A pleasant surprise awaits hardworking students outside the USD Copley Library!
When Lindsay Butcher took a break from studying for final exams Wednesday night, she knew exactly where to go. Standing outside of the University of San Diego’s Copley Library, she was hungry and the Torero Tu Go food truck, which debuted only three hours prior to her visit, was there for her needs.
That’s the power of social media and word of mouth among students or, in Butcher’s case, her roommate, about the food truck, which is owned and operated by USD’s Dining Services.
“My roommate already tried the tacos and said they were very good,” said Butcher, a junior Communication Studies major. She didn’t exactly take her roommate’s advice when ordering, choosing the Banh Mi, Vietnamese chicken, for herself, but she did pick up skirt steak and chicken tacos for her roommate.
Or did she? “There might not be any tacos to bring back because they look so good,” she quipped.
The food truck idea went live at 5 p.m. Wednesday and closed at 1 a.m., marking the first of five evenings through Dec. 19 (closed on Dec. 17) it will operate in front of the library, which is open 24 hours a day through Dec. 20 for students during finals week. The food truck replaced last year’s coffee cart.
Judging by the smiles on students’ faces as they walked by or came out of the library to refuel, it was a hit. “I’m really impressed,” said one student. “This is a big deal.”
The truck, purchased from a local submarine sandwich shop, offers a wide variety of food choices for all customers. There are snack food items such as gluten-free fruit bars, potato chips, candy, coffee, lattes, bottled water, energy drinks and sodas, but most students were there to sample the main menu fare. And why not?
The menu, delivering what Auxiliary Services Executive Director André Mallié wants to capture — “the history of San Diego” — has multiple food choices the reflect the city’s beginnings with Native American, Portuguese, Mexican, Spanish, Italian and Asian influences as well as items that reflect San Diego’s ties to the ocean.
The very popular tacos are delivered two to a person on homemade tortillas with knob onions, roasted garlic guacamole and choice of salsa. Other tempting options include Chorizo or vegetarian empanadas with lime, coriander salsa and Peri-Peri sauce; chicken skewers with Portuguese mashed potatoes; grilled squash sandwich with spiced aioli, spinach, caramelized onions and goat cheese on foccacia bread; an Italian Muffaletta sandwich(pictured, right), buttered lobster roll, chili shrimp cake, steak salad and sushi.
When Mason Davis, a senior architecture major, heard that the food truck would be up and running, he knew exactly what he wanted — the grilled California prawn tacos. “I’m pretty excited to try them. I like this a lot because the food’s different than any other place on campus.”
Don’t forget dessert, either. Anthony Martin, a pastry chef from USD’s La Gran Terraza restaurant, put the dessert selections together. The choices are caramel custard, an Italian beignet with fresh strawberries, honey pudding with cheese and an Espresso chocolate brownie.
Ruth Neveu, manager of USD’s Dining Services and a campus food service employee for more than 30 years, said Torero Tu Go’s launch, driven by the recent popularity of food trucks, went as well as expected.
“Everyone came together to make this happen,” Neveu said of campus buy-in from USD administration, Facilities Management and Dining Services. “This is something new and it’s exciting for all of us. I’m really enjoying it.”
Neveu knows plenty about new student food experiences at USD. She opened — and still runs — La Paloma, the eatery that’s connected to the Joan. B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. She also opened Bert’s Bistro within Mother Rosalie Hill Hall (School of Leadership and Education Sciences). She’s been at USD long enough to remember when the school’s main dining hall was located in Camino Hall, where the San Diego NROTC office currently resides.
Said her husband, Glenn, who works in Facilities Management and was on hand Wednesday to lend support and some free taco samples for students: “Ruth’s loving this kind of thing. She loves to do something new and loves to be interacting with the students.”
She spent much of her night supervising all aspects of the operation including personnel, the cash register to marketing and answering questions from the customers. The crew on hand is from different USD dining venues. Dean Kerchner, a chef who has been at USD only a few months, said he enjoyed the chance to make new items, including the tomatillo salsa that covers the various tacos available.
Neveu said some of the menu’s specialty items were recipes of La Paloma employees. It certainly made a favorable impression on students like Butcher.
“The menu is so diverse and that makes it so much better,” she said. “You can tell they put a lot of heart and soul into it.”
If the success of the first night is an indication, Neveu said, the food truck’s future is bright. Mallié anticipates having the food truck at USD sporting events, student and university events and in the San Diego community.
That the truck debuted during finals week, a time when students are craving comfort food, one might question if its presence makes it worth all the effort students put into these all-night study sessions?
“Almost,” Butcher said.
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