How a food truck scene evolves. First, trucks move around from place to place, in many cases because that’s what city law requires.

Then they find a parking lot or vacant lot in which to stay parked all the time. If the landlord has more room to add in a few neighbors, then you get a “pod” or “cluster.” Such collections of multiple food vendors are all over Austin, while the Boardwalk on Bulverde is the heart of San Antonio’s scene.

Now it’s the Metroplex’s turn. The Fort Worth Food Park, the first food court of its kind in DFW, will open on December 2, four months after receiving a city variance, which will permit the trucks to stay immobile and allow the lot to provide power, water and disposal services to the eateries.

“You can see that the food truck culture in Austin, Portland, Los Angeles and similar cities is really starting to move towards a food-court-setting with a number of trucks working together,” said park owner Chris Kruger when he announced the new business. “So I wanted to bring that trend to Fort Worth.”

Kruger, who owns the land at 2509 Weisenberger St. near the West Seventh Street–Montgomery Ward entertainment district, has made room for six trucks. DFW.com’s Robert Philpot* reported that the Good Karma Kitchen truck will be a fixture, while others will rotate in and out.

Other trailers that will be there opening night include YES! Taco, Nammi Truck, Lee’s Grilled Cheeses, Red Jett Sweets, and Jake’s Hamburgers. All the trucks involved can continue to be mobile when the park’s not open—at first it will only be open Thursdays though Sundays.

Food truck enthusiasts welcome this new development. The Facebook account for Austin and Fort Worth chef Louis Lambert’s recent cookbook, Big Ranch, Big City, commented on the park’s own Facebook page, “It’s great to see the trend take hold in Fort Worth,” read the wall post.

However, Lambert himself recently told our own Layne Lynch, “I hate to even acknowledge food trucks. I think food trucks will run their course. The market is getting overcrowded, and I don’t think it can sustain itself.” (He was presumably talking about Austin.)

Also sounding a less cheerful note was Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Eats Beat columnist Bud Kennedy, who said “I’m still a skeptic” in a tweet about the park. “This park has a bad location,” Kennedy clarified to me in another tweet. “But I generally favor businesses that lease spaces and stay in a community, not those on wheels.”

More from WFAA, which filed this report, centered around cupcake maker Red Jett Sweets.

Tagged: Boardwalk on Bulverde, Eats Beat, Fort Worth Food Park, Good Karma Kitchen, Red Jett Sweets, Trailer Thursday

For the grand opening of his new “veggie-centric” food trailer, Soular Food Garden, Hoover Alexander invited attendees to take a celebratory stroll with him around his childhood stomping grounds. The small group began their walk at the trailer’s East 12th street plot, continued to his church’s community garden, and finished at the high school where his parents first met. Along the way, Alexander detailed his memories of living and cooking just east of IH-35.

“Soular Food Garden came out of a desire to literally and metaphorically get back to my roots,” Alexander said. “All of these things stirred around in my head in what I call ‘the divine stirring of the pudding.’ Thirteen years ago I opened Hoover’s Cooking, and I’d describe it as almost a spiritual experience. We looked at a lot of different places to open up, but it was meant to be here in the East Side. The same goes for Soular Food Garden. I’ve closed my eyes and taken a leap of faith.”

The two establishments couldn’t sit further away from one another on the lifestyle spectrum. Frequenters at Hoover’s know the menu isn’t “veggie-centric,” unless crunchy fried okra, creamy macaroni and cheese, and sweet candied yams count. The healthier, greener menu choices of Soular Food Garden are Alexander’s personal choice, a result of his efforts to take better care of his own health. By incorporating more vegetables into his eating habits, the chef has already lost 30 pounds.

“I’ve got some work to do in terms of health and wellness, and the idea of taking baby steps resonated with me. I’m not an either/or kind of guy. I like my meat and ain’t no denying that,” he said. “This just gives me an opportunity to take a new direction. I can learn to plant some things, learn to grow some things, and just embrace what veggies have to offer.”

It’s not that Alexander hasn’t always appreciated his Southern sides, but the affection for mashed potatoes and cowboy beans has been replaced with cleaner vegetables such as collard greens and beets. “I’m a product of the Texas culture,” he said. “But I’m going through a period of personal and business deconstruction.” (more…)

Tagged: austin, Hoover Alexander, Hoover's Cooking, Layne Lynch, Soular Food Garden, Trailer Thursday

I first saw Japanese takoyaki - a delectably ambrosial octopus dumpling that has graced the shops and street corners of Japan for centuries – on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. Immediately I hopped to my computer and conducted a frantic search for takoyaki restaurants in Texas. There had to be some Japanese transplant living the American Dream somewhere in Texas peddling authentic foods of the homeland to American foodies. There just had to be.

Needless to say, I got nothing, not even a nibble. I should’ve known better. The extent of authentic Japanese cookery here is as far-reaching as a Philadelphia roll at happy hour on a store-bought tatami downtown.

Then one fateful afternoon, a friend called me up and suggested we visit a new food truck: Love Balls. Putting other possible connotations aside, this truck really holds true to the name. “We make balls, and we put love into them,” says owner Gabe Rothschild, 27.

They certainly do, with all entrees made right to order. The process is a meticulous and slow one, but it’s worth the approximate 10-20 minute wait. Each order of takoyaki comes with eight chewy chunks of octopus encased in a searing-hot ball of dough, seasoned to savory perfection and topped with a helpful heap of special Japanese mayo, powdered seaweed and bonito flakes.

“We were eating at a lot of food trailers and something was missing: Japanese street food,” says Rothschild. “And we thought takoyaki was accessible, quirky and fit into the Austin food scene. Nobody was doing it town; nobody was even doing it in Texas. And we figured a lot of people would be interested, curious about it. And it was a form we could play with.” (more…)

Tagged: Anthony Bourdain, austin, Gabe Sao Rothschild, Love Balls Bus, no reservations, Takoyaki, Trailer Thursday

Houston is no stranger to food trucks- traditional Mexican, Central, and South American trucks have been here for decades, and their influence has worked its way well into the four-star restaurant scene.

The restaurant community in Houston has fought these trucks off for some time, but the advent of “chef-driven” and “gourmet” trucks have brought new light to the subject, and the restaurant stalwarts recently have changed their tune, thanks in part to local-driven efforts by JR Cohen’s “Stay Local, Grow Together” campaign, Houston’s mayor Annise Parker, and Laura Spanjian, Houston’s Sustainability Director.

There are no less than ten new food trucks opening their stainless-steel door flaps in Houston every single week. Some have held their ground, and many have failed. Most come from Austin, and have failed due to a misunderstanding of the dynamics of the City of Houston’s antiquated regulations, without knowledge of the recent progress made by pro-food truck groups in the city.

One group of crazed hip-hop fans jumped into Houston’s food truck craze right at its climax, and they’ve taken the city by storm.

Matt Marcus (a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America), Ryan Soroka (a business/hotel and restaurant UH grad) and Alex Vassilakidis have been friends since childhood, and they started the “Eatsie Boys” truck last year.  It was a huge hit, until the summer dragged on into brutality.  They could handle cooking in the truck, but the fact remained that it was just too hot outside to bring a big crowd out to eat outdoors.

So they decided to start an ice cream truck. The idea was simple: Use great ingredients, and name your flavors after Beastie Boys songs.

Since the Eatsie Boys ice cream truck turned loose in the late summer, it’s brought wild crowds from abound. Maybe it’s just ice cream in hot weather, but it probably has a lot to do with perfect timing, and a marketing campaign that Taco Bell would kill for. Legendary Houston rapper Bun-B  (of UGK fame), with over 305,000 Twitter followers,  has been a big proponent of the Eatsie Boys truck since trying them out at local music venue.

I talked to Matt and Ryan over a cold scoop of  “Makers Mark Some Noise” with Golden Grahams. (more…)

Tagged: Alex Vassilakidis, Allison Cook, Bun-B, Guns and Tacos, Houston, ice cream, Matt Marcus, Ryan Soroka, Trailer Thursday

Flickr/Sean Loyless

Last year, a massive horde of foodies and families descended on Auditorium Shores for the first-annual Gypsy Picnic. This time around, festival organizers are making tweaks that they hope will ensure last year’s long lines and long waits remain a thing of the past.

“We learned a ton from last year’s festival and have adjusted our plans accordingly,” says Lindsay Hoffman, festival marketing manager. “We’ve expanded our footprint in Auditorium Shores giving people more room to spread out and enjoy the park. We’ve also been working closely with the trailers to prepare for the kind of numbers we saw last year.”

And this means, as their website says, that visitors should expect “improved service to get food faster,” as well as a “larger line-up of Austin’s food trailers.” Oh yes, that’s right; there’s going to be much more food, probably enough to stuff yourself to your heart’s, or, rather, gut’s desire. More than 40 vendors are on the bill, and the Picnic is welcoming back Gypsy veterans Torchy’s Tacos and Gourdough’s. Among the many trailers making their festival debut are Hey Cupcake! and Kebabalicious. (more…)

Tagged: Trailer Thursday

Photo Courtesy Green House/Facebook

Next fall, the hum and buzz of construction in the area separating the Dallas Arts District from Uptown will subside with the opening of the Woodall Rodgers Park, a “deck park” that is being constructed atop the Woodall Rodgers freeway. The 5.2-acre, which will connect the two areas, is aimed to lure office workers and Dallas residents out of their buildings and onto the streets.

Efforts are already underway to spark a pedestrian renaissance in advance of the park’s opening. Veletta Lill, executive director of the Dallas Arts District, was instrumental in pushing through changes to city zoning ordinances allowing food trucks in the arts district.

“We want to create foot traffic and create a sense of place for the district as a whole,” Lill says. “We’ve spent thirty years developing our buildings and we’ll spend the next twenty years developing our parks and outdoor spaces and making the district itself a destination.”

Food trucks have been setting up in a parking lot on Flora Street across from the Trammel Crow Center since June, when City Council changed the rule that forced food trucks to move every 59 minutes. (more…)

Tagged: Dallas Arts District, Green House, Trailer Thursday, Woodall Rodgers Park

When you think “BBQ in Lockhart,” you think Kreuz & Smitty’s – but a lot of people swear by Black’s. And when you think “taco trailer on South 1st St.,” you think Torchy’s – but there’s also Izzoz Tacos, which opened in December of 2008 in the same parking lot that the first Torchy’s used to be in. Izzoz has since moved its 42-foot trailer (bigger than some restaurant kitchens!) farther south, down to the corner of W. Monroe. But it’s all still one big taco neighborhood.

“A lot of people said ‘you’re f’in crazy – why would you open up a taco trailer right across from Torchy’s?,’” says Izzoz manager Adam Winters. “But we felt like we could compete. Other than the fried “avo,” [avocado],  I don’t know if there’s too many similarities between our tacos and theirs.”

Now run by Winters and his wife, Jessica Galindo-Winters, Izzoz was originally started by Jessica’s brother John Galindo, a professional chef whose resume includes stints at Wimberley’s Cedar Grove Steakhouse, North at the Domain and Red House Pizzeria (he’s now working for Texas A&M, having recently relocated to College Station with his girlfriend).

The Galindo family’s history with food in Austin goes back 50 years. They ran a restaurant called Casa Loma at E. 7th St. and Lydia; more recently they had a place of the same name in Wimberley. (more…)

Tagged: austin, carnitas, Corn tortillas, fried avocado, Izzoz Tacos, Jason Cohen, tortas, Trailer Thursday

Through recent years of watching celebrity chefs like Mario Batali and Giada De Laurentiis magically unveil classic Italian dishes on television screens, many have been convinced the dish is as easy as 1, 2, 3 (eggs, flour, water). But the chefs and cooks who have mastered it know better; the truth is, pasta is utterly deceiving.

Nevertheless, a new food trailer has deemed itself up to the culinary challenge. Regal Ravioli, a vibrant yellow trailer, has parked its wheels in East Austin and invited all ravioli lovers to come out and chew. Speaking to those who are awaiting cooler temperatures to brave outdoor dining, the blackboard outside wants a word with you: “No, it’s not too hot for pasta.”

Behind the trailer’s small, sliding window stands Zach Adams. Adams spent over a decade with The Neighborhood Restaurant Group in Washington, D.C., opening an eclectic mix of restaurants, and also has a film degree from American University. Two years ago, he migrated to Austin, hoping to undertake a new direction. He spent those two years working as a bartender at Corazon at Castle Hill, studying the techniques and styles of local food trailers in his spare time. Within a year, he found an open niche and began developing the menu and concept of his trailer.

Tagged: austin, East Austin, Gnocchi, Layne Lynch, Pasta, Ravioli, Regal Ravioli, Trailer Thursday

Photo via Melange Creperie’s Facebook Page.

On a recent Monday, Sean Carroll was slinging crepes at Melange Creperie outside Mango’s Cafe in the Montrose. Eight patrons were lined up in front of me, all of them trying to choose between the week’s offerings scrawled on a chalkboard hung at the front of the stand. Carroll, known as Buffalo Sean, was wearing a straw hat to guard against the Houston sun. The line moved quickly, as Carroll seems to have perfected the art of efficient crepe making since opening Melange Creperie 1.5 years ago.

The crepes tend towards the inventive, with some trusty staples—ham and cheese, Nutella banana—thrown in. I resisted the call of Nutella, and opted for one of the week’s savory specials, the Makua Yow crepe. I happily devoured this delightful Thai basil eggplant creation topped with garlic chili sauce, though I did find myself wishing for more salt.

The selections vary each week, depending on what’s available at the farmer’s market. “We try to be local, as long as the price point is there, and we definitely try to be seasonal,” Carroll said, adding that the Makua Yow crepe came about because basil was the only thing left in his garden.

Carroll, a 31-year-old native of Buffalo, New York (hence the nickname) moved to Houston 13 years ago to go to U of H and never left. During the downturn, he lost three jobs—at an art gallery, a website and a museum—in quick succession and decided he needed to strike out on his own. (more…)

Tagged: Crepes, Houston, Melange Creperie, Trailer Thursday

A bright red sign outlined in neon lights screams CHICKEN as you approach Ms P’s Electric Cock, a large silver trailer on a quieter part of South Congress Avenue. As you may have guessed from the attention-getting name, Ms P’s is not a place for subtlety. It is, however, a place for really good fried chicken. Or should I say fried CHICKEN!

Owner Perry Ray (a.k.a. Ms P) was inspired to open the trailer because she didn’t feel there was a place in Austin focused on putting out great fried chicken and southern comfort side dishes. Growing up in Tahoka, TX, Ray learned how to make fried chicken from her great grandmother, who she called “Big Mama.” (Awesome-sounding nicknames appear to run in the family).

Ray says her great grandmother “was a self-taught cook and a baker and was really good at both. Since I could stand on a stool to reach the cabinets she was teaching me how to cook.”

Big Mama made her fried chicken in a cast-iron skillet, but to make larger quantities to order, Ray had to learn how to make it taste just as good in a fryer. She developed a two-step brining process and amped up the spice level of the original recipe.

I stopped by Ms P’s on a Friday night to sample the goods. Funky music blasted from the trailer’s window. Official t-shirts featured a proud rooster sporting a hip pompadour and radiating electric sparks. Slogan on the back of the t-shirt: Good Cluck’n Chicken.

The chicken earned its star billing. Juicy meat was encased in a crispy coating that tasted just-the-right-amount of spicy. A three-piece platter was served with soft rolls and topped with big fresh jalapenos that just about dared you to bite into them. The fries, called Farm Frites, had an extra jolt of flavor from an unexpected sprinkling of thyme. (more…)

Tagged: austin, chicken, Corn, Food Trailers. Food Trucks, Fried Chicken, Ms P's Electric Cock, Trailer Thursday, Waffles