Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Are food trucks safe?

By Brittany Lesoon



Mobile kitchens are trending throughout U.S. cites, with legitimate chefs manning the ovens and showcasing creative trucks with jaw-dropping food. Food trucks have been accepted by the mainstream food industry, often with lower prices and faster service than traditional restaurants.

Meals on wheels have been rapidly increasing throughout Central Texas. With this trend gaining such momentum, customers want to know how health regulations for food trucks measure up to a regular restaurant.


 Leah Shelton, 24, works at the Short Bus location on Barton Springs Road in Austin. Shelton explained they wear gloves and change them out regularly, keep counter tops clean, wash all the dishes, use sanitary bottles and spray down everything at the end of the day.

"Trucks are required to follow strict guidelines and they are inspected as often as restaurants," Shelton said.


Shelton offers pointers to let locals and travelers determine if food trucks are sanitary and are taking health precautions.

What to look for when eating at a food truck:  


  • A License. By law, food trucks need one to be completely visible so the local health department can track them for random inspections (just like any other restaurant). Why this matters to locals or travelers: Illegal operators tend to not worry as much about temperature and proper storage as an owner who knows an inspector could drop by at any time.

"Not having a food permit is a big no no, they need to be visible," Shelton said. "If you don't have a permit, you will get shut down and have a certain amount of time to get permit up or you get fined."


  • Good grades. Food trucks post their latest inspection grade on the window. The worse the grade, the greater chance of getting a food-borne illness.
Shelton was very reassuring that health inspectors do come and good sanitation is a must in order to own a food truck. 



  • Gloves. People are more likely to get sick because a truck (or restaurant) employee has bad hygiene. In fact, one of the leading causes of food-borne illness is contamination from someone's filthy hands.

"We wear gloves while handling food and change them regularly," Shelton said. 


Gloves aren't legally required everywhere, but workers seen wearing gloves are a good sign that food safety is taken seriously at that food truck.


Photo by Aubrie Iverson

Lunch from a different perspective


By Chandler Voswinkel


Food trucks around the Central Texas area are becoming more and more popular, and are ideal in cities where a lot of action can be found. Austin is a prime example.

Throughout the city, people can find clumps of trailers with customers lined up outside the window for food. Yes, food. Skepticism may arise while considering having lunch from a trailer over a dine-in restaurant, but the regulars will be the first to say that the food trucks won’t disappoint.  

Rianne, a 25-year-old Austinite, works across the street from Short Bus Subs and says that she enjoys the sandwiches so much, she comes on her days off.

“There are trucks all over the place.” Rianne said, as she recommended other food trucks throughout the city. LuLu B’s and East Side King were a couple of her favorites, along with Short Bus Subs.

While visiting food trucks, regulars can be found everywhere. Rianne visits Short Bus Subs so often that the employees called out her order before she had a chance to say anything. First timers can put their worries at ease knowing that the food trucks see so many frequent visitors.

Food trucks hold a sense of community and many visit for that reason. Customers get to interact one-on-one with the people in the kitchen, making the food truck experience more enjoyable than a traditional restaurant for many people. Mobile dining may be questionable but there's got to be some reason that people keep coming back for more!  


Photo by Brittany Lesoon


Quality, friendly and weird... Simply the best!

By Stephanie Diaz
Texas State junior and lover of food on wheels (especially tacos)


Austin is packed with food trucks, making it a great place for city dwellers to eat their way across town. 
These food trucks not only represent Austin and its people at its best, but also calls on entrepreneurs look into the concept of a food truck.

"Austin is very friendly to local businesses, whereas people here prefer a local business than something tied to a chain,” said Julie Reyes, a University of Texas alumnus from Houston.  Reyes visits Austin to satisfy her palate with these tasty foods.

The very first time Julie Reyes and her friend Emily Rigby were introduced to food trucks was in 2009, when they first moved to the city of Austin to attend UT.  Now that they are in graduate and law school, they have remained faithful to these hot spots in the metropolitan area. They both agree that this business is growing and the cities surrounding are catching on to the trend.

James Winsett from Fort Worth, Texas, is a construction worker in the Austin area and a fan of the food trucks and the idea.

"I've been consuming since June. I'm a regular," said Winsett. "I usually come for lunch and I love it. I like the vendors, the atmosphere and the ease of accessibility."



When asked why he would chose a food truck over a restaurant, he answered without hesitation.

“I’m burned out on all the other fast food stuff, and this is relatively what I would call homemade compared to fast food restaurants," said Winsett. "This type of food is something I would prepare for myself.”

Reyes and Rigby also believe that the competition for business in Austin leads to food trucks producing higher-quality product than customers might expect.  For these students, the trailers are nothing like fast food.

“I think people who don’t have experience with food trucks might have a misconception," Reyes said. "But (these trucks) have amazing quality and (those people) are missing out."

These popular spots are a great place to dine with family and friends, especially if they have different tastes. Most of the groupings around the city host a variety of food styles, all at one location.

Food trucks are an inexpensive way to get food out to the masses without the risk and red tape involved with leasing a building space. As a result, the renegade spirit of doing something out of the ordinary and a little bit different matches perfectly with the capitol city's "Keep Austin Weird!" slogan.


For more information on Ranch Rio Eatery and the grub they have to offer, visit their Facebook page here.

Photography by Stephanie Diaz

Austinites turn to food trucks for something new

By Aubrie Iverson
Texas State undergraduate and fearless taste tester


AUSTIN -- The trademark minuscule kitchens and pop-open windows of the modern food truck industry have gained rapid popularity across Travis County, garnering regular customers that workers know by name and by order.



A sea of blue markers represents the immense number of food trucks in the Austin area.  Austin Mobile Food Map courtesy of Google.

The lunch trucks and dessert joints that pepper today's maps are a far cry from the first of their kind, but not far at all from the food trailer's origin.  Born during the Reconstruction, the first chuck wagons kept Texas cowboys fed on cattle drives and represented the "rugged individualism" that defines the American spirit, according to the American Chuck Wagon Association history page.  With roots in the Lone Star State, it's no surprise that Austin's food truck popularity is always on the rise.

The capitol city, known for its live music, hippie mentality and legislative headquarters, has been winning over the hearts, minds and ballots of Austin and its visitors for decades.  But the food truck trend has taken aim at a very different target: their appetites.  From pizza to doughnuts, from gyro to tofu, business is booming with no end in sight.

The Short Bus Subs location on Barton Springs Road in
South Austin is a popular choice for local foodies
who crave something a little different.
Photo by Aubie Iverson.
From the chaps-clad community of the 19th century to modern East 6th Street's late-night grub central, a devoted following is something all successful food trucks share.  For Brian Robbins, a tech mechanic at Rocket Electrics in Austin, the mobile eateries cropping up around the city have become a must-have for his daily lunch break.

"The food here is just incredible," he said.  "I would recommend them to anyone."

Mobile eateries have steadily gained popularity at the hands of ingenious cooks and loyal customers, aided in part by cable television shows such as the premiere of The Great Food Truck Race in August 2010 and related stunts.  The major recession of 2008 resulted in widespread layoffs across America, forcing high-end commercial chefs into the role of entrepreneurs and birthing competition that has up-ended the traditional restaurant industry for good.

Eric, owner of Hey! You Gonna Eat or What?, is one of those entrepreneurs.  Laid off at 45 years old, Eric (who goes only by his first name), was unemployed and living off food stamps when he decided to open a food truck, according to an interview with Felisha Bull of Grunge Grubbin'.  Two years later, Eric's business is the top-rated food truck in Austin and winner of the 2013 Truck by Truckwest competition, with a sky-high Yelp rating to boot.

Throughout the Austin-Travis County area, it is clear that the food truck biz is here to stay.  For more information on the community and a great place to grab lunch, visit Food Trailers Austin or Austin Food Carts for suggestions and locations.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Interview with a food truck owner

By Felisha Bull
Texas State student and Central Texas foodie




Many people have been to what society deems a traditional restaurant.  It doesn't move around, it offers several courses and the wait staff makes sure drinks are always full.  But here in Central Texas, things are done a little differently.  

This little niche of Texas offers mobile food.  Literally, food that can travel around town and pop up where customers least expect it.  These mobile eateries are more commonly known as food trucks or food trailers and this is a glimpse into their typical day.

“It’s very time consuming,” said Eric, the 47-year-old owner of Hey! Are You Gonna Eat Or What?.  “I work about 80 hours per week.”

Eric spends every morning shopping and prepping for his 12 to 10 p.m. shifts of slicing, dicing and frying so he can serve the best possible meals to every one of his customers.

These long hours could be part of the reason they market their truck as “the rudest restaurant in Austin”, or it could be the fact that their social media reviews put their food on such a pedestal they can afford to be a little sassy.

“The single biggest factor in the success were the reviews on Yelp,” Eric said. People came and enjoyed his food so much that they quickly pushed him to the top of the food charts.


Much of Eric’s success can be attributed to his uncanny ability to describe exactly what his customers will be tasting.  It’s a trait that comes easily because almost everything is homemade, and it more than likely helped him win the grand prize at Austin’s Truck by Truck West.

Hey! Are You Gonna Eat or What? is rated the number one food truck in Austin, as well as the number three restaurant overall, according to their website.


Photography by Felisha Bull