Love is in the Hair

My friends at social ding are hosting a Valentine-centric pub-crawl in the West 6th area on February 12th that promises weird-Austin-fun for participants while providing amusement for unsuspecting spectators. 

"Love is in the Hair" is featuring specials not only for wig-wearers at prominent bars, but also at three of my favorite food trailers in one of my favorite neighborhoods: Colibri Cuisine,  One Taco, and the Peached Tortilla.  Here are the deals:



Colibri



Colibri Cuisine, with Anthony Alaniz and his soon-to-be-bride Candy, will be delivering love via Mexian food on W. 6th and Nueces across the street from Little Woodrows:

- "4, 3, 2, Love": $4 Chicken Chipotle Quesadillas, $3 Taco-dillas, $2 Love Cider

- "Ménage à Trois" combo: $9 for any 3 tacos & any drink




One Taco

One Taco is dishing up the love, taco style just outside of Little Woodrow's on W. 6th & Nueces:

- "Love is in the Taco" combo: $4.25 for two new tacos made for this event

- "15% off" everything else on the menu

Eric at the Peached Tortilla just behind Star Bar is offering his Asian/Southern food fusionary blend:

- "$7 any two sliders and Belgian fries" - enough said



the Peached Tortilla

While the trailers are always center stage in my blog, I'll also mention the event-wide drink specials include $2 domestics and $3 wells (21 and up, y'all).  Check out the website for bar-specific potions.  And I hear Lucy's on South Congress is offering 15% off wig rentals with your ticket stubb - so get your wig on and get down to this fun event from 4p-9p on February 12th.

You can RSVP  at the facebook event page and when you buy tickets here, enter "Trailer Food Diaries" in the code to get your tickets at $10/head ($5 off the ticket price). 

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!

Sugar Shack BBQ

- Location: UT Campus area - 24th & San Antonio St.
- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7 AM - 7 PM
- Number: 512-464-1151
- Website: www.sugarshackbbq.com / Facebook: Sugar Shack BBQ 
- Cuisine: BBQ, breakfast tacos

Sugar Shack BBQ was started out of a love for 70’s retro music and back yard bar-b-ques by partners Mark Avalos and Mark Stimak.  If you’re thinking about joining Mark and Mark in the Trailer Food revolution, they have some words of wisdom, “Don’t get fooled by places that have a lot of car traffic.  That’s the number one misconception.  If you see a place that has a ton of cars driving by you think that place will do well – but really foot traffic is the key.”  Indeed, Sugar Shack gets plenty of foot traffic at their log-cabin-shack on wheels which is a favorite place for many students to eat just behind Dobie mall on UT campus.

Playing with the college environment and their theme, their menu includes fun items like the Notorious PIG and the Bama Jammma.  The Sugar Shack’s best seller is their pulled pork with a mustard base cole slaw followed closely by their chicken breast sandwich with a white BBQ sauce.   White sauce you say? That’s right, the guys at Sugar Shack love all kinds of BBQ, not just Texas-style.  Their white sauce is a mayo-based  Alabama-style BBQ-sauce along with 6 or 7 other ingredients.  Not available in bottles yet, their red BBQ sauce is also a fan favorite. 

Torchy's Tacos

- Location: South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery - 1311 S. 1st St - @Elizabeth 
                   Other, various locations can be found on their website. 
- Hours: Monday-Wednesday: 7 AM - 10 PM / Thursday & Friday: 7AM - 11 PM / Saturday: 8 AM - 11 PM / Sunday: 8 AM - 10 PM
- Number: 512-366-0537
- Website: www.torchystacos.com / Facebook: Torchy’s Tacos / Twitter: TorchyTaco
- Cuisine: Tacos - breakfast, lunch & dinner

Ask anyone in Austin where their favorite place to grab a taco is and you’ll likely hear “Torchys!” in response.  Torchy’s five founding partners are Bob, Farrell, Rebecca, and Jay with Mike Rypka as the chef behind the team.  Having been a chef at MTV, Dell, Chuys, Lucy’s Boat Yard and beyond, putting together delectable flavor combinations with tacos as the vehicle was right up his alley and his consistently good recipes are the reason behind Torchy’s rapid success.  In addition to their trailer, they now have multiple other brick and mortar locations and have expanded into other cities. 

Down at the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery where Torchy’s trailer sits, you can enjoy tacos under the shade of the Live Oak trees that overlooks Bouldin Creek.  The names of their tacos are equally shady with such crowd favorites like the Dirty Sanchez.  In addition to their normal menu, you can look for such specialty items like their Turkey taco with mole during November.  What should you get?  The ‘brushfire’ and the ‘fried avocado taco’ is hot on my list.

The Peached Tortilla

- Location: Roving - follow website, facebook, and/or twitter to learn location
- Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays: hours vary according to location
- Telephone: 512-761-3241
- Website: www.thepeachedtortilla.com / Facebook: The Peached Tortilla / Twitter: peached tortilla
- Cuisine: Fusion Tacos

The Peached Tortilla is former lawyer Eric Silverstein’s mobile truck that is serving gourmet asian/southern fusion through the medium of street food.  Born in Japan, and having traveled thoroughly around Asia, Eric was exposed to a variety of cultures and cuisines.  At the age of ten, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia which offered a new range of ingredients and flavors.  “When I started that concept made sense to mingle those two cultures,” says Eric.  His personal favorite item on the menu is the Banhmi taco, which uses pork belly that is brined and braised served with a pickled daikon carrot salad with sirracha mayo and cilantro.

I asked Eric to explain the name, the Peached Tortilla, and he said, “It originates from Georgia roots because it’s the peach state.  The word “peached” is something that allows you to define it yourself.  To us, ‘peached’ is to get flavor smitten – we want people to get ‘peached’.  The tortilla ties in with tacos.  We also want to separate ourselves out from corporate America and this name was one way to do that. “

Eric represents the rebel version of entrepreneurs who aren’t satisfied working for someone else.  After discussing a new city with his girlfriend and much research on his concept, Eric quit his job and three weeks later they moved to Austin and opened the Peached Tortilla.  Why Austin?  “We felt like it was a really open minded city open to eating from a food truck.  There was already a tremendous amount of growth in trailer food industry, the city is growing, the economy is doing well, my concept is different and Austin likes different.”  Currently, Eric is dishing up his gourmet fusion at multiple locations.

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.

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.”

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.”

One Taco

- Location: Downtown - W. 6th St. & Nueces St.- @Little Woodrow's 
- Hours: Monday - Friday: 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM / 5 PM - 12 AM 
               Saturday: 2:30 PM - 2 AM
               Sunday: Noon - 6 PM
- Number: 512-539-7561
- Website: www.one-taco.com / Facebook: One Taco / Twitter: onetaco

- Cuisine: Tacos - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Late Night

Axel Beverido and business partner Tony Avila met through their wives who were room mates in college at Monterrey Tech in Mexico.  Before their venture with One Taco, Axel was working for John Deere in Mexico and Tony was an architect.  They mutually decided they wanted to be their own boss and pursued their entrepreneurial dreams in the trailer food setting.  With no family or personal history in the food business, the team purchased a Chevrolet taco trailer on craigslist and got started.  Whether you’re having breakfast or lunch with One Taco, the steak taco is hands down their best seller although other popular tacos include the fried egg, the beans and cheese, and the norte.  Alex and Tony are living proof you can change your life and become your own boss while working with good friends.

Karma Taco

- Location: Downtown - 4th St. & Guadalupe
- Hours: Thursday - Saturday: 7 PM - 3 AM
- Number: 512-721-6820
- Website: www.karmataco.com / Facebook: Karma Taco / Twitter: karmataco
- Cuisine: Tacos - Dinner & Late Night


Alan Joers & Daniel De Leon are long time friends that met in Tampico, Mexico.  Alan invited Daniel to South by Southwest in 2009 to convince him to partner in purchasing a bar, but Daniel had other ideas.  He was impressed and amazed with all the food trailers and communities that were in Austin and proposed a new idea: Karma Taco.


It’s true what they say goes around comes around and the Karma Taco is no exception.  Alan explains, “At the beginning, a lot of customers wanted to pay with credit card but we weren’t set up for it yet, so we started giving food away for free.  It worked marketing wise – but for them they were saying it was ‘good karma’.  The people I gave free tacos too are my most supportive customer base right now – so I guess it was good karma.”


To the new trailer vendors getting started, Alan offers this advice, “I would really suggest to them to put a little more into their trailer.  I see a lot of trailers that are plain white.  For a city like Austin with so much art and music – be a little creative on your concept.” 

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.”

Elotes Locos

- Location:  Outlier - 6301 W. Parmer Ln. - @Little Woodrow's Bar

- Hours: Wednesday -Saturday: 6 PM - 2 AM
- Telephone: 512-909-6767
- Facebook: Elotes Locos / Twitter: ElotesLocos

- Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Originally from El Paso, Texas Chris and Liz Aguirre moved to Austin about three years prior to opening their food trailer in May of 2010.  After 12 years in corporate America, enough was enough.  The simple pleasure of working for themselves is one of the most satisfying things about Elotes Locos for the Aguirres.

Liz had always had a passion for food and the couple thought a trailer was the best way to showcase her skills while leaving room for their business to grow.  It took about 14 days for their brand new trailer unit to be manufactured from scratch in Monterey, Mexico.  Their favorite items on the menu are the tacos bistec and the tacos al pastor, although their best seller is the steak quesadilla.

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.”

Chi'lantro

- Location: Roving - follow website and twitter to learn location
- Hours: Everyday - hours vary according to location
- Website: www.chilantrobbq.com / Facebook: Chilantro BBQ / Twitter: chilantrobbq
- Cuisine: fusion tacos

From bus boy to working at fast food Chinese restaurants to starting his own business at age 21, Jae Kim has always been involved in the food industry.  His family ran a food business when we has young in Korea.  “I remember growing up in the back of the kitchen,” Jae says.  His aunt and other relatives also owned restaurants and they were able to give him a lot of good advice, knowing the ups and downs of the business.

Born in Korea, raised in Orange County, California, his coffee shop “the Foothill Café” is where he found is true passion for the service and food industry.  The concept for Jae’s Korean/Mexican fusion food trailer came from his background with a large population of Koreans and Hispanics.  “I grew up with burritos and Korean food,” he says, “and the reason I wanted to do it in Austin is because Austin is culturally diverse; Austin welcomes the trailer scene and they want to try something new – this is the best location I can think of in Texas that would welcome this idea – so I put the ingredients together and did research; experimented with friends and family – and opened a truck.”

Jae’s beef dishes are sweet and smoky, while his pork dishes are spicy.  He finds that different locations have different preferences on fair and sells a good amount of tofu and vegetarian dishes as well.  You can get any of these in  taco, burger or burrito form.  Jae’s personal favorite is either beef or pork tacos.

Jae’s advice for other vendors starting out is first to have patience, and second to have determination.  “I made nine dollars my first day, four dollars my second.  So patience is the number one key… Sometimes it gets tough; you have to be really determined to serve the customers regardless of the weather and the situation…  It doesn’t matter if we have one customer, we are still going to go out there and serve; we keep our promise with our customers.”