Food trucks battle it out at Camp Caylor

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Camp Caylor and The Reef Food Truck teamed up to bring a Battle of the Food Trucks to the community on Saturday.
Delicious aromas wafted through the air as the hungry event goers decided which delicious item to try first—or next! The event, held all day at Camp Caylor, invited the community out to enjoy a family-friendly day of live music, games, arts/crafts offered by Bethel Crafts, ax throwing, and of course, food trucks. 
Competing for title of the best food truck were: Delicious Delights, Funnel Cake Fantasies, Sticky Fingas BBQ and Catering, Pizza PieRos, Mama Lama Mobile Kitchen, and Cuatro Tacos. The Reef Food Truck was also there, but as they were a host, they were not an option for the competition.
“We were looking for something for the community to enjoy,” said Bob Jericho, owner of The Reef Food Truck and The Reef at Camp Caylor.
Jericho said that they had been planning the event since December, and he was really happy with the success of the event. He hopes that they will be able to turn it into an annual event. The Reef has a more permanent location with Camp Caylor and teamed up with them to host the Battle of the Food Trucks.
Jericho said that he likes being able to help support other food trucks and seeing them succeed and seeing families in the community enjoying themselves.
“There’s families out there, kids, dogs walking around. Everyone’s bringing their families. It’s a really really good environment,” said Jericho. “So far, it’s been a really good day!”
“I think it’s been going great,” said Shanon Caylor, owner of Camp Caylor. “There are a lot of people here. Everybody has been eating from multiple trucks, including us. The live music - everyone seems to be enjoying it.
Caylor said that she has tried something from many of the different food trucks saying that she always likes to try something different when given the opportunity. She said that she loves The Reef but wanted to try out the other options for the event. She mentioned that she particularly enjoyed a chicken taco that she got from Cuatro Taco.
“I like the different flavors and the variety for sure. I like seeing the new stuff, like the mini donuts out there,” said Caylor referring to Delicious Delights who offered mini donuts in a variety of flavors. “But mostly we like to promote smaller businesses and newer trucks, and this kinda gives them the opportunity to get out there a little bit more…We were new once, so we like to help new people out too.”
To determine the best food truck of the day, eventgoers were given a ticket. In the center of all the food trucks, a table had boxes labeled with each food truck’s name, and participants dropped the ticket into the box representing their favorite food truck.
“It’s amazing!” said Brittany Taylor who tried food from several of the food trucks including Cuatro Tacos, Funnel Cake Fantasies, and Mama Lama Mobile Kitchen. She had just finished ordering a New York New York from Pizza PieRos. “They had a New York New York. I am from New Jersey, and I had to go with the New York style pizza. This is amazing. I love Camp Caylor. I love tacos. I love New York style pizza. It reminds me of home…. It’s got great ambience.”
The winner of the Battle of the Food Trucks received a Camp Caylor gift basket donated by Camp Caylor, tickets to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie donated by Copperas Cove Leader-Press, and an ad in the newspaper donated by the owner of the Reef Food Truck, Bob Jericho.
At the end of the day, after all the votes were tallied, the winner of the Battle of the Food Trucks was Cuatro Tacos.
This was especially exciting as the event was Cuatro Tacos’ debut event. 
Owner Erika Rodriguez described it as just ‘jumping in feet first’ for their first event. The truck is manned by Rodriguez, her husband, and her four children after whom the business is named.
“It’s been exciting! It’s been a lot of fun,” said Rodriguez about the event. She said that they have had a lot of customers come back and tell them how good the food was with several coming back for seconds—one even ordered 12 more tacos.
“It feels amazing, especially for our first time out,” said Rodriguez about winning the competition. She said that it meant a lot to them to have had so many people be so supportive and say such positive things about their food.
Camp Caylor’s next big event will be their 3rd birthday on May 1.