Rolling Through Austin ezine fall 2021 Food on the roll Page 8
The Rise of venezuelan food in austin Page 14
A Taste of mexico page 20
Restaurant Vs truck page 26
Rolling through austin | 1
The only way to do great work is to love what you do –Steve Jobs
CONTENTS
Rolling through austin | 4
6 Meet The Editors 8
The Creation of a Food Truck 12 Tools of the Trade
14 The Rise of Venezuelan Food in Austin 18 Mapping Out Food Trucks in Austin 20 A Taste of Mexico 24 Which Food Truck is Best for You? 26 Resturaunt VS Truck 30 Austin’s Best Dessert Trucks 32 Food Truck Word Search
Rolling through austin | 5
Meet the editors Ryan Lopez Ryan is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. He likes to play baseball and is a part of the LASA band. He loved talking with the owners of three different Tex-Mex food trucks and trying authentic Mexican food. He created “Eating Through Challenges” and “Which Food Truck is Best for You?” and hopes that you enjoy reading them.
Vibha Sheth Vibha is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. She loves playing volleyball, watching movies, and spending time with family. Vibha’s favorite part about creating the magazine was designing the “Austin’s Best Dessert Trucks” spread. She wants the reader to emjpy reading the magazine and will hopefully be inspired to visit some of the trucks featured.
Isa Matamoros Isa is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. Her hobbies include playing soccer, listening to music, watching Formula 1 and traveling. She loved being able to visit different Venezuelan food trucks and creating a feature about them. She hopes that you, the reader, has as much of a good time reading this magazine as she did creating it.
Seth Martin Seth is a freshman at LASA high school. He plays video games, lives on the internet, and somehow still knows nothing about pop culture. His favorite TV shows are Voltron, Deep Space 9 and Avatar the Last Airbender. He is the author of The Creation of a Food Truck and Tools of the Trade and he hopes you have a great time reading them.
Rolling through austin | 6
Dear Reader, A food truck is considered as a restaurant business that instead of seling out of a brick and mortar, sells out of a trailer or truck. This magazine is dedicated to inform you about a unique style of business that is poular in the city of Austin. As you read, you will find many things like maps, games and feature stories on different cuisines that will enlighten you on the food truck scene in Austin. We put lots of time and effort into this magazine, using programs like Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Throughout the magazine, we implemented a vibrant theme conveying the true nature of food trucks. This is the product of a semester’s long work. We hope you enjoy reading our magazine. Sincerely,
Rolling through austin | 7
FOOD ON THE ROLL
This is the location of the first Konfusedise food truck at 15400 RR 620 Austin, TX 78717. They plan to open more in the comming years. food trucks in the near future. Courtesy of Konfusedise
How food trucks start out and grow By Seth Martin
Rolling through austin | 8
The making and serving of food has been a key job all throughout human history, and the competition has never been more prevalent. Many people know they are great cooks and just need the opportunity to take their shot as a professional chef. For a lot of people, that shining opportunity comes in the form of a food truck. A food truck is a mobile restaurant on wheels that’s manned by 1 to 2 people serving food out of an oversized window. Over the past years these restaurants on wheels have become more and more
“You have to know how to market yourself, and most of all you have to have a good work ethic” - Danyell Muller
popular, even though the multiple waves of COVID-19. Food trucks come in all shapes and sizes serving all kinds of food and are the jumping off point for many restaurants all over the country, but what goes into starting one? Matias Roy is the coowner of a food truck business named Plucky’s based in Lago Vista, Texas. Plucky’s has been expanding since its founding in 2020 and is now coming to Austin, Texas. Roy said that the biggest key to starting a food
truck was the location you put your food truck. “Let’s say you set up a barbecue in an area?” Roy said hypothetically. “You’ve got to know what’s the nearest location to that area, how far are they from a different location, and if you put your food truck there, or whatever you want to do, is it beneficial to you? We decided to hit Lago Vista at one point. I figured that it would be a good spot to start up a food truck. Basically, identify what you’re selling, and how close your competition is when you plan on where to put your food truck.” Tyler Boss is the general manager of Tinnies Barbeque, a successful food truck chain based in Austin. He shares his findings on the most important focus in operating a food truck, getting the best ingredients around. “We do have a largescale supplier. It’s called ‘Ruffino meats,” Boss said. “We’re fortunate because we’re still small enough to where we can still go out and shop, and handpick a lot of our meat.
We’ll go to Costco, HEB, really we will scour all over the city, hand selecting our meat. We do everything over the top. And so that just goes all the way down to picking our meat as well.” Boss also discussed the importance of planning the space that will be used by each piece of equipment.
Plucky’s teriyaki wings are a signature dish of the up and coming food truck. Courtesy of Plucky’s
“It’s kind of a juggle,” Boss said “That is one of the downfalls of a food trailer is there’s just not a lot of space. We’ve got a commercial smoker in there that can smoke up to 500 pounds at one time. So that itself takes up a quarter of
Rolling through austin | 9
our trailer. So working around that is also another challenge.” Danyell Muller is the wife of Robin who is a co-owner of Konfusedise, an Indian food truck that focuses on Indian fried bread. Konfusedise opened recently in 2021 and Muller was happy to share the key points she had found.
“[The] main thing is just the attitude of wanting to come into work smiling, engaging with the customers.” - Matias Roy
work. I think people think food trucks are easy, but they’re not. It’s a lot of work and a lot of operation.” Marketing yourself was one of the big points for Roy’s business. He said the best way to do that was through social media like Facebook and Instagram.
as well is identifying what kind of area you’re in,” Roy said. Identifying the location you’re set up in is a big part of knowing how to market yourself most effectively. The most important thing to figure out is why people come to that part of the city.
Plucky’s teriyaki wings are a signature dish of the up and coming food truck. Courtesy of Plucky’s
“Well, you definitely have to have a really good menu content,” Muller said, “You have to know how to market yourself, and most of all you have to have a good work ethic, because it’s a lot of hard Rolling through austin | 10
“We post daily videos of our food. Whether they’re starting football games that day, who will post about football games. So social media is good with that. It’s like that with Instagram and Facebook. And with Instagram another way to use it
“For example, you would want to find out if the location you set up at has an AirBnB,” Roy said. “If it has that, or something similar like a popular hotel you would want to get in touch with them and ask if there was any way to let clients know about your food truck. This could be anything from setting up a way for clients to get an email about your truck to buying an ad space in a hotel brochure.” The final key in having a successful food truck business is knowing what kind of employees you’d want to hire. For Roy, it’s all about attitude and adaptability. “I focus on attitude because I can teach
anybody. I can teach anybody as long as you’re willing to show up on time,” Roy said, “[The] main thing is just the attitude of wanting to come into work smiling, engaging with the customers. It’s just making sure that they’re very upbeat and wanting to learn. I like employees to be adaptable too because there might be times I want you as a cashier, it might be tough, but I need you here. So I need you to be adaptable, on time, energetic, and enthusiastic.” Roy also said that having previous experience in restaurants wasn’t something he looked for. In fact he would prefer to hire people without that experience. ”I don’t really push too hard to make sure you have restaurant experience because, me personally, I’d rather see somebody who doesn’t have experience because they don’t have those bad habits that they learned before,” Roy said. Through the use of these business practices a lot of food trucks have become successful enough to move onto the next phase of a restaurant. While the goal for many food trucks,
including all of the ones interviewed for this story, is to eventually turn into a brick and mortar location, Roy advises against jumping at the opportunity as soon as it represents itself, especially during COVID-19.
According to IBIS world, over the past five years the food truck industry has grown more than 6% each year. With those food trucks come all sorts of new flavors and textures to enjoy, or try your own hand at. So whether you’re an aspiring chef or just someone who loves food, you can
“We do everything over the top. And so that just goes all the way down to picking our meat as well.” -Tyler Boss “Nobody’s really eating inside restaurants, everyone’s kind of nervous with COVID going around, and pickup is going up” Roy said, “The goal is to eventually get out of the food truck and go into a brick and mortar to what we had. Where people just come in and get wings and a little dining area, nothing too crazy, but it’s not smart to do that right now.”
always find something new in the business of food trucks.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE By: Seth Martin
Do you wonder what sort of items are used to make your favorite food truck food? Well wonder no longer! In this ASF you can learn about the general struckture of a food truck., the items you would most commenly see in a food truck, and the specialty items that are used by specific kinds of trucks.
BLOW BLOW
TR AATR
Brick pizza ovens are a speacialty item for some food trucks, bit due to the spacial requirements it’s offten substituted for a less traditional way of making pizza. Rolling through austin | 12
Toasters are one of the items in the specialties seen in breakfast food most as a quick way to
Grill
Fryer
Freezer Driving Area
Mini Payment Dish Washer Area
Oven
Storage /Sink
Having a designated section near the window is the generaly recomended way to set up payments. It is absolutly essential to running any food business that you can take credit as that is becoming the customer’s prefered way to pay.
Freezers are a must have item in the food truck business. They are primarily used to keep food fresh and taisty, but it is also used to store water and sodas for customers to enjoy.
Mini dishwashers are a helpful additon to most food trucks. This gives the workers something to do during down time that will help them close shop closer to the end of the day while alowing for more people to be served.
0 00 00
0
W UP W UP
RUCK! RUCK!
e more generaly helpfull s section. They are offten dtrucks but can be used in o make an appitiser.
A gyro rotisserie grill is fairly common place as speacialty items go. Most food trucks serving Mediterranean food or any food trucks that serve cabobs will offten use these. Rolling through austin | 13
comida del corazon
The Rise of Venezuelan Food in Austin by Isa Matamoros
The Arepa Rey is one of the many arepas sold at the food truck, Reina Pepiada. Opened in 2018, the food truck aims to spread the Venezuelan cuisine in South Austin. Photo by Isa Matamoros
Rolling through austin | 14
a
s many people may know, food trucks in Austin offer a variety of different cuisines. However, one South American cuisine has been on the rise lately, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Coming from the humble country of Venezuela, a number of people are opening business and sharing their delicious food with the Austin community. Venezuelan food was unheard of in Austin before the early 2010s. One would have to drive three hours to Houston, take a flight to Miami or travel across the Gulf of Mexico to reach it. That is, until Carmen Rojas decided to open Budare’s on Rainey St. Rojas immigrated from a country that had always had its fair share of emigrants looking for better opportunities in the United States. Many Venezuelans find themselves studying abroad in the US and staying after their graduation to join the workforce. Rojas is no stranger to this concept, for she studied a bachelor’s degree in art in Philadelphia. However, she realized that food was her passion, so she decided to open her food truck. At Budare’s, Rojas focuses on serving authentic meals to her customers. With recipes that are over 50 years old, tradition is a priority at Budare’s. “One of the things that has most set us apart from the other food trucks is keeping the same recipe,” Rojas said.
“That’s the reason we have so many people coming back all the time. I have clients from 2011 who still come to Budare’s. I have people from Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio that call asking, ‘Are you going to be open, because we will be in the area?’ That says something.” With her recipes, she makes popular Venezuelan meals, one of those being tequeños. Tequeños are cheese sticks made from a melty Venezuelan cheese that is wrapped in
“In Venezuela, there is no party if there are no tequeños.” -Carmen Rojas dough and fried. Once cooked, it’s often served with a green, garlicky sauce. “One of the dishes that made us more known was the tequeños, the cheese sticks,” Rojas said. “In Venezuela, there is no party if there are no tequeños.” There also happens to be no party if there are no cachapas. Cachapas are crispy corn pancakes that are pan fried and often served with cheese. They are another popular dish in Venezuela, and Rojas is happy to serve them. “The most popular plate right now in Budares is the
cachapa and you know why? Because it’s unique in Austin,” Rojas said. “There aren’t any cachapas in other places in Austin, in those Venezuelan food trucks. For that reason, it’s popular.” Another typically popular dish is the arepas. An arepa is a type of bread made from cornmeal based flour and water. Once the dough is made, it is grilled or fried to perfection and then served or filled with meats, cheeses and vegetables. “My favorite plate from Budare’s is the arepa,” Rojas said. “The arepa is very nutritious, gluten free, and that’s why I love it. It’s very delicious.” The arepa also happens to be the inspiration for the name of her food truck, Budare’s, because ‘budare’ is the type of pan typically used to cook the arepa. “The indigenous people of Venezuela would use pieces of rock that they’d heat up to make arepas and cachapas, and those pieces of rock were called budares,” Rojas said. “Over time, they started to be made with clay and then metal in the end. It’s very similar to the comal from Mexico where they make tortillas.” Rojas is not the only food truck owner in Austin who enjoys making arepas. Maury Pacheco, owner of Reina Pepiada on West Oltorf St, also shares an affinity for the dish. She spends almost every day frying up arepas and serving them to her hungry customers. “Arepas are iconic,”
Rolling through austin | 15
This sign is found on the side of the Aurora Venezuelan Food truck. It calls customers attention and shows that they sell a popular Venezuelan meal. Photo by Isa Matamoros
Pacheco said. “I try to differentiate my arepas though because almost nobody makes them fried, only grilled. So I add that different touch. Of course, I also give the client the grilled option, and if they want it, I make it grilled.” Pacheco has been operating Reina Pepiada for almost three years, and she shows no sign of stopping. With 21 traditional items on her menu, her goal is to serve the community of South Austin, an area that doesn’t have many Venezuelan food trucks. “I feel like I’m helping Americans learn about it more,” Pacheco said. “Everyone is learning about Venezuelan food.” One factor as to why Rolling through austin | 16
there are so many Americans learning about Venezuelan food is the influx of Venezuelan immigrants coming to the United States. Austin is no stranger to this immigration, as many Venezuelans find themselves moving to the capital of Texas. “It’s because it’s a city that has a lot of job opportunities, and the pay is good compared to Miami and other cities,” Pacheco said. “I think it’s a very pretty city. I like Austin a lot.” The increase of the Venezuelan population in Austin also provides business opportunities for these food truck owners because they have more people who know about their food and therefore, more customers. “It’s a good opportunity for us to keep growing. A lot of people coming here have been opening their own businesses in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, everywhere. It’s something beautiful that we’re growing in the Austin community,” Rojas said. While a large number of people coming to eat at these food trucks are Venezuelan, the food truck owners have also noticed there are people from outside that group coming to try their food, and they are grateful for it. “Austin’s population is very open to food trucks, trying new things and trying new foods,”
Gabriela Davlla, owner of Aurora Venezuelan food, said. “They always like to innovate when it comes to the topic of food, so people adventure themselves to try new things when they see a Venezuelan food truck.” Davila opened her food truck and started serving Venezuelan food to the hungry shoppers at a popular Austin mall, The Domain. While serving delicious food will
“Austin’s population is very open to food trucks, trying new things and trying new foods” -Gabriela Davila always be a priority, Davila also values customer service, and she always tries to give her clients a good experience. “We try to give the client special treatment so that they feel like they are at home. We are not cold to people; we try to be friendly,” Davila said. Davila is also grateful for the advantages that come with having a food truck rather than a restaurant. “It doesn’t have as much complexity as a restaurant because obviously it’s a lot smaller,” Davila said. “You don’t have to manage employees or
waiters. You have to be very meticulous on the part of the rotation of the food, the costs, and the details of the kitchen but not as meticulous as a big restaurant. We’re not closed to the possibility of opening a
in the Austin community since there is no brick and mortar that sells their food. However, the owners are still thankful for the opportunity they have to share their food with their new home. “Hopefully, in a future not too far away, we’ll be able to open a restaurant since we have grown so much from 2011 to 2021. It’s a very beautiful thing The Budare’s food truck sits on the that people desire to 5000 Burnet Food truck lot on a sunny afternoon. The truck is one of the many eat our food.” Rojas options of where to eat the increasingly said. popular Venezuelan cuisine. Photo by Isa Matamoros If you ever find yourself craving Venezuelan food from any of these food restaurant, but that’s something trucks, you can find Budare’s that implicates a lot, so we’re at 5000 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX still thinking.” 78756, Reina Pepiada at 510 Opening a restaurant is a big prize many of these owners W Oltorf St, Austin, TX 78704 have their eye on. It would be a and Aurora Venezuelan Food at 10901 Domain Dr, Austin, TX. big milestone for Venezuelans
This graphic portrays the Austin skyline and with the Venezuelan flag in the background. It symbolizes how Venezuelan culture is becoming more known in Austin and how many Venzuelans are making Austin their new home. Graphic by Isa Matamoros
Rolling through austin | 17
MAPPING OUT FOOD TRUCKS IN BY ISA MATAMOROS
With so many food truck options in Austin, you may be wondering, “Where should I start?” This graphic highlights several food trucks with many delicious options that’ll leave you coming back for more. Map Legend Interstate Route
State Route
Food Truck Park
US Route
Highway
Body of Water
183
5000 Burnet 360
71
290
The Picnic 1
290
Thicket Rolling through austin | 18
35
5000 Burnet
This food truck park located in north Austin is perfect for those wanting to try new things. Ever had a Sonoran hot dog? You can try one from T-Loc’s Sonoran Style Hot Dogs. Craving something Asian? Go to Watzab Thai Food and enjoy their offerings. There’s something for everyone at 5000 Burnet. When you visit, make sure to check: • Watzab Thai Food • T-Loc’s Sonaran Style Hot Dogs
• Budare’s • Judy’s Mediterranean • Dawa Sushi
Thicket
Thicket brings all the food truck fun to south Austin. Not only is it a fun spot with 11 different food trucks to try from, it’s also an outdoor space hosting things like a community garden, outdoor yoga, and live events. It’s a place that guarantees a fun time. Places you can check out include: • Brooklyn Breakfast Shop • Shirley’s Trini Cuisine
• • • •
Simply Thai Antipasta Midway Dogs Stellar Coffee Co
Rainey Street
Rainy Street is an area of Austin filled with tons of restaurants, bars, and of course, food trucks. You can find options like a Detroit-style pizza from Via 313 or a half dozen mini donuts from Little Lucy’s. You are sure to be satisfied with the delicious options that Rainy Street has to offer. Other trucks you can visit include: • Burro Cheese Kitchen • Mr. Sandwich • Saperlipopolette!
• Wrigleyville Dogs • Four Brothers • Happy Lobster Food Truck
The Picnic
Another great food trailer park located in the heart of Austin is The Picnic. The modern space has many people’s favorites, offering things like burgers, tacos, even gelato. Located in the Barton Springs, the area is a perfect place to eat on a day out. Some trucks worth visiting include: • • • •
The Mighty Cone Cannone Habibi ATX Coat & Thai
• The Burger Truck • Have a Taco • The Original Dog Treat Truck
35
1
130
183
290
Rainey Street
183
130
71
Rolling through austin | 19
A Taste of Mexico
How food truck owners in Austin entered the food industry and faced adversity. BY: RYAN LOPEZ Working several hours a day and every day of the week making and serving food is the type of life food truck owners go through. They all hope to see the light on the other side of the tunnel but it may take years to reach that point. Every order they complete may just be for a smile or a small tip from a customer but that lake is all of the satisfaction they need to persevere. Lis Mariscal, Miguel Vidal and Tony Galindo all work at or own an Austin area food truck that specializes in Mexicanrelated cuisine. Their food trucks first opened in 2008 and 2013 and have attracted a lot of attention since. All of them are passionate about the food industry and the inspiration for their food has come from their childhood and family. Mariscal is an employee and family member at Veracruz All Natural. Having been born and raised in Veracruz, Mexico, Mariscal’s family business showcases true Mexican cuisine. “Our food is very directed to the region of Mexico, where we come from, which is Veracruz, Mexico,” Mariscal said. “It’s authentic Mexican food. We Rolling through austin | 20
Three generation family ordering food at Veracruz All Natural. Photo courtesy of Ryan Lopez
don’t make Tex-Mex style food because we wanted to keep it authentically traditional to where we are from.” Vidal, the owner of Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ, was raised in San Antonio, and he started to work at his first restaurant at a very young age just like Mariscal. They were both brought into the industry as young teenagers. “I have worked in a restaurant
since I was 15, and I started really paying attention or enjoying food and cooking when I was in my early 20s,” Vidal said. “There’s just something about when you enjoy a good meal, the memories and sparks that you feel, which is why I wanted to start a business.” Creating a business, however, does not come without challenges along the way. Vidal struggled to earn enough money to buy the
This graphic shows where Veracruz, Mexico is located. This is the place where Lis Mariscal and her family are from.
Veracruz All Natural food truck located at 4209 Airport Blvd. Photo courtesy of Ryan Lopez
necessary things for a food truck just like many other restaurant owners. “In the very beginning, we started with very, very little money,” Vidal said “We had to go through the ups and downs of adjusting stuff to have all of our things in order and there are very small margins in food. If we’re not paying attention to waste and weight of food and food costs, then at the end of the day, we could be losing tons of money to where we couldn’t pay our employees.” Galindo, the owner of Mellizoz Tacos, also faced many struggles leading up to the day his business shut down. COVID-19, among many other factors impacted Galindo’s business heavily. “When COVID-19 hit, we were still open but that’s when the landlord actually told us that he wasn’t going to renew our lease. Our trailer was 42 feet long, he could get two or three trailers more in that location for the same price,” Galindo said. Business models for many places were completely changed by COVID-19. Vidal and many
other business owners dealt with these changes in a timely manner by doing what was best for the community at the time rather than what would just benefit them. “One of the biggest struggles probably in the whole time of being open has been dealing with this COVID-19 situation and having to kind of change our business model to go to strictly online orders,” Vidal said. Mariscal had to adapt to the new situation going on with COVID-19, but to her, it felt like something was missing. Her business was doing much better than others financially, but the social connection was deteriorating. “There’s also that missing human interaction when you go to a place you expect to be treated with hello,” Mariscal said. “But with the pandemic, we kind of lost that personal touch with customers. So that was very hard as well. Veracruz is a company that thrives out of that personal touch with your customers. And not having that interaction really kind of made us feel like there was something missing.”
Vidal and Mariscal both thought that COVID-19 most impacted the overall experience of going to a food truck more than any other factor. Vidal still noticed that some of his customers were coming back despite the adversity.
“There’s just something about when you enjoy a good meal, the memories and sparks that you feel.” -Miguel Vidal, owner of Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ “Eating with your eyes first has gotten lost a little bit with strictly online ordering and packing everything to go but I’m really happy with the support
Rolling through austin | 21
of the community,” Vidal said. “Every time that we’ve made a move or changed the location, the community seems to get behind us and support us and we see the same repeat customers all the time as well as new people.” A food truck is a business
that requires quick access, which means that most people that live far away will not be able to go to it. Mariscal realized that some of her most popular customers no longer reside in the Austin area due to how unaffordable it is. “I think we’ve noticed that the demand has gone up in certain locations,” Mariscal said “We’ve also noticed a lot of locals missing that have moved out of the city that no longer lives here. You know, Austin is becoming Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ style food. less and less Photo courtesy of Caleb Smith affordable
to live in with time. I know a lot of the people that have been following us for so long, no longer reside within the city limits. We’ve also noticed that the population is definitely growing. Traffic is getting worse to get to each location. We also do have a lot of new customers and we can tell that it’s bittersweet if you want to ask me if we miss our customer base. We miss the faces that we don’t see anymore, but we’re also happy to receive all these new, fresh customers.” Along with the challenges faced by COVID-19, Mariscal realized how panicked everyone was when COVID-19 first began. All of these insecurities led to problems for businesses like Veracruz.
“We miss the faces that we don’t see anymore, but we’re also happy to receive all these new, fresh customers.” -Lis Mariscal, employee at Veracruz All Natural
“There was stuff that we didn’t know during the time,” The Mellizos Tacos food truck located at Cruzteca MexMariscal said “If someone was ican Kitchen. Photo courtesy of Tony Galindo coughing it was like, ‘Oh, you need to go home and quarantine and take a COVID-19 test.’ And during that time, COVID-19 tests were taking The Valentina’s food trailer is located at 11500 Manchaca Rd, Austin, Texas. Their Tex-Mex style food is made fresh in a barbe- like three days cue pit behind the trailer. Photo coutesy of Ryan Lopez to come back, Rolling through austin | 22
Awards that Valentina’s has won for their food. Photo courtesy of Ryan Lopez
and getting an appointment was really hard. Staffing and produce shortages were hard and then all types of items went up in price which made it a really crazy time.” Despite these challenges, Mellizoz Tacos, Valentina’s TexMex BBQ and Veracruz All Natural have all won awards for their outstanding cooking and dining experience. Valentina’s BBQ pitmaster Vidal believes that his business spread throughout the public without his own intention of gaining popularity. “I think that we gained popularity by word of mouth, and the modern word of mouth is social media,” Vidal said. “At
the end of the day, I never tried to reach out to anyone or try to really be anything that we’re not. I tried to stick true to who I am, what my family did, and take my knowledge of the restaurant business to new places. I applied what I did when I was around growing up to what I learned in the restaurant industry working my whole life.” These three food trucks along with many others started with a family that had a dream and that dream has come true. The challenges that COVID-19 came with put a burden on the food industry, but these businesses were able to fight through that
struggle and are on their way to becoming Austin food staples.
“I tried to stick true to who I am, what my family did, and take my knowledge of the restaurant business to new places.” -Miguel Vidal, owner of Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ Rolling through austin | 23
Which Food Truck is Best for You?
Start
Do you prefe or savory fo
Sw ee t
BY: RYAN LOPEZ
Food trucks in Austin offer a wide variety of flavors and cultures. Taking this quiz is a way to figure out what food truck may be a good fit for you depending on the type of food you like. All of these food trucks are local to Austin which is why this quiz can also be helpful to those visiting Austin.
Do you like fruity items or items without fruit?
Bananarchy
t
na
With
rui t
F
s na
d
A
he Ot r Fruit
xican Dess
t
Me
er
Would you prefer to have a dessert focused on bananas or would you like to try other fruits.
s
Bananarchy is a walk-up food stand that offers frozen bananas with a wide variety of dips and toppings.
With Frui
t ou
Ba
JP’s Pancake Company JP’s Pancake Company was Austin’s first pancake food truck and is a unique dessert or breakfast option to try.
Rolling through austin | 24
Churro Co
Cold Coo Compan
The Churro Co is a The Cold Co famous food truck with Company is a delicious churro’s and food truck with toppings that include ice cream sand ice cream and more. and a variety o
Savor y
Do you prefer meat or no meat?
t M ea
er sweet ood?
Do you prefer BBQ or Pizza?
No
Mea t
BBQ
Pizza
Rollin Smoke BBQ
Do you want to try a Tex-Mex style food truck or a fancy food truck?
Rollin Smoke BBQ offers some of the best slowsmoked BBQ in Austin and they also have tacos and sandwiches.
Roppolo’s Pizzeria
A
okie ny
t
r
e erican Dess m
xTe
The Vegan Nom
ookie The Vegan Nom is a colorful creative food truck h gourmet with plant-based tacos dwiches and other Tex-Mex of flavors. food options.
Mex
Fancy
Do you want to try a Mexican dessert or an American Dessert?
Roppolo’s Pizzeria offers a wide assortment of Italianstyle pies with other choices of food as well. Bistro Vonish
Bistro Vonish offers a variety of flavors with a fire pit and a picnic area to enjoy the outdoors. Rolling through austin | 25
Restaurant VS Truck
Exploring the Simalarities and Differences Between Two Vegan Businesses in Austin
The waiter sets the plate down beside you. The burger smells delicious, it’s warm and ready to eat. You look at the burger, with its soft bread and juicy patty, and are longing to just take a bite. The consistency is perfect and it tastes like heaven. There is something different about this burger but you can’t quite figure it out. The waiter notices your delight as they walk over to you and ask, “How is the cauliflower?” You think to yourself, “It’s not meat?!” Austin is known for its variety of cuisines and food culture. Vegan businesses are blooming throughout the city. Jill Guiletti, someone who has been vegan for about 20 years, said she thinks more people are becoming vegan because of how much more information is being provided about veganism. There are more recipe books, blogs and other websites to help as well. This has led to a huge growth in vegan businesses. Community Vegan, a completely vegan food truck located in central Austin is known for their Southern-fried
Rolling through austin | 26
BY VIBHA SHETH
Marlon Rison serving up a “Lemon Pepper Wangz” basket. Photo courtesy of Marlon Rison.
king oyster mushrooms and They also serve comfort food like nachos, loaded fries, tater tots, and fried avocado bites. Rebel Cheese is another vegan establishment located in Austin. They are famous for their specialty sandwiches, and their creative, unique vegan options such as the “Charcuterie We Can” board which is a customer favorite. Marlon Rison is the coowner of Community Vegan, as well as Erica Dots. Rison had been cooking for years and his girlfriend encouraged him to look into starting a restaurant. Before opening the food truck, Rison had been doing Zoom cooking demos, and had a passion for it too. Towards the end of 2020, he decided to start his own business. He found a Winnebago van which
he then purchased, refurbished and turned it into what we now know as Community Vegan. “I’d say what makes us unique is the food that we’re offering, we’ve got some unique items on our menu that you don’t find at all restaurants,” Rison said. According to Rison, the top three most popular menu items are the “Beer Battered Cauli Chikn Sandwich,” the “I used to eat fish” fish filet sandwich,” and the lemon pepper wings. Customers also love their shakes and crab cake totchos. Hayley Fulton’s role at Rebel Cheese is chief ambassador. Fulton said that she had been vegan for about 2 years and wanted to expand her basis. She began working there in April of 2021 and it was her first time ever
working in a restaurant. Fulton said she has stayed at Rebel Cheese because she loves being around her co-workers and has made great friends. She adds that she really likes the environment and doesn’t see herself leaving Rebel Cheese anytime soon. “Rebel Cheese is a vegan multi-shop which you definitely don’t see a lot of,” Fulton said. “That’s our thing, you get our fancy cheeses mixed with other dining options, and our food is great for people who are lactose intolerant as well which is a bonus.” Rebel Cheese has a deli, wine and cheese shop. They also serve salads, soups, and assorted pastries. Fulton said their “Bacon, Brie, Me” sandwich is a favorite among
Community Vegan’s “Beer Battered Cauli Chikn Sandwich.” Photo courtesy of Community Vegan.
Inside the Rebel Cheese resturaunt located on Aldrich St Suite 120, Austin, Tx. Photo courtesy of Rebel Cheese. The Community Vegan Winnebago Van located on 11th St, Austin, TX. Photo courtesy of Marlon Rison.
Rolling through austin | 27
customers. This sandwich is made with arugula, fig jam, bacon, and aged brie. Their most popular cheese is brie as well. “I really like the ‘Gentle Reuben’ sandwich,” Fulton said, “That’s my favorite on the menu, and it’s also my favorite cheese.” Some ingredients included in this sandwich are meatless corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing made from scratch. “We’re brand spanking new!” Rison said. “We have already met so many amazing people in the food industry and are learning so much along the way.” Rison said that Community Vegan has only been open for a few months, and some challenging aspects are the responsibilities you are required to take care of. They are slowly adapting and learning so that in the future there are no issues.
“When owning a new business, you find out that no matter how prepared you are, things will break down,” Rison said. That’s probably been the biggest hurdle as far as learning how to operate a business.” Rison said that since he started the business, he has enjoyed talking to people and finding out what their food experiences are, and then hopefully adding to it with some good food of his own. He adds that he thinks Community Vegan is successful because of the positivity, the upbeat music, and new food options. Fulton said that Rebel Cheese has a very friendly staff, and you can see that everyone gets along with each other very well right when you walk into the restaurant. “I think it’s a very welcoming environment,”Fulton said, ”Everyone is free to ask questions and try anything.” Fulton describes
the staff and environment as comforting and fun to be around. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected businesses everywhere. Some are even completely shutting down production, it has been a struggle in many different ways. “Even though the pandemic essentially shut down most businesses, people still need to eat,” Rison said, “We’ve still had an incredible opportunity to serve a lot of people who are still hungry during the pandemic.” Rison said that a vegan food truck also brings a lot of people who are trying to eat healthier. With people paying closer attention to their health and what they put in their body, Community Vegan has reached out to a whole new group of individuals. “I would say overall the business has adjusted positively to the pandemic but it’s not been
Rebel Cheese’s “Greater Grinder,” “Kind Caprese” and “The Frenchie” cold sandwiches. Photo courtesy of Rebel Cheese.
Community Vegan’s “Crab Cake Totchos” loaded with cheese and their in-house crab cake sauce, a customer favorite. Photo courtesy of Community Vegan.
Rolling through austin | 28
The wine collection at Rebel Cheese. Photo courtesy of Hayley Fulton.
“WE’RE BRAND SPANKING NEW!” -MARLON RISON
easy for us,” Fulton said, “We are doing the best they can but it has definitely been chaotic.” Fulton said as Austin was in stage five during COVID-19 , the dining room had been shut down, but the patio outside was still available. They were also trying to limit four people inside the restaurant at once. Owning a food truck is not easy, according to Rison, but still enjoyable. “My day starts around seven o’clock in the morning,” Rison said when describing his day-to-day life operating the truck. Rison said after he arrives at the food truck, he checks inventory and makes sure everything is ready and prepared for the day. He does any extra cleaning and food prep as needed. Business
opens at 11 A.M and according to Rison, things start to pick up quickly. “We usually take in a pretty good amount of orders during that lunch period,” Rison said, “So from 11:30 to about two o’clock, it’s typically very busy for us.” Rison said in the middle of the day there’s a break, and then from about four to seven, business is busy again until closing. Rebel Cheese is also pretty busy during the day according to Fulton. The hours of operation are from 11 a.m to 10 p.m. The busiest times of day range from 3 p.m to 9 p.m and most customers visit around p.m. “We definitely want to open up another food truck, either here in Austin or in Dallas,” Rison said.
“One of our bigger projects is to open up a bodega/deli here in the Austin area where we’re able to provide the full range of vegan and plant based products, all the way from grocery items to coffee and bakery items.” Fulton said that Rebel Cheese is a great place for friends and family to hang out and relax. Rebel Cheese plans to continue providing the upbeat and kind environment as well as the tasty food they serve. Community Vegan and Rebel Cheese are restaurants that all Austin residents have to visit, vegan or not. From their happy, positive environments, to the amazing food, these restaurants are a staple in the vegan community. Rolling through austin | 29
Austin’s Best Dessert Trucks This city has a unique selection of food trucks for people with a big BY VIBHA SHETH sweet tooth! From a hot, doughy treat to a cold, creamy delight, it’s all here! Keep reading to find the best desserts in Austin! Gourdough’s Donut’s specialize in fresh made donuts. They have many different options for fillings, glazes and toppings. Some of their specialty donuts have cream cheese icing, coconut filling, marshmallow cream and some are even topped with bacon!
Information provided by Roaming Hunger
Rolling through austin | 30
Lick Honest Ice Creams offers ingredients sourced directly from Austin. They make all menu items from scratch with no artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup. This truck is a must-try for anyone looking for their dream dessert.
The Cold Cookie Company is a brightly colored dessert truck that serves delicious ice cream sandwiches. First, you start by choosing your style of sandwich, next the flavor of ice cream, followed by the type of cookie. Lastly, add as many toppings as you like!
Hey Cupcake was one of the first airstream trailers on the streets of Austin. Customers are thrilled with their soft, fluffy, freshly baked cakes. Hey Cupcake now resides at The Picnic, a pit stop everyone needs to make.
The Churro Co is a food truck that provides a wide variety of toppings for their selection of unique churros. You can add ice cream, chocolate, coconut, caramel and many others. There’s nothing like this fried, cinnamon treat in Austin!
Rolling through austin | 31
Word Word Search Search T N P P E L S K K K F B Z Z Z I H E P OD R U I P I Q Z Q P ON B D F N A K O Z Y V O F A N A P K I N A EWN R E BWX P C R G L V E Q R GH A O T A DU S R E C K XMC N E X B T A C K DMDN S D UG K U I MU E O S L R I F I G E N I M E Q G C A S K E I K I R B E E S I N T T G B T T R C T N I F Y I OG C Z R D E F Y V P T K Q C EWR E S E Q K B A A A V D E E G T E XM L MD T D R AWQM C V X Y C T K N S D K O F WUWNWG O U R D Communityvegan
Konfusedesi
Valentinas
Gourdoughs Community Vegan
Antipasta Icecream
Antipasta Bananarchy BBQ Breakfast Budares Burger
Pizza Rolling through austin | 32
Budares
O R K B Z T C S A N A N N A S A U I F N A S J E A Z E B N K I D T C KM I XMG PW I O A H V K S I N F T J K D A O J S K NG E E X N E A H X O Q J L V OUGH
O P A U T Z D N E L I B J A T A C O N S
M R R C A I D E M S C B B Q E G F A P E
S O C E Q H E H U E I R D E O J D U V U
L Z H U E U E M E L L I Z O Z T A C O S
I Q Y T D V A L E N T I N A S V A G H Z
Mellizoztacos
Bananarchy
Knife
Sauce
Fork
Dessert
Taco
BBQ
Cannone Cuisine
Cuisine Dessert
Fork Gourdoughs Napkin
Ice Cream Breakfast Knife Konfusedesi Cannone Mellizoz Tacos Napkin Pizza Burger
Sauce Vegannom Spoon Taco Texmex Texmex Valentina’s VegannomSpoon
Maze Start
Finish Rolling through austin | 33
Rolling through austin | 34
Rolling through austin | 35
the End!
Rolling through austin | 36
