Batu Ozgel and Arthur Yuksel cook and prepare orders for the late night crowd at their food truck, Mykonos Waffle. Just around 2 a.m. is their rush hour as people leave bars on Sixth Street and surrounding clubs.
Originally published on June 29, 2017 for UT Austin Reporting Words
Under a cloudy night sky, the clock strikes 2 a.m. and flocks of drunk tourists and locals crowd various food trucks in downtown Austin. But one, Mykonos Waffles, catches a passerby’s eye for more than its menu.
While electronic dance music plays, Technicolor lights shine against a mural of a wide-eyed girl and surround a turquoise 1971 Volkswagen Minibus reinvented into a fast-food waffle stand. For less than a year, brothers Arthur and Paris Yuksel and cousin Batu Ozgel create late-night fruity and savory dishes.
The Yuksels and Ozgel grew up on the island of Rhodes, Greece at ages 12 and 13. Their summer consisted of windsurfing and making pocket money by selling waffles on the island of Mykonos. After parting ways to receive their respective engineering degrees, Paris and Batu received jobs in Dallas and Arthur in Los Angeles.
“We were so tired of the corporate life and we remembered the days we used to make waffles were the happiest days we had and we wanted them back,” Arthur Yuksel said. “I thought they would love California but after we found the van, they said ‘No, if we’re going to have a food truck, Austin is the place to go.’”
They quit their day jobs on July 29, 2016, found their minivan online in Florida, renovated it in three months and opened shop in October. Their temporary location was at a gas station on Barton Springs Road, just outside the Austin City Limits Festival. A month later, Mykonos Waffles opened at 117 W. 5th Street where they now have Mykonos Meatballs, a trailer expansion of their business with Greek-inspired cuisine.
Eyan Sears sits on a wooden picnic table beside friends eating the most popular choice, a fruit waffle filled with Nutella and fresh kiwis, bananas, raspberries and strawberries.
“This food is great after a night out on Sixth,” said Sears, who recently moved to Austin from Louisiana. “It’s simple but the perfect drunk food.”
Along with a choice of Nutella or peanut butter and selection of fresh fruits, on the menu is a savory choice, chicken and waffle with their secret sauce both priced at $8. Their newest item is a quarter pound hot dog for $6, which they added for South by Southwest.
“For us, South By was crazy and we have to serve food faster,” Arthur Yuksel said. “We stopped taking orders at 3:30 a.m. but we cooked until 4:30 a.m.”
Some may compare them to The Wafel Guys, who serve Belgian waffles. But Yuksel says they are different because their options aren’t too sweet and the light crispiness adds a touch of Greek cuisine to their style of waffle.
A tourist from the owners’ home country, Antonis Tsampas, visited Mykonos Waffles while in town for the 2017 Austin MotoGP.
“It’s rare that you find something like this, the minivan is so catchy and I love the idea of fruits in waffles,” Tsampas said. “I feel like I’m on an island of Greece.”
According to the 2016 U.S. Census data, Austin doubled its food truck count to over 1,200 in the last year. With so many different options, food trucks are facing challenges they may not have anticipated at their starts. Addison Boyle, longtime food writer and editor for the Austin American-Statesman said the city had the right regulations and the food scene had enough curiosity to boom the food truck industry.
“Now that we’ve reached a saturation point on both restaurant and food trucks, it’s harder for folks to make a living at it,” Boyle said. “Trucks often do well when they first start because of the novelty affect, but you have to find ways to keep bringing customers in.”
Arthur Yuksel said he hopes to expand business and open a brick-and-mortar shop, also serving ice cream in the near future. Enjoying the aspect of the nightlife that their locations brings, they are looking for spaces to remain in the downtown area.
“Owning a food truck is not as easy as I thought,” Yuksel said. “It’s too small and it’s get too hot outside, but the people here are nice. We use to party a lot and now we can party and work.”