Last call for Eatsie Boys
Pioneering Houston food truck hits the brakes on impressive 11-year run
A pioneering Houston food truck will end its 11-year run this weekend. The Eatsie Boys will have its final day of service this Sunday, December 26, chef and co-owner Matt Marcus tells CultureMap.
The chef cited a number of reasons for the decision, including decreased food traffic, the difficulty in finding sufficient labor to run the truck efficiently, and supply chain challenges that have raised the cost of raw materials. As painful as the decision, Marcus acknowledges the time has come.
“We’re just hemorrhaging money at this point,” Marcus says. “The proper business decision, although it’s my baby and I would have kept it going forever, I just can’t do it at this point.”
Founded in 2010 by Marcus, Ryan Soroka, and Alex Vassilakidis, the Eatsie Boys quickly emerged as a leader in Houston’s growing scene of gourmet food trucks. Marcus, a Culinary Institute of America graduate whose resume includes Michelin-starred restaurants such as Cyrus and The Fat Duck, developed a menu of gourmet sandwiches with clever names and elevated preparations.
“Some of my best memories were cooking at Agora, and the day we came up with matzo ball pho,” Marcus says. “Doing the pop-ups at Urban Harvest when we first got started. The hundred or so people we employed; they all meant so much to me.”
The truck spawned a brick and mortar cafe that operated from 2013 to 2015, earning recognition from CultureMap as one of the best new restaurants of 2013. Since closing the restaurant, the food truck has been based at 8th Wonder Brewery.
Marcus will remain involved with 8th Wonder Brewery and Distillery, but he says he’s open to something with a more explicitly culinary focus. The chef has consulted for a number of local clients over the years, including JCI Grill and the recently-opened New York Eatery.
“If anybody wants to open a restaurant, let’s do it,” he says. “Or if there’s any opportunity, I’m really open to hearing it.”
