On Saturday, the site Tasty Touring organized the Tasty Up Trailer Tour, a self paced tour of many of the trailer eateries that have become so popular in Austin as of late. Biking was encouraged in these tours, but because the geographic distance covered between all points, the tour organizers conceded that those wanting to make every stop would probably not be up to biking it all.

My wife and I loaded our kids on our cargo bikes and headed out midday on Saturday to the first stop of the tour, the coffee and pastry La Boite on South Lamar. We arrived about 30 minutes after the “start” of the tour, yet nearly 100 people were there enjoying the day and tasting the offerings. At La Boite, good French press coffee was complemented with excellent mini Mexican-style pastries with none of the dryness I normally associate with these type of treats. While there, we also sampled a 1/4 Texas Cuban sandwich with plantain chips at the Texas Cuban trailer in the same lot. These eateries were on a large grassy area which was good as we waited nearly an hour for our sliver of a sandwich due to the large number of people at the start. The field allow my children to run and play catch while we waited. The plantains were great and the sandwich well done but not worthy of the wait. Fidgety kids in tow we headed to the next stop.

When I RSVP’d for the tour, I misunderstood and thought there would be a map or stop list at the beginning. This was truly self paced with name tags the only tour supplied equipment. Luckily, my wife was much more prepared and had printed the list so off we went off to the trio of trailers on South Lamar next door to Genie carwash. One thing that struck me about the stops were how bicycle hostile they were. Located sensibly enough by busy thoroughfares, getting from stop to stop included crossing busy multiple lane roads with no bike lanes, creative route selection or riding on sidewalks. When traveling with our children, this was doubly noticeable. I do not fault the organizers as this is where these places are, but a map of suggested bike friendly routes might have been helpful. I found this bike/ped hostile environment more an indictment of our car centric city and was encouraged by the number of people I saw participating in the face of this. Just think how many people would be riding bicycles if we actually built the roads to accommodate these users. But I digress.

At our second stop, we gravitated straight to the doughnut hole samplers at Gourdough’s. Included in the hand made doughnuts were such favorites as cinnamon and jelly filled. Also, more unusual was a spicy cherry and a bacon covered doughnut. I have to say I’m a doughnut traditionalist so the simmering sweet soft versions appeal to me more. The bacon rendition seemed a half measure to me. Not enough bacon to get the pork goodness but enough to remove the doughnut’s inherent sweetness.

Full up on doughnut holes, we headed to South First stopping at the Austin Daily Press located in the small lot formerly occupied by Torchy’s Tacos. Pressed sandwiches were on the menu, and I went for the Rueben while my wife went for the Eggplant sandwich. The square bread was nicely buttered and toasted on the outside while the cheese was gooey on the inside. The eggplant was black pepper infused leading my wife, not a spicy food lover, to ask for another less peppery sandwich. The staff did a great job and offered us a cup of tortilla soup for the trouble. This lot had lots of room away from the cars and traffic to enjoy the late growing day and allow my children to run and play. Still, sensing my 5 and 3 year-old would not be so well mannered and noticing a little heartburn coming on, we aborted our planned ride to the tour end point at Liberty Bar and made our way home.

The day had been gorgeous, and we all had a smashing time. Forgetting our sunscreen and the recent rains, we all ended the day with slightly rosy cheeks. I wish the stops had been easier to get to by bike, but the trailer food has not disappointed. Aside from bikability, my only other gripe was the long lines, a product of the tour’s success. Yet, once we zenned out and enjoyed the sun’s rays, this was easily overcome. We look forward to Tasty Touring’s next offering.