Trailer Food Tuesdays has come and gone for the second time. Just like last month, ten trailers set up shop on the back patio of the Palmer Events Center overlooking downtown Austin. With six new trucks (Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles, Woodpile BBQ, Kebabalicious, Loveballs, Little Fattys, Bahn Bahn) and four repeat offenders o’vendors from last time (The Peached Tortilla, The Seedling Truck by Royal Fig, Dock and Roll Diner, & Chilantro BBQ), the lineup offered a little (or a lot) something for everyone. Ev and I were joined by our partner in crime, Hazel, and our friend Brett with her furry buddy Archie.
I did my research before heading into Trailer Food Tuesday and made my gastronomic game plan. Of the ten trucks there was only one I hadn’t tried, Little Fattys, who happens to be the newest kid on the block. My other must-eat was Woodpile BBQ simply because it is 1) delicious, and 2) only open Saturday mornings 20+ miles from home.
Little Fattys serves up gorditas, which translates quite nicely to… little fatties. They cut their menu down to chicken, ground beef, and veggie options, so I picked up the Chicken Envy and Sloppy Jose. The Chicken Envy is loaded with shredded chicken in a green chile sauce and garnished with shredded lettuce, sour cream and salsa. Basically every Mexican ingredient you’d want (maybe add some avocado?) stuffed inside a corn pocket. Big flavors, really juicy, and something refreshingly different than just another taco.
The Sloppy Jose, a take on a Sloppy Joe, is seasoned ground beef with sauteed onions in a sweet/spicy tomato sauce and topped with shredded lettuce, sour cream and colby jack cheese. Like the chicken it’s bold and flavorful, and extra messy. By the end it turned into a shameless, hands-only meat-affair trying not to waste anything –just like any good Sloppy Joe should be. Since the Sloppy Jose was a little greasy, I’d say I liked the Chicken Envy just a little more.
Sticking to the plan, I hit up Woodpile BBQ for the sampler tray. Just like on my first visit to the trailer I got some brisket, sausage, cornbread, and sauce from the Igloo cooler. Unfortunately none of those delicious burnt ends this time though. The sausage snapped just like I remembered, with just the right spice and cheesy goodness. The brisket was a little fattier this time, but still had that same great rub and flavor. You definitely couldn’t accuse this brisket of being dry!
As a bonus, our friend Brett got one-too-many tacos from The Peached Tortilla and bequeathed it to me. Their Szechuan Veggie taco packs in black bean stir fried Japanese eggplant, tofu, red peppers, pickled daikon, carrot salad, and… cilantro. More than anything I was surprised how spicy it was! However, the textures inside with the flour tortilla outside all blended together as just “soft”. Not a bad little free taco though.
For dessert the options were GoodPop ice pops and Polkadots Cupcakes. After the not-so-light meal of BBQ and something called Little Fattys, I opted for the low calorie ice pops. I got Ev a Hibiscus Mint and myself a Watermelon Agave. The Hibiscus Mint wasn’t really my flavor jam, and Ev thought it was too sweet, so not a winner. The Watermelon Agave tasted just like a wedge of fresh watermelon on a hot summer day, right down to the black seeds frozen into it.
As for the event itself, I could tell a world of improvement over the generally successful July Trailer Food Tuesday. In just one month they addressed what I thought were the biggest issues. For starters, and by far the greatest improvement was the shorter lines for food. Instead of taking orders as fast as they could and making people wait to be called, they took your order and gave you your food before taking the next order. Huge improvement. They also called in a favor and turned down the heat. It went from being barely bearable to joyfully enjoyable. All that’s left now is to wait for the September Trailer Food Tuesdays to get here already!
