West Campus Finally Gets Its Own Food Trucks

By Gaby Guajardo in 40 Acres on January 22, 2013 at 5:11 pm | No Comments

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Good news for hungry UT students: Thanks to 10 food trucks that have rolled into West Campus, Longhorns no longer have to fight traffic or search for parking on South Congress to get food-truck fare.

Hundreds of students took to the corner of 26th and Rio Grande last week to welcome Rancho Rio Eatery—Austin’s newest food-trailer park—to West Campus. The party was sponsored by an assortment of West Campus student housing venues, including the Castilian, 26 West, and the Block.

The eatery offers food from 10 trucks: Velveteen Coffee House, Wurst Tex, Fat Tony’s Italian Food, Short Bus Subs, Wunder Waffle, Blenders and Bowls, Keithers’ Kitchen, Firefly Pies, Thai of Town, and Cow Tipping Creamery. SoCo favorite The Mighty Cone will be joining the list of trucks at the park’s official grand opening in early February.

Landowner Andy Osborn, who’s owned the property for 25 years, says he wanted to give back to the community and provide entrepreneurs a chance to build on their businesses.

“I hope it provides a good sense of community, a place to eat, a place to hang out, and gives a bunch of entrepreneurs a way to make a living and hire some more employees,” Osborn says.

UT junior Sarah Pulcini, a resident of the Block, attended the welcome celebration because she’d heard good things.

“It’s close to me, so I was curious as to what it was all about,” Pulcini says. “I wasn’t disappointed.”

Though he dreams of more parking and a bigger lot for more food trucks, Osborn says he knows the trailer park has a great location because of its proximity to UT.

“Come eat!” he says. “We love all the kids here. We’ve serviced UT for more than 25 years with what we do, and we want them to keep coming.”

Photos by Gaby Guajardo (inset) and Zen Ren (slideshow).

Tags: Andy Osborn, food trucks, Rancho Rio Eatery, west campus