Food Truck Fiesta The Story Behind Successful Food Trucks in Austin, Texas. By Bilal Faisal
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he stove lights on fire. Your partner is nowhere to be found. Just you versus the flames. Beads of sweat are now pouring down your face. It’s looking like game over, but then your partner comes in, fire extinguisher in hand, and saves the day. Welcome to the food truck industry in Austin, Texas. Since the food truck craze took off in 2008, Austin, Texas has been infamous for its trucks and trailers. The food truck industry in Austin is the fastest growing in the United States, and trailers and trucks are key contributors to Austin’s culture. It is extremely difficult to thrive, let alone succeed as a food truck in Austin which is why only the best make it out alive. Michael Rypka is the owner of one of the most popular food truck-based businesses in Austin. In 2006, Rypka opened Torchy’s Tacos which skyrocketed not only all over the city of Austin, but across the country. When asked about how this all started, Rypka’s answer was simple. “Literally one day, I woke up in the middle of the night and just had this thought,” Rypka Courtesy of Cuisine | 14
said. “What are you doing? Dude, you need to be a chef. That’s what you love doing. I couldn’t sleep, and when I came downstairs the next day, I told my mom, ‘Hey, mom, I’m dropping out of school, I’m gonna go be a chef,’ and she looked at me like I was crazy.” The unique slogan, “damn good” and the baby devil logo went crazy as it Torchys is brought a new often praised for their chips and Queso. Photo via Mike Rypka.
way of serving great food to the state of Texas. Rypka’s tiny food trailer gradually expanded to a restaurant which would then turn into over 70 different locations across the country. However, it was not all that easy for Mo Pittle, the owner of JewBoy burgers. Pittle agreed that it all starts with
an idea, but the process of starting a business is a lot more complicated than just waking up one day with an idea. “I had to get propane, to get food, to get any type of supplies into the bank,” Pittle said. “All those things I had to go and do, and then there was the truck. I walked the truck from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and we’d close from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. I’d work from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for dinner,” Pittle said. Brandon Hunt, the co-owner of VIA 313 alongside his brother Zane Hunt, agreed with Pittle that the journey to success was, as he puts it, “a grind.” “I would wake up at noon, and go to central market or HEB and get groceries because we weren’t busy enough to get a restaurant,” Hunt said. “So I would load up groceries for the night. We would make dough from like three to four in the trailer and open at five. I would work from five at night until two or three in the morning. Got home at three or four in the morning, made sure the money was squared away and then
