Food Truck Foodie: yume burger

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Trading Spaces, Trading Places

Returning to Austin after a three-month hiatus in Dallas has been like a breath of fresh air. It may be really hot, humid air, but it's good to be back nonetheless.

This fall I'll be balancing a healthy diet with exploring new food trucks (and visiting my old faves, of course!), so that means you'll get a balance of healthy and indulgent options from the trucks. This stricter diet is a goal of mine because I'm planning for a trip to Europe this summer! I want to be able to eat all the cheese and drink all the wine I want with a guilt free conscious. Annnd that's the last time you'll be getting a diet update from me!

Since I've been gone, not only have a few food truck lots shut down, but there've been other relocations and food trucks that have become (or at least plan to be) full blown brick and mortars:

Brick and Mortar:

Gourdough's
Prepare your pallet for the sweetness that is to be served up at Gourdough's Public House! The king of Big. Fat. Donuts. is going brick and mortar this fall, Relish Austin reports. I can't wait to see what kind of over the top cocktail recipes they come up with.

From the new Gourdough's Pub website.

Keep updated on the grand opening here.

Yumé Burger

Eater Austin reported a couple of weeks ago that our beloved Yumé Burger was closing permanently. Fans across the interwebz collectively mourned the loss of such a deliciously unique food truck.

From the YB Facebook page.

On the bright side, The Peached Tortilla & Yumé Burger may be opening as a brick and mortar restaurant. As soon as I learn more information, you'll hear about it.

East Side King

Paul Qui has been especially busy in the last year and a half, and he's not slowing down anytime soon. Qui told Eater Austin in August that he'll be opening a brick and mortar of ESK around March 2013.

If you can't wait that long to eat some fried Brussels sprouts in the luxury of AC, then just hold out a little longer for the East Side King menu to take over the kitchen at Hole in the Wall off Guad.

The caption says it all.

A review of ESK and more details coming soon!

Leaving Austin:

Star Co. Mobile Coffee House
The trailer is putting in a bid to move to the potential new "food trailer park" in Roundrock. Because Roundrockers want all the good Austin grub up North too.

Back in Austin:
Fresh Off the Truck
They've been serving troops stationed in Fort Hood for the last month or so, but returned to Mueller Trailer Eats this week.

A happy customer from Ft. Hood! From FOT Facebook page.

Grab a Char-Sieu BBQ Pork Baguette this weekend and thank them for supporting our troops!
*Note: the truck is closed if it's raining.

Which brick and mortar are you most excited for? How bummed are you that Yumé Burger closed? Tell me whatcha think in the comments below!

Friday, March 16, 2012

SXSW Food Truck Highlights

Three days of SXSW and I'm beat, but a sweet list of free concerts, free parties and free food spots is what's keeping me going (rough life I know). This has been one of the best weeks of my life and a big part of the experience has been surviving off all of the food trucks downtown. So, a big thank you to you guys for keeping me and the rest of SXSW fed!

Here're the highlights of where I've chowed:

mmmpanadas
THE Mashable food truck (mmmpanadas wrapped in the Mashable logo) was the first truck I spotted last week when I left from my last day of work before Spring Break. I snapped this pic from the balcony of Cohn & Wolfe.

The pic was later posted on the Mashable site as I was informed via Twitter. I didn't actually sample the mmmpanadas though, I'm going to have to catch them soon.

Yumé Burger at Foodspotting Street Food Fest
We braved the rain and stopped by the Foodspotting party Saturday with a wide assortment of trucks including, Surf n Turf Poboy, Yumeburger, Peached Tortilla, One Taco, Lucy's Fried Chicken and others.

Yumé Burger has been on my list for a while now, so naturally I got this bad boy:

The Original with the awesome jalapeno-onion relish and "pink sauce."

It wasn't on their SXSW menu, but I want to go back and try the Chicken Katsu: panko encrusted deep fried chicken, Asian slaw Tonkatsu sauce and Japanese pickles. It sounds so good.

Coolhaus
Can you say free ice cream sandwich!? Not before someone jumps on you and asks where they get their own. Thanks to a startup app, PayGo (for iPhone and Android), a visit to the bing lot and a quick download of the app, and I got a chocolate chip cookie with Nutella ice cream sandwich. FO FREE.

The cookie was tasty and soft, but the Nutella ice cream was a little much for me, I'd get traditional vanilla next time.

This tweet from Coolhaus actually drew me to the truck. #pandalove

Coreanos
The same app got me a free Coreanos taco--which I later was told was a bug in the app because I was supposed to only have a $5 credit-whoops. I made up for it with a second visit to Coreanos later in the week. Seasoned fries + korean bbq chicken taco make for great refuel food.

Sidenote: Coreanos was recently named the #1 food truck in Texas and the 8th best food truck in the nation by Smithsonian Magazine. So, if you haven't tried this food yet, get moving!

**UPDATED**

Chupacabra
I've never ventured inside Chupacabra Cantina off East 6th, but I did visit the Chupacabra stand after I danced my self starving at the Jay Z show Monday (see pics below!).

My order was a version of the Yucatan Pulled Pork Tacos, but on a hoagie roll. The slow smoked pork shoulder, jack cheese, jicama slaw and habanero-sour cream hit the late-night spot.

Squarespace - P. Terry's
Squarespace, a seamless site that allows users to build sophisticated websites for their company, blog or personal business, visited SXSW again this year, but stayed for the full 9 days. So the question I have for myself is, why the heck did I not make my way to their amazing free food truck everyday?

The line up included, The Peached Tortilla, Salt & Time, Three Little Pigs, Izzos Tacos, East Side King, Man Bites Dog, Foreign and Domestic, and others. Clearly, these guys did their research and pulled together some of the best food in Austin.

The first day I stopped by was for P. Terry's, a "local chain" if you will, serving up some of the best burgers in Austin. I was having a momentary bout of insanity and ordered two veggie burgers that I made into one large burger. This was to make myself think I was being 'healthier' than ordering the real beef, which I immediately regretted. My friends all raved about their 100% all natural black angus beef patties, so at least they were satisfied!

Squarespace - FRANKLIN BARBECUE
I had planned on visiting the highly praised Franklin Barbecue (that people have a cult-like devotion to) during Spring Break/SXSW because I thought I'd have the time to wait in the 2 hour long line, but that plan never panned out.

When we went back to Squarespace the second and final time around, I nearly started crying with joy when I found out we were in line for FREE FRANKLIN BARBECUE. Free. And with only a 20 minute wait.

The brisket slider with was my favorite. I probably could have had 12 of those little bites of heaven.

Other nommings
Easy Tiger
I also had the chance to ~~pig out~~ sample the Cooking Channel + Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden party. The garlic sausage on a pretzel bun and the beer cheese were my favorites of the many, many things I tried.

Frank
I'm not sure if the 50 minute wait was worth it, but the Beer Soaked Brat from Frank was delish and held me over for the majority of St. Patty's Day. I also got two free coffees out of it because the bartender felt so bad about how long my two to-go hotdogs took.

And here are a few of my fave pics from the past week: