New Seafood Truck Slinging Fish Sandwiches Opens in Austin

Seafood catering company Huckleberry Hospitality is opening its very first food truck this month. Announced back in March, Huckleberry will be parked at Circle Brewing starting on Saturday, June 13 in the North Burnet area.

The menu will focus on South Texas seafood, to highlight “the roots of our version of Texas, which is so drastically different” from Austin, explained co-owner and chef Davis Turner. He should know, since he grew up in the Corpus Christi area. He’ll make use of sustainable fish, such as black drum, sheepshead, and golden tilefish.

Huckleberry’s dishes will include various seafood po’ boys (fried Gulf oysters, shrimp); fish sandwiches; seafood platters with fish, fries, and a side; and caviar fries, topped with creme fraiche and a dollop of caviar. There are plans for weekly sandwich specials well. Turner teases a hot fish sandwich and a fried Korean fish sandwich topped with kimchi.

Non-seafood items will include quail and burgers made from nilgai, an antelope species abundant in South Texas. There will also be vegan and vegetarian options, such as the vegan fried green tomato po’ boy. Everything will be fried with corn from Barton Springs Hill.

The truck is working on becoming certified as one of the James Beard Foundation’s Smart Catch restaurants, a program where participants focus on using sustainable seafood. The only other Austin restaurant currently in the program is South Congress Japanese restaurant Lucky Robot.

While the truck will initially open for lunch and dinner only, there are plans to add weekend brunch at a later date. Those potential dishes could include shrimp and grits, pork belly, and fish pimento cheese sandwiches.

Turner and co-owner Melinda “Reese” were able to open the seafood truck with the help of a grant from the Austin Food & Wine Alliance. The $5,000 Alamo Gives grant helped pay for the truck’s refrigeration system.

Huckleberry hosted a crawfish boil at Nomadic Beerworks with new-school barbecue truck LeRoy & Lewis on March 7. Originally, the food truck was pegged to open at Nomadic sometime in April. When the truck opens, Turner still plans on operating the catering company and various pop-ups.

Before opening Huckleberry in 2019, Turner previously worked at Franklin Barbecue as an overnight cook, now-closed San Antonio restaurant The Granary as a sous chef, and Contigo, among others.

Update, June 12, 3:53 p.m. This article, originally published on Wednesday, March 4, has been updated to include Huckleberry’s opening information.

• Huckleberry Hospitality [Official]
• Huckleberry Hospitality [Facebook]
• Huckleberry Hospitality [Instagram]