By Denise Trowbridge | FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Owners of El Arepazo open Yerba Buena Latin Grill, a high-tech food truck
The owner of the Venezuelan restaurant El Arepazo in Pearl Alley Downtown has officially opened a second location – on wheels.
Yerba Buena Latin Grill, a high-tech food truck, made its debut at festivals around central and southern Ohio in April and has settled in every Wednesday through Saturday at a Clintonville location, at 4080 N. High St.
“I had always wanted a food trailer, even before we opened El Arepazo,” said owner Carlos Gutierrez. “It’s more simple. You can still deliver a good product, and it’s fun.”
The 28-foot, decked-out wonder on wheels dishes up patacons and ceviche along with tacos and other south-of-the border dishes.
Although the fare is similar to the Latin American specialties that have made El Arepazo a packed-to-the-gills Downtown lunch spot, Yerba Buena has its own focus.
“It’s more street food and more laid-back,” Gutierrez said. “We don’t want to make it complicated. We’re trying to keep it simple.” The menu features affordable street food options such as $3 fish tacos, $2 steak tacos, $3 empanadas and $5 Mexican sopas – a deep-fried corn shell topped with meat and vegetables. There are also a handful of $3 side dishes such as ripe, sweet fried plantains, fried yucca, chorizo sausage, chicharron (deep-fried pork belly) and tostones, which are unripe fried plantains.
Some of the best-sellers from El Arepazo are also available, including a $6 ceviche salad and $7 patacons, which are whole ripe plantains that have been deep-fried then topped with chicken, beef, or pork and fixings such as banana peppers, lettuce and cheese. And, of course, the $6 arepas, with a choice of meat, and $7 flat, sweet corncakes topped with a choice of meat plus lettuce, cheese and avocado.
Yerba Buena sprang from failed attempts to open a second brick-and-mortar restaurant, Gutierrez said. He had tried for years to find a space and work out a lease.
“We never could agree with the landlords about the space and what they wanted and what we wanted to put into it,” he said. “Then the economy got really bad, and I started seeing a lot of restaurants suffering. They’re still suffering. I still wanted to do something else, but maybe something that wasn’t as risky as a restaurant.”
Enter the food truck, which has lower startup and overhead costs than a traditional restaurant. And then there was the benefit of being able to move to where the customers are.
“Food trucks are hot right now, and it’s something I have always wanted to do,” Gutierrez said.
In fact, food trucks were rated the hottest operational trend in the restaurant industry this year, according to a National Restaurant Association chef survey. Gutierrez is no stranger to food on the go. Before El Arepazo opened, he and his family served food at local festivals in a 10-by-10-foot vendor’s tent using portable equipment.
Yerba Buena is a step up.
It’s a top-of-the-line commercial kitchen on wheels, featuring an ice machine, refrigerators, a stove and a deep fryer, hand- and vegetable-wash stations, fresh and gray water tanks, and air conditioning.
“I can do just what any other restaurant can do, but I can do it on wheels, and move anywhere I want,” Gutierrez said.
“It’s a good opportunity. You have a lot less headache and overhead, and people are more understanding if the food takes a few minutes longer. It’s a pretty cool experience, and if you are going to own a food truck, you need to have fun, because that’s why you do it.”
Yerba Buena Latin Grill is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 8:30 p.m., weather permitting.
