Back in the Saddle Again

Ok so where to begin…how about: We are very sorry for not blogging in...like...FOREVER! Our bad! :( What a long strange trip it’s been, but we want to say thanks to all of our fans for sticking by us…so THANK YOU!!! 

We are thrilled to be approaching our 1 year anniversary in April! (Pinching ourselves!) 2011 was a great year for us at Rickshaw Stop as we grew our small business quite a bit over the last few months and have learned so much! We did some big events last year and are planning even more this year as well as adding additional lunch shifts/locations. The best part is that we are engaged with all our customers and even making a few friends along the way!  :-)

Wow, last July huh? So let’s do a quick recap:

The Food Truck Thrown Down in July was totally awesome and very, very hot. Meagan and I each lost about 10 lbs in 3 days working that event, crazy! The Octo-Beer Feast was another success and we are planning on doing similar events again in 2012 at Boardwalk on Bulverde (BoB.) We’ve been on TV twice - Thank you, Jeff Vaughn! Plus we've been the food truck for 2 more Ranger Creek Open Houses. Nowadays we drive there instead of getting towed because we had a brand new engine put into our chrome beauty…courtesy of Cruising Kitchens!

350 with RV cam and Edlebrock carb and intake. ;-) Queue manly Tim Allen sounds…

We also worked the Accessibility Fair at Morgan’s Wonderland which was an awesome event for charity. Events at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa have been a lot of fun; they are so creative with corporate parties! We parked in Southtown for a couple First Fridays; we might do that again later this year. We worked a couple of the first USTA home football games and we even helped save a kitty that was a stray at BoB:

Meet um, well... "Bob" ;-)

In 2011, San Antonio food trucks also raised awareness about the restrictive city policies that limit where we can park and serve our fine fiddles. Our hopes are that in 2012 Mayor Castro and the city will work with us to help loosen the laws like they've done in Austin. We are already seeing 2012 as “The Year of the Food Truck” in San Antonio. One clue that the year is starting off right is that as I type there is a little Pakistani food truck that was named the best restaurant in ALL of SA, TX! Big thanks to all of our Yelp fans! Keep on bookmarking, checking in and sharing your reviews!

Well folks, hope you are now caught up in the lives of team Rickshaw. 

Our 2012 resolutions: 

1. Blog more 
2. Take more pictures 
3. Have more fun!

See you at the truck again soon, 

Meagan & Sameer

FOLLOW THAT FOOD TRUCK!

By now, you’ve probably happened-upon one of those unique food trucks traveling around your city. You’ve also probably noticed the long lines of people waiting outside the truck to get a taste of whatever it is they’re serving. 

Did you ever wonder how those people in line knew where the truck would be? Or what menu items the truck would be selling? The answer 9 times out of 10 is “they follow the truck.”  Huh? You mean they drive around town behind it all day? No – they use free software for their computer and/or smart phone to keep in touch with their favorite mobile food trucks. Continue reading for more info on this interesting subject.

So how do I “Follow” a truck and what does that mean?

Typically, food trucks have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, or both locations. This is how they let their customers know when/where they’ll be each day. In order to “follow” a truck, you first need to have your own Twitter or Facebook account, then following is as easy as clicking “+ Follow” on a truck’s Twitter page  or “Like” on a truck’s Facebook page  or “+1 Add Friend” if their business is listed under their personal Facebook account. (FYI – Facebook has been known to shut down trucks’ accounts because their terms & conditions state that a business cannot run itself under a personal page. Read more here: http://mobile-cuisine.com/marketing/social-media/don%E2%80%99t-get-your-food-truck-business-banned-from-facebook/)

What will the truck tell me if I follow them?

Each truck is different, but typically the trucks will let you know where they’re going to be each day, when they’re going to be there, along with their menu (if it changes or if they have specials.) They might also share food truck industry news with you, information about events in your town or other things that might interest their customers/followers.

Are there any “bonuses” to following a truck on Facebook or Twitter?

There sure are, but it depends on the truck. Some trucks have been known to run specials by posting things like “Mention this Facebook post/Tweet and get $2 off your purchase!!” And in places like LA where trucks have thousands of people following them, it’s actually become a “challenge” to be able to eat from them each day. The truck will tweet something along the lines of “We’ll be at Seneca & Main for the next 35 minutes! Come and get it!” and then it’s up to their followers to get there in time to grab some of their food before they close up and head to the next location. (Sounds fun & exciting to me!)

Can I interact with the trucks via Facebook or Twitter?

ABSOLUTELY! Trucks love receiving feedback and interacting with their customers, whether it’s as simple as you retweeting one of their tweets or by clicking “like” to one of their Facebook posts. You should also feel free to post feedback regarding your visit to their truck via Twitter or on Facebook—both positive AND negative comments are welcome. The only way the trucks are going to know what's working or where they can improve is if someone tells them! And if something wasn't quite right with your visit, chances are the truck will make it right for you the next time you visit.

So there you have it, following a food truck doesn’t mean you have to become a stalker or buy special software for your phone or computer—you simply need to know whether the truck is on Facebook or Twitter, then it’s as simple as clicking a button.  Happy Food Truck Following! :-)

Tips n Tricks for Food Truck Followers

Welcome to July! That month when all you want to do is sit in your favorite watering hole (read as ‘pool’ or ‘lake’, not ‘bar’ or ‘tavern’) and attempt to stay cool.

Since we know you can’t stay submerged all summer, we’d like to give you some nifty pointers for when you decide to “un-prune” and go get something incredible to eat – from trucks.

First, you should definitely make your way to The Boardwalk on Bulverde (view map) on a Friday or Saturday evening. There’s always a nice breeze and once the sun starts to set, it’s actually quite pleasant even on a 100+ degree day. Be sure to pack your cooler with your choice of beverages and ice because the park is always BYOB. If you decide to brave the heat for a Saturday lunch, you can partake in the complimentary (aka FREE) Freetail keg of beer! (This is an every Saturday, starting at noon event—the beer keeps flowing until the keg runs out.) Once you get to the park, that’s when the fun starts. As we said in our Foodtrucking 101: How to Eat at a Food Truck blog, the best idea is for you to bring friends and everyone goes to a different truck then you share everything, but we want to get into some of the slick things we’ve seen the customers of BoB do that we think you might find helpful as well:

1)   Don’t be afraid to mix-n-match. One of our customers grabbed the Ahi Tuna from one truck, but since he wanted a taco, he then purchased a couple corn tortillas from another truck then got some of our spicy chutney to go on top! Talk about creating your own destiny…

2)   Get a little closer. Most of our shaded picnic tables are 6-seaters. Next time you see a couple searching desperately for some much sought-after shade,  invite them over to sit down. Chances are, they’re just as cool as you are and they might even share some tips for what/how to eat at the different trucks!

3)   Pack appropriately. In addition to your cooler, koozies & ample ice stash, when you come out to BoB during the day, please bring some sun screen and/or a hat! Although we have lots of shaded tables, sometimes the angle of the sun makes it impossible for the umbrellas to provide full shade (typically when the sun is going down, mid- to late-evening.) We want you to have a great time without getting a horrible sunburn.

4)   Relax and have fun. We feel this is the MOST important tip listed here. Just because you’re eating from a truck does not mean you’re going to order your food and walk immediately to the pickup window and get it. We’re actually cooking on our truck. It takes time. We try to set your expectation up front that it will typically take about 10 minutes for us to get your food out to you, but please understand if it takes a little longer. No, we’re not putting other people’s orders ahead of you and no, we haven’t forgotten about you. We are just very busy. But that’s a GOOD thing because that means when you get your food, it’s going to be so hot you most probably won’t be able to eat it right away. And more importantly – it’s going to be some of (if not) the best food you’ve ever eaten from a truck. Have a drink and chill ;)

5)   Bring cash.  Although more and more trucks are accepting credit cards, it’s always a good idea to stop by the ATM on your way to the park. From our perspective, there’s nothing better than seeing someone put a cash-tip in our tip jar! (Hint, hint)  ;-)

6)   To-go orders are totally do-able, but we recommend calling ahead for the best experience. Our truck is very small. To-go containers are rather cumbersome and don’t fit well on our small counters, given everything else already there. If you call ahead (~30 minutes), that typically gives us plenty of time to get your order prepared and ready for you when you come to pick it up. If it’s during the day, calling also keeps you from having to sit outside waiting when you could be in the AC of your house/car.

Well there you have it, loyal food truck followers! We hope you now feel a little more “in the know” on what to do/expect when you come out to Boardwalk on Bulverde. The number one goal for anyone who comes out to BoB is that they eat some really awesome gourmet food and have a great time! We hope you come see us soon.

Doing Whatever It Takes

Whew! 

What a crazy time it's been since our last post! Let’s see, where do we start fearless foodie friends…

We had our first Ranger Creek Brewery open house! Wait, before we get to that as some of you may know it was quite a feat for our beloved Rickshaw Stop truck just to make it there!

It started out like any other Saturday for the crew of Rickshaw…but our 1978 Chevy had other ideas (no, not like Christine folks, ;-) but like a 33 year-old engine that had been sitting around a while.) We admit – we bought it for the looks (I’m a sucker for polished metal.)

The day started normally: I got to BoB, started her up and began making my way to the commissary, but all of sudden she died! ARGH! Lucky for us, I was able to get it started and I pulled into the gas station. But she wouldn’t stay running, so I called Meagan and she came to meet me. We started her up, drove right back to BoB, pulled in and parked. (I’ll forgo all the panicky thoughts rushing through our minds as we pondered WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT RANGER CREEK?!) After a few frenzied minutes we decided we would just go for it and take our chances, not stopping like they did in the movie Speed, but she died again…right in the middle of BoB’s driveway! (Ha ha - we laugh now.) So, we called a tow truck and boy did we get the right one! He was there in no time, he hooked up the truck and we followed him to Ranger Creek…

But wait - it gets funnier…all the time I had been waiting for Meagan and then the tow truck I left 2 voicemails for Mark at Ranger Creek and sent multiple texts ranging from “We have a small problem” to “We may not make it” to “We are getting the truck TOWED to Ranger Creek!” but Mark never responded! I know it’s not that funny but what IS funny is that they had NO IDEA what was going on because they were busy setting up for the 300 people coming to their Open House event. So when we got there with our Rickshaw Stop truck in tow the conversation went kinda like this:
Mark: “Huh, what happened?
Sameer: “You haven’t checked your phone?”
Mark: “Holy $%^& you towed it here!?!?”
Sameer: “Had to bro…”   
☺
Obviously, the Ranger Creek Crew was stoked and happy to have us, ☺ so we had a great day there serving up our tasty street food to all the wonderful folks who attended the Open House and we even met a few new friends. And then the tow truck dude towed us back to BoB! We parked the truck and left the keys with the competent crew of 210 Customs.

Meagan and I flew off to Cozumel the next morning, wish you could’ve been there…

We got back from the no email/cell phone zone (aka PARADISE) and of course Cameron & his crew had fixed the truck - turns out it was a rather minor issue. (If you must know, they adjusted the carburetor.) ;-P

Thanks for reading, hasta luego.

Food Trucking 101: How to Eat at a Food Truck Park

So it’s Friday night, your stomach is growling and you’re feeling adventurous -- what to do, what to do??

How about visit your local food truck park!  

Sure, you will have to brave the outdoors (yes that means going OUTSIDE!) But for your efforts you will be rewarded with great food, fresh air and the possibility of meeting new friends. We suggest bringing at least three friends so the four of you can go about the park in the best way possible. What do we mean by the best possible way? Let’s back up a bit…

Typically when a group of people go out to eat they venture out in the car and eventually end up at "Average Joe's Generic Restaurant." (Since everyone can’t agree on what to eat, the group picks a catch-all type of restaurant to meet everyone’s different tastes.)

Average Joe's Generic Restaurant

On a busy weekend, you will have to wait to be seated (even at a chain) so either you sit/stand inside or even outside the restaurant or make your way to the bar which costs on average 3-5 times what you pay for alcohol at the store. $10-$20 later, you make your way to the table and have a seat. They start you off with some form of free starch for filler. Then you stare at the same menu you probably have seen for the last however many years and everyone gets one thing for themselves and that’s the typical dinner…maybe a dessert to end it. Hope you had a good time. :-P

Now, let’s say the same group goes to a food truck park for a change (sure, some will be dragged reluctantly but as their intrepid foodie friend that you are your words of encouragement and promise of yummy eats wins them over!) You arrive at the park and to everyone's surprise it’s NOT a bunch of “roach coaches” selling simple tacos but gourmet food! 

Boardwalk on Bulverde (BoB) - San Antonio's Premier Food Truck Park!

Wait what’s this? The park is B.Y.O.B! SWEET! Cha-ching saved there. (Please make sure alcohol is cool with individual parks in your area: www.boardwalkonbulverde.com) Now you could just go to a truck serving familiar food and order your dinner OR…. we suggest that each person go to a different truck and get their signature dish to bring back to the table and--wait for it….SHARE your newly found booty with your friends (ah, that would be "treasure" for the non-pirate initiated and not Sir Mix a Lot kind of booty ;-) What a concept! Share your food family style! Then you each go to another truck (or the same truck) and get another round of food! This is the best way to experience a food truck park. By exploring all of the trucks and their menus in a fun and interactive way, you will have a great time with your friends without spending a ton of cash and will leave with satisfied bellies full of upscale and hopefully new to you food.  Then when you go back to visit ;-) you can get your new favorite dish from your new favorite truck. 

Patrons of the park will also find that the vendors are usually very friendly and always willing to talk about their food and experiences running a truck, trust us it is an adventure for sure!  

Well, loyal fans of Rickshaw Stop and hopefully some newly found friends (another shameless plug: please pass the blog around) thank you for spending some time with us reading our thoughts.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Memorial Day Holiday!

Always looking for new foods to eat, ciao~

Rickshaw Stop is Finally Mobile!

Hello, Rickshaw friends! Hope all is well!

Sorry for the lag between blog posts…We have been really busy, we just want to catch up everyone on where we’ve been and what we have been doing. :-)

We catered our 1^st corporate event at the JW Marriott on the 7th (WOW what a resort!!!) JW basically transformed their parking lot into 6^th Street in Austin! It was a lot of fun for everyone there (including us food truck owners!) They had a marching band, street performers, Harley bikers and a beer rickshaw!!! You can see all of our pictures on Facebook. Thank you, Chef Brett Rea!

Our Rickshaw serving food

A Beer Rickshaw!

We went down to Pearl Brewery last Saturday evening for a fundraiser to support the victims of the tsunami in Japan. It was quite an experience – there were people dressed in all sorts of traditional Asian costumes and outfits, along with performances by classic Indian dancers and traditional Japanese dancers and other cultural skits. Other vendors were there selling ethnic clothing, art and henna tattoos. Lots of people showed up and it was quite a success! We will definitely be back to Pearl! J Thank you, Ashley!

 

     

 

We also have an invite from a Pet hospital to be at their 1^st anniversary in August and will more than likely attend due to our love of animals, being pet parents ourselves. And finally, we have our first wedding gig coming up and we’re really excited about it! The wedding guests will be served out of our truck as they would at BoB—pretty cool if we do say so ourselves.  

We plan on doing more of these types of events (charity, corporate and private) but we will also be available to our loyal fans at www.BoardwalkonBulverde.com (BoB)! Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Twitter so you know what our schedule will be. :-)

Well folks, that’s it for now. We will update the blog next week, hopefully with some really exciting news!

Don’t you just love cliff-hanger endings!?

Team Rickshaw

 

 

 

 

 

My Food Truck Story

My Food Truck Story

Hi folks this is Sameer writing this week’s blog as Meagan is taking time off the rest of the month from the blog due to her working her butt off for Komen!

Shameless plug: http://www.info-komen.org/goto/MeaganSiddiquihttp://www.info-komen.org/goto/MeaganSiddiqui2011

I wanted to share our personal story on why we started Rickshaw Stop, our philosophy and the journey we took to get to this point in time. It all started way back in time the year was 2010 ;-) we are avid Anthony Bourdain fans, Meagan has read most of his books and I have been watching him since before No Reservations when he was a chain smoking, foul mouthed, bitter New Yorker on A Cook’s Tour. Anyways I digress (which I do)…he visited Austin’s food trucks in the summer of 2010 and we watched the episode in July. We have both grown up around families that cook whether its mom, an aunt or grandma so we were already hardcore foodies and had started taking food ventures (i.e. staycations based around food) since 2005 when Meagan lived in the Bay area (CA) for a short stint.  I had heard of the food truck scene in Austin but had no idea the magnitude until we watched THE No Reservations episode that needless to say changed our lives—we were instantly intrigued almost hooked. I think we went up to Austin THAT weekend and took our good friends the Lalla’s to the food trucks on S. Congress and we tried them all! LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT/BITE…pass the Tums please…

After that I was totally hooked. I'd wanted to start a business since 2008 when I got laid off (the 1^st time) and was bouncing around on ideas and then boom! It fell into my mouth—uh lap. ;o) So that trip changed our lives forever and we went home thinking how awesome food trucks were. The one thing that I personally loved about the food truck scene and Meagan agrees is how all walks of life order from a truck. Let me explain: when you go to a restaurant--whether it be "fancy-schmancy" or a dive--you will get the people that always go to those places. Once in a while we go to the $$$$ places for some special event but other than that we are not rich, so we can’t eat at Wildfish every day (DANG! Have you had their truffled mac & cheese?? If not you must!) At a food truck (park), the wealthy business man will be standing next to the budget wise family standing next to this…

Just kidding, but you get my point…it takes all kinds. Meagan and I are proud not to discriminate based on looks which works both ways not just for the outliers of society but the mainstream and the well off.

Back to the story…Over the next couple of months Meagan and I exhaustively researched the food truck scene in Austin & S.A., meaning, we ate at trucks ;-) No, really--it was a lot of work with the “field” research and sleepless nights of web searches while we both worked regular 40+ hour “day jobs” but it was all worth it because this work was for us and not corporate America. We went to farmers markets, watched every food truck show on TV and read all the sites and blogs we could find, plus we called a ton of food truck manufacturers all over the country.

WARNING: Sad part coming up… This past September, once Meagan and I knew we were serious about starting up a truck (still didn’t have a theme) we wanted to announce it to my (our) family. I was working the late shift that week so I wouldn’t get out of work until 11pm that Friday night. It was Eid (a religious day for Muslims) and I was going to tell my family that night since everyone was in town. I wanted to tell my Abbu (father) first and I couldn’t wait to get out of work, then while on a sales call I received a text telling me 911 call and when I did my brother-in-law told me my Abbu was having a heart attack and…man this is f-ing hard to type…dying…the very night I was going to tell the great news. Irony is a bitch. At least I saw and hugged him that morning before work.

This is my Abbu:

Once the haze of grief faded to a manageable point, I started the business plan up again and all that goes with it. Meagan and I made a breakthrough once we befriended Neil and Rachel from Wheelie Gourmet who are AWESOME people btw…Rachel gave me Cameron’s info and as they say, the rest is history!  

After the very first meeting with Cameron in October I knew it was on like DONKEY KONG! He and I clicked right away, it was weird, like we knew we were about to start something, My wife says a bromance HAHA so funny NOT! ;-P…Anyways after he told me he was going to open a food truck park I knew he was ahead of the S.A. curve and was on to something. I could see the gleam in his eyes…when a man is serious about something you know it by just looking at him.

Meet Cameron… See what I mean?

After many months we were ready to start building our kebab truck (still no name.) Cameron started on Boardwalk on Bulverde (aka 'BoB') in December and we were still looking for a trailer or truck. One day Cameron tells me there is this sweet truck sitting on this one corner, I got the number and went and saw it that day…

LOVE AT FIRST SITE!!! A 1978 Chevy Van ALL ALUMINUM!!! (Cameron didn’t know that part ;-P)

                   

It had some issues…but I didn’t care!

I made the offer and we bought it that weekend. We got it to the shop and the guys started on it right away, you can see all of the pics from the build on the Cruising Kitchens website. It took me and my buddy Fred from iDetail almost 40 hours of sanding, compounding and polishing to get the truck all shiny!

Before                                                                         After

                     

After a few bumps, bruises, cuts, scraps, sore muscles and truck breakdowns along the way (see previous blogs) we are now open and serving our delicious kebabs, samosas and baklava out of our Rickshaw Stop! Super proud moment, sound the horns!

She's not fully wrapped, but we will get that done by the end of the month. Ain’t she a beauty! Chris from Cold Fire Signs will have the truck done once we have the fascia on the shelf and then she will be fully dressed and ready for the party! 

To be continued...

Thanks for reading!

=) Deek