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Food Truck Tuesdays are back through Nov. 15 on San Benito Street, and you would think that after more than six months of weekly appearances at the just-concluded Hollister Farmers’ Market, Alejandro Ceja would have welcomed a little rest before taking his El Guapo truck back into the fray.
But Ceja, who began selling out of his truck just more than three years ago, is looking forward to serving the crowd that is drawn on Tuesday evenings, even if the attendance does not match that of the daytime event.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “The Farmers’ Market does get pretty packed and kind of intense. But I love this event because now the crowd is coming here strictly for the food, to catch their dinner or their meal preps.”
Ceja said that the smaller crowds also give him more flexibility in terms of experimenting with new dishes, such as the Grasshopper Tacos he began serving occasionally last year.
“Because my truck is not one specific type of cuisine,” he said, “I’m able to change it up all the time, trying out recipes to see what’s popular. And the people of Hollister usually accept the different styles of food, or they let me know.”
One of the newest additions to the menu, introduced for Food Truck Tuesday, draws inspiration from Ceja’s popular Blackened Salmon Bowl, which comes with sticky rice, steamed seasonal vegetables, a kale and cucumber salad, kimchi dressing, and gochujang sauce, packing in 43 grams of protein.
He has morphed these into a series of teriyaki bowls that are just as packed with protein: pan-seared chicken (61 grams), garlic butter shrimp (45 grams), beef bulgogi (49 grams) and a salmon version (also 43 grams).
“It’s for those people who want to eat a little bit healthier,” Ceja said. “I’m always in my food truck, always eating these, and it’s really interesting to me; they’ve actually allowed me to drop a lot of weight.”
While food trucks have become an increasingly visible and seemingly essential part of daily life for Hollister residents and visitors, Ceja said it has come at the price of near over-saturation, which has led him to look to more distant venues.
“I don’t want to say it’s a competition,” he said. “Everyone’s different, which is great for an event like Food Truck Tuesdays. But it’s a lot easier to set up outside of town, especially in Gilroy, where I can be attached to something like a beer hall.”
One of those recent out-of-county outings was to Cottage Creek Vineyard in Morgan Hill on Oct. 26, where this reporter ran into Ceja and his truck during a recent visit. Describing him as an “incredibly authentic, lovely human being,” Wine Club manager Ann Marie Saxs said that Ceja is one of her favorite food truck chefs.
“His food is made fresh to order,” she said, “and he is always really cool about dealing with people’s food allergies, like mine, and he will modify his dishes to make them friendly for me. He is also very kind to our staff and guests. We just love him.”
Saxs has been adventurous enough to try the grasshopper tacos (“They’re crispy and crunchy and I did not dislike them”), but her favorite is the Garlic Shrimp Tacos.
“They are cooked perfectly,” she said, “not overcooked, not undercooked. They have a perfect amount of garlic, and it’s got that roasty hot garlic flavor. He adds a green salsa on them, and he chars the tortillas for a little bit of a chew.”
Ceja has begun, informally, to search for a brick-and-mortar location for a full-scale restaurant, which he said would offer advantages such as increased efficiency and greater storage capacity.
“Food trucks are really small, right?” he said. “And you’re limited as to how much food you sell per day, before you have to go back and restock, right? A restaurant would be more consistent in the hours it can be open.”
Ceja said he would continue to run the truck, in part because of its usefulness in catering jobs and in part because he enjoys the social aspect of the job, “getting to meet a lot of amazing people.”
“It’s the satisfaction of seeing people come up to the food truck,” he said. “I love to see them excited over my food. It kind of reassures me, saying, ‘Hey, Alejandro, you’re actually doing a good job.’”
El Guapo Specialites
Fish Tacos – Ceja said these tacos are the number one item on his menu, with customers remarking that the lightly beer-battered wild cod has a very good flavor without an overly fishy taste. The tacos are topped with a cilantro-lime dressing and served on tortillas, atop a pile of chipotle-seasoned coleslaw. “It’s very simple and very light,” Ceja said. “And not heavy on the coleslaw, cuz that’s the one thing that I do not like: where you see nothing but coleslaw and a little bit of fish, right?” The fish portions are large, and while flour tortillas are standard, customers can request corn instead. It is a very flavorful combination: the coleslaw offers a mild heat, the sauce is bright and tart, and the fish has an excellentl, clean taste and great texture.
Chicken Flautas – Flautas come in at number two, Ceja said, and they are my personal favorites. Made with rotisserie chicken, Ceja fries them in fresh oil, which significantly reduces the greasiness. And he uses only local Tortilla Factory flour tortillas, which he says have a distinctive style his customers recognize. “When you bite into it,” he said, “you do get the crunch, but at the same time, it’s a little bit soft in the center.” They have a unique texture and taste, more akin to a puff pastry than a regular tortilla, and the lightness of the oil keeps all the flavors very clean. An order comes with sides of sour cream and the delightful (and mild) green sauce that Saxs mentioned having on her shrimp tacos.
Beef Bulgogi Bowl – Ceja uses a mixture of New York strip steak, skirt steak and prime rib, then marinates it in a blend of soy sauce, garlic confit, Chinese Five Spice, and Asian pear, resulting in a harmonious combination of earthy depth and ephemeral sweetness. Ceja adds Japanese furikake seasoning to his rice for its distinct dash of umami. “The thing is that a lot of people don’t like seaweed,” he said, “but they are eating a little of it when they eat my bowl, and they freaking love it.” The bowls are a great take-home item and reheat nicely, although they can also be served cold as a complete meal on the go.
El Guapo’s schedule of appearances is posted to Instagram and Facebook, and Ceja can be contacted for catering at 832-524-1152 or elguapokitchen@gmail.com
Food Truck Tuesdays
Food Truck Tuesdays, sponsored by the Hollister Downtown Association, take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 15 on San Benito Street in Hollister. Depending on available space, vendors may include:
- 3E’s Lumpia
- Antojitos Oaxaqueños
- El Guapo Kitchen
- Hapa Bros.
- Ivan’s Baked Potatoes
- Klamaronzito’s
- Lily’s Fresh Fruit
- Los Tamales
- Mattia’s Pizza
- Place of Crepes
- Protein Papi’s
- R&R Tacos La Cascada
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Steakstop
- Sweet Al Amor
- Wafflz and Pearlz
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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