I'm Michael Weaver, and this is "Curbside Eats," where we show you what's under the hood of your favorite food trucks, or trailers. Okay, we're in Austin, Texas, arguably the hub of food trucking. And, it's Texas, alright? So, we need some barbecue. Supposed to show up in this abandoned lot. Smokey, you see something? Oh, I see, that's The Sugar Shack. That's Chuck Norris, baby. Alright, we're inside the third generation of Sugar Shack with the proprietors, is that safe to say? You guys are proprietors? MARK: That is safe to say, that is correct. MICHAEL: Okay, Gabriel Sifuentes. GABRIEL: Yes, sir. MICHAEL: Mark Avalos right here. MARK: Yes, sir. Here we are. MICHAEL: Mark, what was your background, when you were catering? MARK: Yeah, 2006, I started catering. I kind of got hooked on barbecue. MICHAEL: As one does. MARK: Right, right. You know, first thing I bought at my house was a grill, and then kind of mastered that, and moved up to a smoker, and then really fell in love with it, and just kind of see from there. MICHAEL: You catered for three or four years, and then you got the trailers, going? MARK: Correct. Right, right. Yeah, we catered for three, four years, we did a lot of festivals and events here in Austin. And then, we were fortunate to land a couple spots at the University of Texas, and - MICHAEL: Spots, you mean, like, locations. MARK: Locations, correct. Yeah. MICHAEL: Those things are come by, are they? MARK: They are very hard to come by, yeah, exactly. MICHAEL: This is the brand new trailer. MARK: This is the brand new trailer. MICHAEL: You done some events with it. What's the second one? There's another one, isn't there? MARK: We did Circle Brewing, on Saturday we did a big event, it was the grand opening of a brewing company. MICHAEL: That's cool. MARK: And, what's better than beer and bar-b? MICHAEL: Beer and barbecue. What is better than beer and bar-b? I'll leave that out there for you to answer. MARK: Right on, so. MICHAEL: Now, what's your personal favorite? MARK: P.I.G. The Notorious P.I.G. MICHAEL: The Notorious P.I.G., I'm loving that. GABRIEL: There's some things off-menu that we do, a little bit blending of two different meats and stuff like that together, so. MICHAEL: Oh, it's like In-N-Out Burger in California. You got to know what the secret orders are, exactly. MARK: Oh, yeah. GARBIEL: We get people ordering, you know, once they try everything on the menu, they'll come back and say, "Well, I want a little bit of that. I want the white barbecue sauce, I want the coleslaw, and instead of the chicken, I want to do the brisket and a little bit of sausage." MICHAEL: And, you coleslaw's a little different, mustard-based. I'm looking forward to trying that. You got some of that around? MARK: Right, oh yeah. It's a mustard-based coleslaw. MICHAEL: You make it all, this is all - MARK: All from scratch. MICHAEL: This isn't a Sysco deal. MARK: Right. No, no. Our barbecue sauce is made from scratch, white barbecue sauce made from scratch. The bread we get from a local panaderia, they make bread everyday, in Mexican-style bread. It's a bolillo roll. MICHAEL: Okay. MARK: The tortillas, we also get from a local tortilla place. MICHAEL: Yeah, because I can see you can have it either as a sandwich or a wrap. MARK: Correct, correct. MICHAEL: Got it, got it. MARK: So, you know, we really, we want to say it's fast food barbecue that doesn't taste fast. MICHAEL: Yeah, yeah. MARK: You know, it's like you grab and go, especially at the university, you know? They're kind of, like, coming and going. So, they want something that they quickly get, not a sit-down plate, but more like something that they can, you know, walk and eat at the same time. MICHAEL: So, what we got here, the Notorious P.I.G. sandwich from The Sugar Shack is at least a half pound of meat. When you add in the coleslaw and the bread, you're getting close to a pound of chow here, folks. I got to dislocate my jaw to get this baby going. Ladies, don't get excited. Right off the bat, first bite, I got it all over my face. That's exactly what you want from barbecue. The pulled pork, that is absolutely melting in your mouth. 12 hours, that does that right. The consistency is exactly what you want. It feels light, it really feels light. The barbecue sauce isn't too heavy. It's not like it's owning the pork. Perfect, perfect balance. And, that coleslaw, I can even taste, maybe I'm fooling myself, but I can even taste that mustard in there, and I love it. I love the taste of mustard and pork. That is a fantastic sandwich, boy. MARK: Thank you, sir. MICHAEL: That really is, man. Hope you don't mind me talking with my mouth full. MARK: No, not all, man. MICHAEL: Mark, listen, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. MARK: Thank you, man. I appreciate it. MICHAEL: The food is fantastic. All the best to you, man. MARK: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. MICHAEL: I think you're going to do well with this. MARK: Alright, brother. Thank you. MICHAEL: I'm Michael Weaver, and this was "Curbisde Eats." Wherever there's a meal on four wheels, or two wheels, served by a couple of guys that smell like a smokehouse, you'll find us.
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