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Foodie Friday: The Mighty Cone's a food truck with humble ACL beginnings

The Mighty Cone is an Austin staple, who went from humble beginnings to feeding the stars like JAY-Z and The Killers at ACL Fest.

When it comes to food trucks in Austin, there aren't many that are more popular than The Mighty Cone.

They've been serving up their handheld deliciousness for more than 15 years, and because of their history with music festivals like ACL, they claim to be the official food of live music.

It's hard to argue with that statement. You could say The Mighty Cone was made for Austin's outdoor festivals.

"Hudson's on the Bend Chef Jeff Blank, when he was working there, got approached by the people at C3, which started the Austin City Limits Music Festival," said The Mighty Cone's current owner, Stephen Tarleton. "They wanted some type of unique food to have at their festival, wanted to give the whole festival a local vibe."

That Hudson's on the Bend menu didn't lend itself to festival food, so the chef improvised.

He took their popular hot and crunchy breading that they had been putting on their trout and instead put it on chicken. The rest is food truck history.

They've been a mainstay at ACL Fest ever since. In fact, they are annually one of, if not the top-selling food vendor. Even the acts enjoy The Mighty Cone.

"JAY-Z put in an order for our chicken cone, The Killers got our shrimp cone," Tarleton said. "We got a lot of demand from the artists, they make that connection for us."

JAY-Z is a smart man, because the chicken avocado cone is one of the most popular.

The owners moved the original trailer from South Congress Avenue to it's current location on Barton Springs Road. They also have a couple of mobile trailers that serve these cones of delight at different events around town.

Tarleton isn't a chef, but he does have a background in sales and marketing. He recognizes that there is real growth potential for food trailers like his. This kind of eating is really popular with millennials, and that brings a mighty smile to this man's face.

"When you look at some of the other larger brands, that's the audience they want," Tarleton said. "So we're very fortunate that we have this large growing audience that really resonates with the concepts that food trucks are doing, and eating in that manner."

The cones are easy to get, they're easy to eat and, most of all, they taste really good. That's why The Mighty Cone continues to be an Austin favorite.

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