Keep on Truckin’

From Korean tacos and excellent empanadas to authentic New England clam chowder and over-the-top French toast, seemingly any culinary creation imaginable can be ordered these days through the window of a food truck. Variety is the literal spice of life for these ubiquitous rigs and their owners. With the help of huge social media followings, they can (and often do) attract crowds of hungry diners who stand in parking lots and on busy sidewalks – any place where food trucks park – to order and enjoy fresh-made, gourmet-style entrees, side items, drinks and desserts. Look for this scene to play out at the 10th annual Frisco StrEATS Food Truck & Music Festival, scheduled May 7 in Frisco’s Rail District at 4th and Elm Streets. (Visit friscoraildistrictmerchants.com/streats for additional details.)Today’s food trucks are a far cry from the so-called “roach coaches” of yesteryear, best known for selling prepackaged sandwiches, bagged chips and can of sodas to workers at construction sites and the like. Instead, on many modern food trucks, you’re likely to find a highly trained, experienced chef behind the grill crafting innovative dishes with complex flavors that rival those served at traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants. If it seems as though food trucks – most with catchy names and splashy graphics – are everywhere these days, it’s because they are: Nearly 33,000 of the vehicles are currently operating throughout the United States according to Restaurant Engine, a website for independent restaurant owners. It also reports that more than 2.5 billion people eat items from food trucks daily. Meanwhile, food truck parks – including the Frisco Rail Yard – have become popular dining destinations, with some boasting bars, live entertainment, outdoor games and other activities that complement the rotating selection of trucks that drive in, prepare, cook and serve their signature dishes. Frisco STYLE caught up with the owner-operators of five North Texas food trucks that frequent Frisco to learn how they got their start in this red-hot industry, what the best-selling items on their menus are and what they enjoy most about feeding folks.

Cactus Cafe

Kristy McDonald knows a thing or two about the food truck industry. In 2016, she and her husband, Greg McDonald, and business partner, Tamme Leff, opened the Frisco Rail Yard at 9040 First St. The family friendly food-truck park hosts a rotating lineup of rigs (usually a couple at a time) that roll in, set up shop and serve a wide variety of cuisine to hungry customers.The Rail Yard is also home to a couple of permanent food trailers serving such traditional fare as hot dogs, pizza and ice cream. Other draws include live music performances on its stage, special events, recently installed sand volleyball courts and other outdoor games. Among the food trucks that frequent the park is Cactus Café. The McDonalds, along with business partners Jose and Diana Zamora, co-own and operate with the eatery that is a colorful 1990 Chevrolet Step Van. “We do more authentic Mexican (-style food) than we do Tex-Mex,” Kristy McDonald explains of the menu, which is largely devised and prepared by Jose Zamora. “Our salsa will kick your butt, it’s very spicy. We use corn tortillas for everything.”

True to its name, one of Cactus Café’s signature dishes is Steak and Cactus tacos, featuring a marinated cactus salad, melted cheese and a spicy jalapeno salsa. Other offerings include the Loaded Quesadilla featuring steak, chorizo sausage, onions, mushrooms and jalapenos; Spicy Shrimp Tacos served with a marinated coleslaw; and the Loaded Tater Tots with queso, bacon and green onion. “Obviously those aren’t a Mexican item, but it’s pretty darn yummy,” Kristy says. Besides the Frisco Rail Yard, the Cactus Café truck frequently is parked at the Truck Yard in The Colony as well as at other spots in Frisco and Plano. It also is available for hire to cater private parties and corporate events. For several years, the McDonalds owned and operated the popular 5th Street Patio Café in Frisco, where Jose Zamora served as head cook. One advantage of the food truck over running a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Kristy says, “is that you don’t have to be open every day. You work it as much as you want to work it.” On the other hand, she says she has seen plenty of people purchase their own food trucks thinking that the business would be a breeze. “They quit their jobs and they take all of their life’s savings and put it into a truck and they think that’s gonna be all they do. That can be awesome if you work your tail off.” Food trucks typically are busiest during the spring and fall months, she explains, when the temperatures in North Texas are mostly pleasant. But, at any point, inclement weather can cancel an event and send anticipated profits plummeting. “If it rains, you get canceled. If it’s too hot, people don’t want to be outside necessarily. … If it’s too cold, (diners) don’t want to stand in line at a truck in 35-degree weather,” Kristy explains. “We’ve seen so many trucks come and go because people think it’s a regular job.” Nevertheless, Kristy says she wouldn’t trade the food truck business for another. “I think it’s something that’s awesome if you are prepared to not only work hard, but to take the lows with the highs.”

Egg Stand

As the sales manager for a commercial construction company, Mike Luttinger spent many days on the road. During a trip to Los Angeles, he visited a farmer’s market and noticed that one stall seemed to get more attention than others. It was a restaurant with an egg-centric menu. Always on the lookout for a side hustle, Luttinger thought it was a concept that he could successfully operate and consulted with his brother-in-law, who was the head chef at an exclusive New York restaurant. The chef advised him to instead keep his good-paying day job.A few years later, in 2016, the company that Luttinger had worked at for 15 years let him go. At age 57, he received a sizable buyout offer but had no idea what to do with his life. He submitted resumes but good job offers failed to materialize.“I was sitting at home for about a month and a half driving my wife crazy,” he recalled. “Finally, I decided that I just had to get away for a couple of days.” To clear his head, Luttinger visited Las Vegas and, while riding up a hotel escalator, he spotted a location of the same egg restaurant that he had seen years earlier in Los Angeles. “I literally ran up to my room, got a pen and started taking notes,” he recalled.

After about two hours of observing the restaurant, he had seen all that he needed to see and determined it was a business that he could run. Despite having grown up helping in the kitchen of a deli his parents had operated, his chef skills were a bit rusty. Nevertheless, he secured a food truck in Austin and drove it home to North Texas despite being nervous about what the future held for him and the business. His first big break came when Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony allowed him to set up shop.People loved the food, Luttinger said, and before long he was parking the truck at a variety of events. Those eventually led to invitations to set up at the Frisco Rail Yard, the Truck Yard in Dallas and on the campuses of Southern Methodist University and UT Dallas.Luttinger said one of Egg Stand’s best sellers is its signature sandwich called Da Boss. It’s a hamburger made with Angus beef and topped with gouda cheese, mac and cheese, bacon, hash browns, onion strings, chipotle ketchup and, of course, an egg. The truck also offers an assortment of other specialty burgers, side items and fresh-cut French fries.“Everything is made to order, so if someone is allergic to eggs or just doesn’t like them, that’s not a problem,” he explained.Egg Stand frequently parks at locations in and around the Metroplex. “That makes it fun for me and the guys I work with because we’re always going on a new adventure,” he said.