching elementary school before opening her Vietnamese trailer food business in January of 2008.  In comparison to teaching, Laura says about the trailer food industry,  “When it was new, it was completely different.  I got out of teaching because it was emotionally and physically draining.  But now that we are busy, it’s just as demanding just in a different way.”  Her mother is the beacon of Vietnamese cooking in Laura’s eyes.  In fact, when Laura was in elementary school it was well known among the teachers that her mother’s egg rolls were highly sought after.  Laura says, “Every teacher in every school we went to would ask if mom was making egg rolls.”   

A lot of her lemon grass recipes were learned from her mother including her fish sauce and summer rolls.  The grilled pork sandwich and the summer rolls are her favorite items on the Lulu b’s menu, but the Chinese BBQ pork sandwich takes the win for the crowd favorite.  One of Laura’s favorite things about the business is serving repeat customers and having the satisfaction of people who really love and appreciate our food.  Having done no advertising, all of her customers have come from word of mouth, including Jake Gillinhall and a lot of famous local musicians.  One of her customers is a dog trainer who brings dog treats for lulu b’s to give away. 

In addition to Vietnamese fare, Laura used to sell Vietnamese smoothies.  She remembers, “I went to Vietnam when I was 31.  My aunt actually had a little coffee stand outside her house where she sold smoothies, coconuts, coffee – that’s where I learned to do those items but the trailer is too small to accompany that now.”  What makes a Vietnamese smoothie different?  It is a refreshing combination fresh fruit, condensed milk, sugar, lime and ice. 

Originally from California, Laura moved to Austin in July of 1999 with her best friend at the time, whose father had recently passed away and her mother was moving back to Texas.  Initially, Laura said no, but she found herself falling in love with Austin and agreed to go only if Austin was the city her friend would choose.  When asked what inspires her, Laura says, “My love of food – I get excited when I have good food.”

Hola Aloha!

- Location: Southside - 2113 South Lamar
- Hours: Tuesday – Friday: 12 PM - 4 PM

              Saturday: 12 PM - 5 PM

- Website: www.holaaloha.com / Twitter: holaaloha

- Cuisine: Shaved ice and gourmet waffles made with homemade fruit syrup. 

A former entertainment wardrobe stylist and set designer, it wasn’t Chella’s intention to start a food trailer business.  She was back in town after touring with a ballet company doing wardrobe when a dear friend of hers approached her about a coffee trailer start up.  After some initial research, Chella offered the shaved ice idea.  With her friend’s heritage in Hawaii, and her growing up in West Texas with Raspados (the latin version of shaved ice), the snow cones made more sense to her although she was serious about providing a healthier option for the summer time snack.

Inspired by her Aunt Mary who always made everything from scratch with fresh ingredients, without using recipes, Chella serves only wholesome homemade goodness out of her trailer.  She makes all the syrups with organic juices and flavors, generally fresh fruits and berries.  Depending on the ingredients she will use organic cane sugar or agave nectar for the sweetener.  Her personal favorite is the Lemon Ginger syrup with Coconut ice cream at the bottom and her equally delectable best seller is the Strawberry Basil with a sweet leche dulce cream.

Bananarchy

- Location: Southside - 600 South Lamar Blvd. - @Barton Springs Rd.
- Hours: Monday – Saturday: 12 PM - 9 PM
- Telephone: 214-883-3473
- Website: www.bananarchy.net / Facebook: Bananarchy / Twitter: bananarchy_atx
- Cuisine: Dessert - Frozen Bananas

University of Texas student Anna Notario was watching a marathon of “Arrested Development” episodes when it dawned on her that the family in the show was on to something big with their frozen banana stand.  She shared the idea with her friend Laura Anderson who ended up writing her thesis on the experience of trying to open the stand.  Once that paper was in play, the girls got more serious about the big idea.  The bought an ex-lemonade stand from Fiesta Texas off of craigslist and opened shop in May of 2009.


Laura and Anna, both native Texans met as house mates with a group of almost 30 people.  The house is owned by a college pastor and many of the people who lived their were somehow associated with it.  Both girls are well traveled, Laura having spent some time studying in Mexico and Anna in Thailand on an 11-month mission trip helping with a range of projects including girls in the sex trade industry and countries heavily afflicted with AIDS.

Although her favorite item on the menu changes everyday, Laura really likes the chocolate covered with cinnamon, the Afternoon Delight, or Vanilla with Cinnamon.  Their best selling dipper is chocolate, and their best selling topping tends to be toffee or reeses pieces.  In addition to selling frozen bananas, the bananarchists enjoy having events with bands playing.  At their first Bananarchy Awareness Party they had a band that played video game music in rock form while party-goers held ‘fight the man’ signs and dressed in banana costumes.  This party was their record day for sales, selling 229 bananas.