Salvadoran Food Truck Coming to Dallas in March

by Steven Doyle

Last night we spoke to Javier Bernal who is the next entry into the world of Food Trucks in Dallas. Dos Paisanos will be the city’s first Salvadorian and Mexican food truck and he was eager to share his background that brought him to Dallas and eventually owning his own business. He is quite inspirational.

Bernal was born and raised in the Washington D.C. area which has a large population of Salvadoran nationals. In 2004 he moved to Dallas and was working in the restaurant industry. First as a fry cook at KFC at age 15, and eventually a variety of restaurants in the area including Abuelo’s as lead caterer and as a kitchen manager Prince Bistro in Plano.  

This past year Bernal was introduced to the gourmet food truck business and thought to work for several before finally taking on his own endeavor. He started out working with Jack’s Chowhound which opened earlier this year, but needed more hours to support his family, and his child which was born prematurely and in NICU. After three months with Jack’s Bernal moved on to work with Nammi, who specializes in Vietnamese fusion like tacos and banh mi sandwiches.

It didn’t take too much longer before Bernal felt he was ready to open his own business, and is scheduled to roll out his own truck in just a few months serving Salvadoran and Mexican cuisine.

Bernal was excited, saying, “I can start my own food truck introducing Salvadorian and Mexican cuisine and not just any ordinary taco truck.”

“My inspiration has been my little family especially my son. I hope to be able to provide him with a better life as I pick up this business, and I hope one day he will be the proud owner of a successful food truck. My mom, Maura Bernal, is the co-owner and is helping me perfect every recipe. She was born and raised in San Miguel.”

For the past couple of months Bernal has been exploring dishes from El Salvador like Pupusas, which are stuffed hand-made corn tortillas with a choice of bean and cheese, pork and cheese, or just cheese grilled then served with curtido a (Salvadorian coleslaw).

He will also serve Yuca Frita which is is a starchy root vegetable that is used in the cooking of Central America and the Caribbean in much the same way as potatoes they are fried or boiled.

Bernal will be selling breakfast, lunch and dinner, with late nights on Friday and Saturday. He will also serve what he calls Sal-Tex, which is a Mexican-Salvadoran fusion much like Tex-Mex might be. Look for this new truck to roll out in March.