Chi%27Lantro BBQ
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Chi'Lantro BBQ is a
Korean-Mexican fusion Korean–Mexican fusion is a type of fusion cuisine originally from Los Angeles that combines traditional elements of American-style Mexican and Korean foods. The earliest Korean-Mexican fusion featured Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes such as tacos or ...
mobile truck and
catering service Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major servic ...
which opened in
Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
in 2010. Since then, the former food truck operation has opened ten restaurants in the Austin area. The name "Chi'Lantro" is a portmanteau of " kimchi" and "
cilantro Coriander (;
", two distinct cultural staples aiming to reinvent traditional Korean and Mexican cuisine. They are known as the originator of a dish known as "Kimchi Fries".


History

In February 2010, the business was opened by Jae Kim, who was born in Korea and moved to the U.S. when he was eleven years old. He graduated from
California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
and opened his first food business at twenty-one, a coffee shop called "Foothill Café", which he owned for three years. At age twenty-six, he relocated to the "culturally diverse" Austin area to open the food truck business. The food truck operations initially served only the Austin and Fort Hood, Texas areas before expanding beyond the Austin market in early 2012 with food truck service in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Service was discontinued in December 2014, when Jae Kim started looking for a restaurant space. On January 19, 2015, an Austin storefront restaurant was opened. As of 2022, Chi’Lantro owns and operates over ten locations throughout Austin, Texas.


Menu

The menu features hybrid cuisine inspired by Korean and Mexican food traditions. Items include Kimchi Fries, Ssäms (Korean for wrap), Curated Bowls, Korean Fried Chicken Wings and more to share items. Ingredients include combinations of Korean BBQ Steak, Japchae noodles, Chi'Jeu Queso, house made toppings and sauces and fresh veggies. Its signature menu item, the Kimchi Fries, are covered in Korean BBQ, caramelized kimchi, shredded cheese, onion, chopped fresh cilantro, magic sauce, sriracha and sesame seeds.


Style of operation

Prior to opening a restaurant location, the business functioned primarily as a mobile kitchen or
food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...
. The trucks make scheduled stops in the mornings, afternoons and evenings in highly commercial areas, in areas that appeal to consumers in the white-collar workforce, in addition to manual laborers, the stereotypical customers for such establishments. Another part of the service is catering for parties, corporate events, promotions, weddings, festivals, conventions, and various large social events in the area. As of 2020, food truck operation is no longer available. In January 2015, a small brick and mortar location opened, adding an eat-in option to their outdoor service. As of April 18, 2016 all Chi'lantro brick and mortars will not accept cash. All locations support Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and all major credit and debit cards.


Media

The business makes extensive use of social media applications such as
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Foursquare Four square is a ball game. Four square may also refer to: Internet and entertainment * Foursquare City Guide, a local search and discovery app * ''4 Square'' (game show), a British game show * ''4 Square'' (TV series), a Canadian children's s ...
, Yelp, and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
to connect with a "tech savvy" customer base. Publishing of tweets keeps customers informed about where each truck is going to be located. The trucks are one of the many food trucks nationwide to pioneer the use of
Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
and
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
mobile devices for credit card transactions and the organization of finances. They are popular on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
for its series of commercials targeted to its fans
It's That GoodFries Like a G6
an
Chi'Lantrofied!


Recognition

By 2011, the food trucks had been featured on the Food NetworkThe Great Food Truck Race
/ref> and the Cooking Channel; and, in 2014, were named one of
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
's favorite food trucks at
SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
. In November 2016, founder Jae Kim appeared on Season 8 Episode 8 of ABC's ''
Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 201'Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank' returning to ABCInsider TV. Retrieved June 24, 2012 The show i ...
'' and secured a $600,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran for a 20% stake in Chi'Lantro BBQ.


See also

* KoMex *
List of food trucks A food truck, mobile kitchen, mobile canteen, roach coach, gut truck, catering truck, or (in Austin, Texas) food trailer, is a mobile venue that transports and sells food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others ...


References


External links

* {{Street food Catering and food service companies of the United States Street food Culture of Austin, Texas Food trucks 2010 establishments in Texas