When we last reported on the mobile food scene five months ago, 25 food trucks were looking for places to park. Today, there are nearly twice as many, dishing up Creole, Chinese, Indian, South African, American fare and more to hungry San Antonians.
And, they have more places to park.
After soft openings over St. Patrick's Day weekend, The Point Park & Eats, 24188 Boerne Stage Road, and The Alamo Street Eat Bar, 609 S. Alamo St., have joined the now-veteran Boardwalk on Bulverde as food truck parks.
The new parks host three to five rotating trucks; both managed to open after several months of red tape and ordinances.
“I thought we were being smart ... it's right outside the city limits, so we wouldn't have to deal with the city, but I was wrong,” Denise Aguirre, co-owner with Noel Cisneros of the Point Park says, explaining that she had to meet county regulations. “It was an uphill battle.”
A fourth park, The Park at Summerglen, 25080 U.S. 281 N., is getting a new name and a face-lift later this month when it turns into the 281 Food Park owned by Brian Smith.
As far as Cameron Davies, owner of the Boardwalk and Cruising Kitchens is concerned, competition is good for business.
“We have good trucks producing good food,” Davies says. “I love the idea (of other food truck parks). I'm starting to see a sense of camaraderie I haven't seen before in San Antonio.”
The city might be seeing more of Davies and his crew; the Cruising Kitchens filmed a reality TV show based on the ins and outs of food truck building that's currently being shopped to Spike, The Food Network, Discovery Channel and TLC.
Companies and associations such as the Girl Scouts of the USA and the San Antonio chapter of the American Institute of Architects are hosting food trucks to feed their workforces and for special events. Rackspace hosts several trucks for Food Truck Fridays.
“We wanted to create something unique and tasty that Rackers could look forward to at the end of the week, and a lot of folks expressed interest in bringing food trucks,” director of building operations Brian Carney says.
After a rained-out Luminaria, several trucks turned their lemons into lemonade by migrating north to the food-truck-friendly streets of Austin. Adrian Guerra, owner of Winner Winner Chicken Dinner, joined Bistro Six and Rickshaw Stop in feeding the hungry hordes of hipsters at South By Southwest.
Look for more food trucks as the city launches a pilot program that will host trucks in downtown city parks and during Culinaria on May 17 at the Alon Towne Center.
Shawn Gordon, a medical supply sales representative and food truck aficionado who goes by Twitter handle @SAfoodtrckstlkr, supports food trucks for two reasons.
“They're living the American dream,” Gordon says. “I want to see them stay and not go like some fad. I want to keep getting good food for cheap.”
Accompanying is a list of new trucks that started rolling after we published our first list in October.
Most can be found on Facebook, and we've included Twitter handles and phone numbers.
Did we miss one? Let us know at jelizarraras@express-news.net.
https://www.expressnews.com/food/restaurants/article/Wheeling-and-dealing-3428175.php
