Epic Cone in Deep Ellum Is… Epic

by Steven Doyle

In 2004 Barbara Martinez invested in a building located in Deep Ellum at 3025 Main Street. At that time her family opened the techno club called Club One. Perhaps you recall the cool venue and very loud music. In 2007 zoning changed to clean up Deep Ellum and Martinez had to decide if she was prepared to go through the annual hassle to remain a club or to reinvent herself. She chose the latter.

In 2008 Excuses was born and the new restaurant sold breakfast and lunch. For breakfast she sold typical breakfast fare including waffles and omelets, and for lunch she made pizzas and sandwiches.       

She enjoyed running Excuses, but was looking for a gimmick. A niche offering would sell well in Deep Ellum she thought. “There are a few really good places for breakfast in Deep Ellum, and a few great pizzas and sandwiches,” said Martinez.

That is when she stumbled across the cone machines at a local food show.

“We saw the machines and fireworks started going off in our brains, and were thinking of all the things we could do with them,” continued Martinez. This is when Epic Cone was born.

In Italy the cone is called a Walking Pizza, but Martinez changed the recipe and used the cone machine as a template for her own recipes. She changed the dough and fillings to suit any recipe she might come up with.

So now there is a pizza cone, but also a cheeseburger cone and so many more. The possibilities are endless really. There are even sweet cones filled with chocolate and cheesecake. One a typical day Epic Cone offers 10 flavors plus a dessert cone which changes all the time.

We asked what would be unsuitable for the cone and Martinez said anything works except soup. But she will be doing a pot roast cone come this Fall. She thinks a chili cone would be dynamite.

Epic cone delivers their delicious concoctions within a 5 mile radius of Deep Ellum in one of their two vehicles. One is a retro meter maid cycle, the other is a Chinese motorcycle fitted to hold deliveries and move your food across the cityscape with ease.