Preparing fresh food daily and creating a lively atmosphere are two of the ingredients that make the Tex's Tacos food truck popular.
During a trip through Texas, owners Mac Helms and Harrison Jones came up with what soon would be named the "best food truck/street vendor" in Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"We were in San Antonio the night that we first discovered we really loved the idea of starting a food truck," Helms said. "We kind of haphazardly said we needed to quit our jobs and start a food truck."
Originally both from Atlanta, Helms and Jones started selling Tex-Mex food from the brightly colored truck in the city.
"We titled our venue Nueva Texicana, which is a fresh and exciting take on classic Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes," Helms said.
Helms, a University of Georgia graduate, and Jones, a College of Charleston graduate, decided to move the truck's location to Auburn after Tiger Dining reached out to the Atlanta Street Food Coalition.
"I had been to Auburn a few times in the past for football games and knew it would be a great place to start," Helms said. "We love it here and hope to be back next year."
Bill Sallustro, retail operations director for Tiger Dining, contacted Tex's Tacos after looking into food trucks for campus.
"We at Tiger Dining want to provide students with more options closer to the academic area on campus," Sallustro said.
Helms and Jones look to be veterans in the food business, although neither started with professional training or restaurant experience.
"I think it's fair to say we learned on the fly," Jones said. "Neither Mac nor I had ever worked in a restaurant."
Both owners attribute Tex's Tacos' success to their passion for the food and their customers.
"We like the experience that we create," Jones said. "We want people to experience the time they spend around the truck."
Helms said the best part of the job is the people he encounters.
"Anybody that's willing to wait in a line outside of a colorful food truck usually has a pretty great personality," he said.
The downside of the business model is that the weather will inevitably dictate Tex's Tacos sales.
Christine Chalstrom, junior in finance, is a regular at the food truck and said she loves the food, but not the long lines.
"I'm obsessed with their carne asada taco, but I'm not going to wait in a super long line or if it's pouring outside," Chalstrom said. "Instead, I'll opt for getting food inside."
Helms and Jones said the toughest pat of the job is the loss of sleep from the lengthy prep work.
"It seems really simple because it's on a truck, but you have to prep all of your food in a commercial prep kitchen, load it up, and it's all very time-consuming," Helms said. "The day begins long before we start serving and ends long after."
Jones said Tex's Tacos uses only fresh ingredients that are prepared daily.
"Every single day we're making food for the following day or even that day," Jones said. "Every morning our pico de gallo and guacamole is made fresh. Every Tuesday our meat for Wednesday is prepared."
With plans for a second truck, Jones said expansion is definitely in Tex's Tacos future.
"We won't expand to a point where we have to sacrifice the quality of the food or sacrifice the quality of the experience," he said.
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