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Taking dad out for a Father’s Day dinner could mean battling long waits at a restaurant.
David Taub
Appetite for Fresno
Or, you could go to a BBQ food truck extravaganza on Sunday. The latest promotion from Fresno Street Eats will bring seven trucks to the Tioga Sequoia beer garden in downtown Fresno on Sunday afternoon.
Mega Texas Barbeque will be one of several food providers at the event. It is not a food truck per se, but rather a pop-up feast.
Located in an ARCO station at the northwest corner of McKinley Avenue and Fresno Street — careful, no signs are up currently — owner Anthony Vallejo is busy serving up tri-tip, burnt ends, and pulled pork. He turned a side hustle selling plates out of his truck into a popular joint in central Fresno.
He slow-cooks his meats in a smoker in the parking lot and serves them up when it is chow time.
Business is steady but efficiently run — orders can be made through Instagram. Vallejo runs Mega Texas with his wife, mother, and daughter.
Vallejo is excited to return to the Father’s Day bash, held for the first time since the pandemic.
“It was a big hit. A lot of people came out. I’m really excited because I can actually cook a lot more food,” Vallejo said. “They’re going to get some quality stuff when they come down.”
Watch: Mega Texas Barbecue
Tri-Tip Secrets
“We keep it simple. Bun, tri-tip, we give you the sauce on the side. We want to let the meat really shine.” — Anthony Vallejo, Mega Texas Barbeque
Vallejo is a believer in Santa Maria tri-tip, the meat served on a garlic buttered roll. It is best with salsa. Some say Mega Texas’s tri-tip is on par with Fresno powerhouses Doghouse Grill and Mike’s.
“We keep it simple. Bun, tri-tip, we give you the sauce on the side. We want to let the meat really shine. We kick it to a medium-well. It still has a little bit of pink, but done enough for the people who don’t like ‘bloody tri-tip,’ ” Vallejo says.
Vallejo uses Montreal steak seasoning — as opposed to Pappy’s or Susie Q’s — with a garlic and onion seasoning mix.
More Food and Fun
From 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., several trucks will offer grill goodness and sweet treats. The rest of the lineup includes:
- BBQ Queen
- Spicy Birdz
- Ruta Cayejera
- Dad’s Cookies
- Bran’s Sweet Treats
- Highly Addictive Candy
The event will also feature games from Fresno Social Sports. The games will include a cornhole-type event called Throw Some Steaks on the Grill and a water balloon game in which kids and dads pair up to knock things off each other’s head, said organizer Mike Oseguera.
“I’ve always felt like Fresno needed another great Father’s Day event, particularly for the cool dads who like beer and food trucks and music,” Oseguera said. “If you’re a dad looking for a place to hang out with your family in a fun, outdoor setting, then this is it.”
PG&E Helping Local Restaurants
Two Fresno restaurants will receive $3,000 each in grants from the California Restaurant Foundation and The PG&E Corporation Foundation.
Las Mañanitas, and Bulldoc Korean Fusion will receive the money to help pay for operation costs and employee retention.
“Independent and locally-owned restaurants add vibrancy and uniqueness to every city, which is why the Resilience Fund is so important,” Alycia Harshfield, executive director of CRF, said in a news release.
In total, 144 restaurants shared $500,000 of grant money.
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