South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery

Update: Shuggies is no longer at the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery. Holy Cacao has now taken residence here as has Man Bites Dog.

With tacos on the brain after following the taco tour that Statesman food writer Addie Broyles did in Houston and wanting to sample all the trailer eats in town, what better place to start the adventure than the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery.  We arranged to meet with friends, packed up the kids, and off we trekked to 78704 bright and early at 8:30 am on Saturday.  I ♥ 78704.

The first thing our color-obsessed preschooler declared when we arrived was that she needed to have a red umbrella picnic table among the multi-colored picnic tables.  Everything here is outdoors.  There are plenty of unmarked parking spaces near a converted warehouse of sorts that can be used for live music, next to two trailers for Torchy’s Taco and Shuggie’s Burgers & Shakes.  The La Dee Dah Gifts and Treats trailers are near the picnic tables.  The eating area is marked off with hay bales, clearly a very high brow establishment.

We did a quick scan of the menu items and decided to order the homemade doughnut holes and scrambled eggs from Shuggie’s for the kids and a fried avocado taco and Baja shrimp taco from Torchy’s for us parental folks.  We were given a number, and off we went to stake out a red umbrella picnic table.  My preschooler and her buddy discovered the bench swing which they happily swung and waved at passing cars.  They found two green lawn chairs and confiscated those for their own use.  The kids picked through the fire pit and found sticks, leftover probably from a smores roasting the previous night.  Too bad the La Dee Dah shop was not opened for the day yet.  That would have entertained me during the wait for the food (about 10 minutes).  The kids had a heck of a time looking at the odds and ends outside of the La Dee Dah Airstream.

A server brought us the food, and the kids dug in.  The scrambled eggs (made more like a thin crepe) were tasty in that diner sort of way, where it picks up all the goodness from the one grill that cooks up everything the kitchen has to offer.  The doughnut holes had the consistency of beignets and had a generous coating of cinnamon and sugar.  The doughnut holes were delicious, but oh lordy, were they greasy!  One doughnut hole is filling, let alone six in an order.  The toddler got a hold of a doughnut hole, and it was a fight to wrestle that away from the kid.

We dug into the tacos, and damn Sam.  Torchy’s makes good tacos.  So it wasn’t even 9 am yet but who wants a breakfast taco when you can have a Baja shrimp taco. Hubby and I split the Baja shrimp taco (hand battered shrimp fried with cooked cabbage slaw, topped with pickled onions & jalapenos, queso fresco, cilantro and a lime wedge with creamy chipotle sauce), and he probably could have eaten several of these himself.  At $4 for a taco, it was pricey, but this one is worth every dollar.  Man, that was good, and it was not greasy surprisingly.  We also split the fried avocado taco, and with just these two, Torchy’s has sealed the deal as my new favorite taqueria in Austin.  I’m still licking my lips.  Our friend tried the migas taco, and she said it was fabulous as well.  The tacos here get the thumbs up from the adults.

South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery is BYOB.  If we were sans kids, coming here with live entertainment in the evening, that would be so awesome, but 8:30 am on a Saturday, we didn’t take advantage of the BYOB.

So the drawbacks…  For such simple dining, the tacos were not cheap, but I’ll forgive that with the tacos being oh so delicious.  The parking lot and the eating area more or less run together, and when the kids were running around, they inevitably would end up in the parking lot.  That was not as big of a deal pre-9 am as there were not many cars, but there were still a good number of people dining here so later in the day when there is more car traffic, that is dangerous.  There are only two high chairs, but I wouldn’t bother with them.  Just roll up a stroller next to the picnic table.  There are two restrooms (one toilet each), and one was out of order so do the math on that one when the Austin heat, refried beans, and beer hit all at once.  Fail.

Overall though, this is an Austin gem.

South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery
1311 S. 1st St
Austin, TX 78704

• Torchy’s Tacos (Menu)
• Holy Cacao – New Location!
• Man Bites Dog
• La-Dee-Dah Gifts & Treats – No longer at location
• Shuggies Burgers & Shakes - RIP Shuggies.

Related posts:

1. Man Bites Dog (south Austin)
2. Holy Cacao’s Frozen Hot Chocolate (south Austin)
3. Likkity’s Frozen Custard (way South Austin)
4. Izzoz Tacos, as good as Torchy’s but different
5. Airstreams and Trailer Dining