Designer helps form Austin’s funky food trailer scene
Designer helps form Austin’s funky food trailer scene
- Nancy Flores American-Statesman Staff
When Jeremy Bustillos began remodeling food trailers in Austin about six years ago, he thought it would be a makeshift gig to get him through rough economic times. But then something unexpected happened — Austin went crazy for food on wheels.
Since then Bustillos has helped make Austin’s food trailer scene — which captures national attention and will be explored and talked about by South by Southwest guests this week — one of the most creative and diverse in the country. Bustillos’ mobile unit remodeling company JEKCreations remodeled food trailers for some local favorites and fresh eateries including Hey Cupcake, Nomad Dosa, Wholly Kabob, Guac ’n Roll and more.
Whether it’s a cupcake rotating on top of an Airstream or a food truck sporting a mohawk, for Bustillos and his squad, each client brings an chance to make Austin just a little bit weirder.
Bustillos began working as a painter and carpenter when he moved to Austin in 1998. Bustillos, a Costa Rica native, very first followed his family to Waco in one thousand nine hundred ninety seven after his father, a Baptist pastor, went to work at a church there. Bustillos quickly found his way to Austin and had sustained work for years until construction and remodeling jobs slowed down dramatically.
He attempted to make finishes meet, but he eventually determined to stir back to Waco temporarily. His big break came in two thousand seven when a friend suggested he contact someone he knew who was remodeling a kitchen. The kitchen was at Hey Cupcake’s brick and mortar bakery on Burnet Road.
Bustillos worked on the remodel, where he met Hey Cupcake founder Wes Hurt. The two hit it off, and Hurt hired Bustillos to remodel food trailers that would eventually spread across Austin. Hey Cupcake was among the very first wave of Austin food trailers to give their units hip designs. Since then Bustillos has worked on five Hey Cupcake Airstreams and two food trucks, Hurt says.
“I consider him as close as a brother now,” Hurt says. “He’s never bashful to attempt something fresh, and we’re innovative on projects together. He has an attention to detail, works hard and is creative. That’s a winning recipe for a food truck.”
Bustillos says Hurt has been a bliss in his life not only for hiring him during hard times, but for encouraging his launch into the food trailer remodeling business. As aspiring restaurateurs became nosey about joining Austin’s food trailer scene, Hurt always pointed them in Bustillos’ direction.
And as a result, JEK Creations has brought refreshing designs to a growing food trailer scene that last fall had about 1,200 permitted mobile vendors, according to the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department.
“Food trailers want to grab attention and stand out among the rest,” Bustillos says in Spanish. “And I have chance to do something different, so that they don’t all begin looking cookie cutter.”
He likes the collaboration process with his clients, who are often excited about launching fresh mobile adventures. “I want to make sure their personality and style comes through,” Bustillos says.
One of his most original and challenging projects so far has been renovating an entire one thousand nine hundred fifty eight Greyhound bus that’s now operating as a “bustaurant” called El Chato. Bustillos’ renovations on an Airstream or food truck usually last about a month, he says, but taking on the Greyhound challenge took almost three times as long.
“It was a disaster inwards,” he says. According to El Chato, the bus operated in Illinois for about ten years and was later sold at a Greyhound auction to a family that converted it to a recreational vehicle. It was later abandoned and then ended up in Victoria, where the current owners purchased it.
El Chato, now parked on East Seventh Street, serves interior Mexican food in a festive, laid-back atmosphere. Guests can sit inwards the bus’ booths or at a puny bar area, as well as at the outdoor patio next to the bus.
The intimate space inwards El Chato features unique design touches like bamboo floors and appealing tile work. There’s even a pretend masked luchador wrestler wearing a suit in the bus driver’s seat.
“Now if they bring me an 18-wheeler to remodel, that would be awesome,” Bustillos says. He said he also would love to attempt remodeling a gourmet food trailer in the future. Whatever fresh food trailer projects come Bustillos’ way, he says he just wants them to be original.
"> El Chato is among the dozens of food trailers that Jeremy Bustillos has remodeled in Austin. Bustillos considers this project his most creative so far.
" /> A masked “driver” sits in El Chato.
"> A masked “driver” sits in El Chato.
" /> El Chato is a one thousand nine hundred fifty eight Greyhound bus and has unique seating inwards the bus, with a long bar and stools overlooking the outdoor eating area, and booths on the opposite side.
"> El Chato is a one thousand nine hundred fifty eight Greyhound bus and has unique seating inwards the bus, with a long bar and stools overlooking the outdoor eating area, and booths on the opposite side.