With his sights set on an October opening for the Tepeyolot Cerveceria brewpub, owner Luis Melgarejo already is cooking up Mexican street food in front of the building as walls go up inside.
Melgarejo opened the Tepeyolot Cerveceria food truck Aug. 24. He said he likely will keep food operations for the brewpub in the truck once the brewery inside opens.
As he was looking at kitchen equipment to install inside, he said a salesman suggested a food truck would be a cheaper option. Melgarejo said by purchasing a food truck rather than installing a full kitchen inside, he would save $10,000 to $20,000.
“He said that there are a couple people doing it and I didn’t think it was a bad idea,” he said. “I think it’ll give us a lot of room down the road to grow and expand and see what we want to do.”
For now, Melgarejo said the truck will stay put. Eventually, he may take it to other locations if it performs well. It is open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday in front of the building at 2136 Kings Avenue in San Marco.
For now, Melgarejo is running the truck by himself.
“It keeps me busy,” he said.
It serves steak or chicken tacos, chips with guacamole or salsa, quesadillas with steak or chicken, and Mexican street corn. Prices range from $3 to $5.
When the brewpub opens, customers can order outside and their food will be brought in to them.
Melgarejo said he would serve Mexican-style lagers, as well as IPAs, stouts, ales and possibly sours. He also would have ciders and wine available.
“I want people to come in have a beer and a taco for 10, 15 bucks,” he said. “People want to enjoy themselves without breaking the bank.”
Drywall will go up in the brewpub by the end of the week, he said. The back of the building will be transformed into a 14-space parking lot, which backs up to the two apartment complexes that are under construction, Barlow and The Exchange.
He said he eventually will fix up the back of the building so it is more appealing for the apartment dwellers who back up to it.
Melgarejo said in November he planned to open in March. He said he faced delays in securing a Small Business Administration loan when he applied near the start of the pandemic. He waited about four months for the funding before starting construction in July.
“We basically couldn’t move forward without the loan,” he said.
He said he is thankful to have had delays with the loan since it kept him from opening before or during the peak of the pandemic.
“If anything, I think it puts us in a better spot than if we had opened before COVID,” he said. “It still would have been pretty new and fresh and it would have been a lot harder for us to recover.”
