AUSTIN — The number of food trucks seems to grow by the day here in Austin and, just like you can find an emoji for just about any kind of emotion, you can pretty much find a food truck for any kind of hankering.
One of those trucks features food that most of us remember loving as kids ... it turns out grilled cheese sandwiches aren't just for the little ones anymore. It’s called Emojis Grilled Cheese.
"Grilled cheese is an emotional thing, for everybody,” said founder Hope Green. “For me, for my customers, for my fans … everybody."
With these grilled cheese sandwiches, Green combines the nostalgia of childhood with the all of the flavor adults of all ages enjoy.
This may come as a surprise to your taste buds, but Green hasn't always been a chef. She ran a successful real estate business in Washington state for more than 15 years. Then, the financial troubles of 2008 happened and she found herself back in Austin. It was only after encouragement from her daughter that she got into the food truck industry.
"My daughter, who was 12 at the time, was like ‘ Well, mom, people eat every day. People buy food every day,’ so she’s like, ‘If you sold food, you could probably sell something every day,’” Green lauged. “She said, ‘You make the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the world.’”
And the rest is cheesy history.
Emojis was just honored as the champion at the Soul Food Truck Festival here in Austin last month.
"Things like that, to me, signify that you're giving the people what they want," Green said.
Another fun thing about Emojis is that you can literally leave your mark on this food truck. It's covered in chalkboard paint, so you can grab a piece of chalk and get to drawing.
"I kind of think like an artist, I look at the world from the perspective of an artist and I think I actually bring that to this arena with food,” said Green.
After asking her what makes her customers want to come back over and over again, this is what Green had to say:
“It’s the emotions! That's why we're Emojis Grilled Cheese! Every sandwich has all of that built into it. It's the emotional aspect that you get from comfort food."
Like we said, you may be able to find an emoji for just about any emotion, but you'll only need the happy ones to describe the food at the Emojis Grilled Cheese truck. Comfort food at its finest.