USPS Publication Number 16300
T h i s C om mu n it y Ne w s p a p e r i s a p u bl i c a t ion of E s c a m b i a-S a nt a Ro s a B a r A s s o c i a t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icia l Ci rcu it Section A, Page 1
Vol. 21, No. 10
V isit T he S ummation W eekly O nline : SummationWeekly.com
March 10, 2021
1 Section, 8 Pages
DISCOVERING NEW ROUTES If there is one thing Pensacolians love more than the beach, Blue Wahoos or craft beer, it’s food trucks. Pensacola’s food truck scene has grown exponentially over the last year as more people adapted to take-out meals during quarantine and new restaurant owners took to the streets instead of traditional brick-and-mortar establishments. The perfect combination of mobility, financial flexibility and sprawling cuisine options has increased the demand for food truck owners and patrons. On a national level, food trucks have also become one of the fastest growing sectors of the food industry. According to IBISWorld market research, the restaurant industry has a growth rate of 2 percent yearly, while the food truck industry has a 7.9 percent annual growth rate over the past five years. Over a dozen new food trucks hit the streets of Pensacola in 2020. Pensacola’s illustrious food truck court, Al Fresco, also reopened in July 2020 as The Garden at Palafox & Main and welcomed three new restaurants to its complex with four airstream food trucks, five kiosks and The Perennial Bar operated by Perfect Plain Brewing Co. Several music, art and food festivals hosted in the area also support the bustling scene. Pensacola Habitat for Humanity is hosting its 5th annual Pensacola Habitat Food Truck Festival on March 12 and 13 at the Community Maritime Park following CDC guidelines, mask wearing and social distancing. The festival raises money to support Pensacola Habitat’s mission to build affordable homes, communities and hope. From savory BBQ, tater tots and mac-n-cheese topped delicacies to healthy fruit bowls and trucks dedicated entirely to waffles and mouth-watering desserts, there are so many new trucks to check out. Downtown Crowd caught up with the owners of several new food trucks in the area to learn more about designing their kitchens on wheels and diverse cuisine options. Tacos Mexicanos
The first Tacos Mexicanos truck opened back in 2016 in Gulf Breeze and filled a need in the food scene for what owner Gabriel Hernandez calls a “simple traditional taco.” When construction began on Chappie James Bridge and hindered the traffic flow and customer base, the truck moved to Pensacola and found its new spot in East Hill. Amidst the pandemic, co-owners Gabriel Hernandez, Kyle Smith and Brian Waghalter opened a second truck branded as Tacos Mexicanos Downtown, located at Perfect Plain. The menu is built around the staple item, the awesome
taco, and features a burrito, quesadilla and huarchie as well as fresh guacamole and queso. For the vegetarian and vegan patrons, they serve up a vegetarian taco salad and offer black beans or marinated cauliflower as meat replacements. Tacos Mexicanos East Hill is located at 3000 N 12th Ave and open daily 11am–8pm and Tacos Mexicanos Downtown is open daily at 11am and located at 50 E Garden St. Wacked Out Weiner
When Kevin Richardson retired out of the Marine Corps, he quickly got bored from all of his newfound free time and decided to become an entrepreneur and restaurant owner. He became a franchise owner of Wacked Out Weiner in 2018 and expanded to a food truck in early January 2020. Although COVID forced his brick-andmortar storefront to adapt and close indoor dining, he attributes his food truck for keeping his business afloat through the pandemic. “My food truck had been on the road for less than a month when the shutdowns started,” he explained. “My business took an 80 percent cut to sales, and I knew we couldn’t keep up like that. Suddenly, overnight there was this surge and demand for food trucks because they were safer than dining in person. If I didn’t have the food truck, my business probably wouldn’t have survived the shutdown. It was a true blessing in disguise.” Wacked Out Weiner has regional favorites like the Chicago Dog and New York Dog, a customizable bar with 40 toppings and fan-favorite signature hotdogs on the menu, all for extremely affordable prices. The “Wacky Macky” featuring a Nathan’s All Beef Hotdog on a freshly steamed bun topped with mac n’ cheese, bacon and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce even took second place out of 19 trucks at the November 2020
Photo by Kristian Breeze & Nick Bridges
P ENSACO L A ’S FOO D SCENE FL OURIS H ES D ES P I T E PA N D EMIC by Dakota Parks & Jesse Gann
Food Truck Fest. The storefront is located at 6675 Pine Forest Rd Suite 5 and you can follow Wacked Out Weiner Pensacola on social media for the traveling food truck schedule. Anna’s Kitchen
Husband and wife duo Tim Phillips and Anna Zudina have often bonded over trying to out-cook one another in the kitchen. When the pandemic forced them to shut down their condo cleaning business, the pair took funds from their SBA grant and purchased a food truck instead. “We have both always loved to cook,” Phillips said. “I was constantly cooking meals from my childhood that my mother used to make for me growing up in the South. Anna is from Russia and would cook Russian dishes to share with me. A food truck just seemed like the best thing for us to do together as we get older. We’ve been married for three years now and still enjoy working together every day.” Named after his wife Anna, Anna’s Kitchen, first opened in October 2020 and has been slowly building a steady fan base. Serving up Southern-inspired dishes with 100+ year old recipes inherited from Phillip’s family, the food truck specializes in BBQ and seafood. Although they are still expanding their menu and building their brand, staple items include pork BBQ, Texas style brisket and rice, fried shrimp and sour cream pound cake. To get updates on menu items and new locations, follow Anna’s Kitchen on social media. The Fat Wagon
Faced with both of their business shut down during the pandemic, Artie and Keely Erd, owners of Infinite Ink Tattoo Studio and Sirens Salon, needed to find a new source of income that could stay open as an essential business during shutdowns and restrictions. Artie had always dreamed of owning a food truck and Keely wanted to open a nutrition shop, so the
couple decided to take the leap into both business ventures while the tattoo studio and hair salon were shut down. “I’ve always been the cook in the family, and I wanted to open a restaurant, but that wasn’t practical during the pandemic,” Artie explained. “The food truck was a steppingstone and pandemic-friendly. We got together and wanted to think of a funny name that would stick in your head, so Fat Wagon was born and one of our artists at Infinite Ink drew up the logo.” The Fat Wagon cooks up burgers, fries, chicken and even deep-fried cheesecake, but their specialty item that sets them apart from other trucks are their pig wings. As Artie explained, the pig wings are 4oz of slow cooked tender pork shank that is flash fried like a chicken wing but falls apart in your mouth it’s so tender. The food truck officially opened in January 2021 and Keely said they are currently working on a “Fit Wagon Line” with healthier meal prep options with lower calories that corresponds to the nutrition shop they opened called One Step Up Nutrition and Fitness. Her goal is to offer ready-to-order meal prep plans out of the food truck for clients through the nutrition shop. To follow their plans and see travel locations and catered events, follow The Fat Wagon Food Truck on social media. All Gas No Brakes
Owners Ainsley Brown and Latanya Andress first met in a culinary class in 2015 and worked together in a restaurant before becoming close friends and branching out to start their own business. It wasn’t until 2019 when Andress dreamt of opening a mobile food truck
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to save on rent and utilities all while having the flexibility to travel that she recruited Brown and the two business partners began designing their truck. Although the truck finally opened in October 2020, the pandemic delayed the process to build the truck that usually takes nine weeks and stretched it out into a five-month period as factories closed and faced shipping delays. Andress explained that the name for the truck came from the obstacles during the build: “On our way back from Orlando to design the truck, Ainsley said to me, ‘Well, you better enjoy these last few months of freedom, because soon it will be all gas no brakes.’ I yelled, ‘wait, that’s it!’ It was the perfect way to capture everything not going as planned and that there was no stopping us once we got started.” The truck was designed and built by the company One Fat Frog out of Orlando, which was the company that first inspired Latanya to open a truck when she started seeing their designs online. All Gas No Brakes changes its menu daily and offers soul food Sundays, hand battered, spicy chicken sandwiches and steak and chicken nachos. The owner’s favorite menu items include the red velvet waffle, banana pudding waffle and their fusion egg rolls which include the Philly cheesesteak egg roll and buffalo chicken egg roll. Follow All Gas No Brakes on social media to keep up with their schedule and events. Continued on Page 3 ›
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