Truck Talk Tuesday: So Cal Tacos

One of the things I have enjoyed most about the food trucks is meeting people, not only the other customers but those who are bringing the trucks to life each day. These men and women are incredibly passionate about what they are doing and the food they are serving. I was also noticing that they all had a story of how their truck came about and how their life evolved in to being a part of one of the fastest growing small business concepts, not only in DFW but in the US. Each week I will share these stories in “Truck Talk Tuesday”.

Today we hear from Scott Wooley with So-Cal Tacos, on behalf of his truck, Woody.  So-Cal expects to be on the road within the next couple of weeks, so its a great time to learn about this truck. 

1. What did you do before you were a food truck owner?  Change diapers, laundry, vacuum, you know all the normal stuff.  Just kidding!  With four kids under the age of six, a good sense of humor is mandatory.  Prior to owning a food truck I was in sales and management for National Homebuilders.  I’m still a licensed Realtor.

2. How did you come up with the name for your business?  Easy.  Since we missed our classic Southern California style tacos, SO-CAL Tacos was the “go to” name.

3. What made you decide to have a food truck rather than a brick and mortar restaurant?  There is less capital and more agility with a food truck.  Plus, haven’t you heard - it’s the new thing.

4. What is your favorite menu item?  So tough to answer this one.  I would say the San Diego classic.  It’s the closest thing I’ve had to the real deal.  But remember, it’s ALL good!

5. What has been the biggest reward of having a food truck?  This is a tough question because every day I’m so thankful to be able to chase my dream. However, getting our permit was a very good day for SO-CAL Tacos.

6. What has been the biggest challenge of having a food truck?  Lack of uniform guidelines from city to city.  I think I’ve read something similar from other Truck Talk Tuesday features.

7. Most marketing for food trucks is through social media, do you see that as a benefit or challenge to you and why?  With me attending two high schools and MULTIPLE years of junior college, the social media thing is a great benefit to me.  It’s given me the ability to share my concept and brand with a massive amount of people in a super efficient manner.  In my opinion, Social Media is a mandatory tool for any food truck operator.

8. You spent most days of this summer planning out a food truck, where can we find you when you aren’t on a truck?  See the first part of question #3.  Man, I’m so in love with my family it’s crazy.  I love my two girls and two boys so much, and my wife is something else.  She’s a machine.  She takes the best care of us all and she really is my hero!  So anything I can do with my family...I’m ALL in.

9 If you could only cook one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?  I hope baking counts because I freaking LOVE birthday cake.  Seriously, when I was younger I would sometimes go buy a birthday cake at the store and munch on it for a few days...you know, a bite here, a bite there.  I’m always down for another slice.  I’m in recovery now.

10. What would you like to see in the DFW food truck scene in the next two years?  I would like the public to finally understand the difference between a gourmet food truck and job site or traditional food truck.  I try not to say “roach coach” because I thinks it’s a little disrespectful.  Seriously, I’m a little tired of explaining to folks that I’m not hitting 20 job sites a day.  I go park somewhere and HOPEFULLY the people come to me. :-)

At the end of the day, I drive “Woody,” but my faith drives me.

Follow So-Cal Tacos on Facebook and Twitter to find out when and where they will have their grand opening. 

The Butcher's Son: Good from Sun Up to Sun Down

This week, The Butcher's Son, a joint venture between Johnsonville Sausage and Pool's Restaurant Group rolled on to the streets of Dallas. Even though advance postings on Facebook and Twitter had said that the truck wasn't going to be an all sausage menu, I really wasn't sure how this truck would go beyond your basic brats and dogs.To say it goes beyond is quite the understatement.

For opening week specials, The Butcher's Son had designated its second day out as "Bring a Friend Day". So, my friend and I did the best we could to check out the menu.

First up was my Pan Handle Po'Boy, a hoagie bun filled with Mexican braised beef, andouille sausage, onions and pepper jack cheese. The beef wasn't described at "melt in your mouth" but it did. The Johnsonville andouille sausage was flavorful and held its own against the braised beef.  Overall, I loved this sandwich and would get it again.

My friend ordered the Santa Fe Sunset, a chipolte Monterrey Jack chicken sausage, topped with black bean salsa, fried jalapenos and cilantro. This is one of the items that The Butcher's Son had a contest in order to name the item. My friend said the sandwich was great. The sausage was tasty and the salsa was flavorful without being over powering.  I will say that it was huge, she couldn't finish it, but that might be because of all the other goodies we had.

Goodies like the Lime Fries.  When I took the wrap off the fries, the smell of lime immediately hit me and I was worried that the taste would be too much. That was a worry that had no basis.The lime seasoning was light and fresh, the fries were soft and held the lime seasoning well. On a hot afternoon, these fries would go really well with a cold cerveza.

Only a handful of the DFW food trucks have dessert options. The Butcher's Son gives you two options. In the name of blogging, I had to try both. First, the cake pops. I love cake pops and I make them on occasion, very rare occasion, since they are a time consuming and messy, even though they are very tasty.  Thanks to The Butcher's Son, I may never deal with the mess again. These cake pops were as good as the ones I make. On the day I was at the truck there were three flavors from which to choose: red velvet, cinnamon and chocolate.  My friend and I chose the red velvet and the chocolate. Both were very good; moist cake, smooth icing.

As good as the cake pops were, my favorite dessert from The Butcher's Son was "Black Gold", TBS's version of fried Oreos, sprinkled with powdered sugar.  All those fried items you have been hearing about at the State Fair of Texas contest..forget about them. Black Gold beats them all! I was told the truck owner even eats them for breakfast. The outside is a soft crispy batter while the inside is a yummy Oreo, softened just slightly from the frying process.  Add the powdered sugar and you have a dessert worth eating for every meal.

As good as Black Gold sounds for breakfast,  I am holding out for The Butcher's Son's official breakfast menu, which includes various egg and Johnsonville Sausage products. I'll post about that as soon as I can meet them for breakfast; I suspect a breakfast skewer: maple breakfast sausage wrapped with pancake batter is my next Butcher's Son meal.

Follow The Butcher's Son on Facebook and Twitter. They will have two trucks on the streets of DFW so they should be not too far from wherever you are, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a late night treat.