Today we’d like to introduce you to Petrina Tate Roger Mitchell
Hi Petrina Tate , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I use to be a server at Boomerjacks,Bar and Grill,Pappadeaux and other places. I always would meet and serve elderly people.They would always say,”Young lady you need to do something different then this like own your own business, Good luck!! “Those were signs. My grandfather was a Chef in the military and my grandmother cooks,so I was always in the kitchen. I was a single mom for years until I met Roger Mitchell, the other owner in January 31,2018. I was going to City Square for culinary school for a little bit and graduated. City Square is for low income people. I was looking for another server job,and it was not working for me. Roger works at Texas Instruments but I was unemployed . December 15th 2020,I had a vision at 3 am like you need a foodtruck. I was like God how? I felt like Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghost where she couldn’t sleep. So,Roger,myself and the kids went out to Allen Mall Outlet. We saw an owner of 2 food trailers and ask how they
got started.
Roger and I searched everywhere in Texas for food trucks and they all wanted 15k for used to 30k for new and some used. I got a hold of Freedom Trailers. They actually takes orders for custom made trailers in Land O’ Lakes Florida. So, we was very fortunate to pay a great low price compare to other places. We had the electrical and plumbing done with all 3 sinks. I told them I want a porch because it’s a BBQ trailer. We put in everything ourselves with a lot of help from our great friend Sammie Edward’s. He is a one person business owner himself.
So,we went to Willocoochie, Georgia 5 states over to pick our trailer up straight from the manufacturer. We just made a vacation out of it because my fiancé Roger Mitchell is from Tampa, Florida .
We took my Aunt Sherri that is handicapped. She had not gone on a vacation in years. No one takes her so we did! The smile on my face driving back to Texas with a brand new trailer in the back was priceless. I couldn’t believe it.
Then, March 2021, The Pandemic hit!!!
We put all of our money to purchase this food trailer. They shut down all restaurants and everything. That was all of our savings, well God said keep going. So, we went on on FAITH! We paid the other half and we got it!!!
When we got back,Rogers good friend Scott Solar & his crew did
our wrap . He is another small business owner at Scott Solar Auto in Arlington.
We got our first permit through Plano. I was talking to Al in the department the whole time so we don’t fail inspection. Our first event was in Mesquite at Expo Arts.
We have been members at LA FITNESS
for quite some time. They support small businesses so they allow us to operate up there and they have days once a month to support small businesses. We give out free gourmet food samples. We use to go to the LA FITNESS in Plano but we don’t do well there and a smoothie business in that area hated on us so much,they tried to shut us down and get our permit taken away. After the City of Plano came out to investigate and see if we were even legal. I mean he went back and forth to the other business that complained. He called the city and I told him about Al the inspector.
Guess,what he apologized 3 or 4 different times and they never bothered us again.
So, we decided after all of that drama,we are going to the other LA FITNESS on President George Bush FRWY and Coit location. We love that one! No problems or nothing! Travis and Alex the management team is awesome! The customers are amazing! Once they have our food & smoothies,they keep coming back! This young teenager said he wish he could work for us so he can eat a free meal from us every day. 😆 I was giving out free Garlic and herb baked chicken, jasmine rice and smoked chicken wraps with Jalapeños Ranch. They loved it. People try to pay but I said it’s free!! This is customer appreciation day,it’s on us!!
So, when we were on K104 the biggest hip hop and R&B radio station. We had to make sure we shout LA FITNESS at that location. Yes we did feed the whole crew JKruz,Dede,JJ,Tre-G all producers. I mean everyone came out including 105.7 smooth R&B.
We were on DFW DEN GOSPEL radio station, We were in the DALLAS MAVERICKS ST.PATRICK’S DAY PARADE, last year on TV and this year in the cold and rain. We join that parade to only promote and we donate to the Dallas undergraduate College at the same time.Thats how we pay it forward.
We are very blessed, our company is blessed. We sacrifice, struggle, and try to keep the faith to keep going.
We lost friends as a result of our greatest success but we keep going. I’m very Tenacious!! My goal is to get our name out there. I wish we had a grant to hire people because I’m hoping to hire people so I can just manage and maybe get a restaurant, but it’s just the 2 of us and our young teenage daughter Kerissa and our 6 year old Jayden. He loves to help and spend money 😆. We love Reserve Auto Group. The owners stated that they only wants us. It’s a big time car show that has 25 million dollars worth of luxury cars. Awesome car show! We love Yello Belly’s! It’s a legal car drag race facility. When Dallas Police Department is escorting us in front of our food truck , pretty cool. My thing is Never give up!! Thanks to Rooster Roo,another food truck that found us and got us in Northside Rockwall. Thanks to Larrys foodtruck yard for having us. He has a diner and a small business owner himself that supports small businesses. We tried to keep each other alive.I do all the videos and ads myself as well as marketing. Self taught yall,because people charges a lot. Its a way that my creativity gets out there as well. I registered to be in the State Fair of Texas, so stay tuned! Im a little bold,but competitive. K104 asked us to come back after the State Fair of Texas! We will be back! Please check out our 8 minute interview on our Facebook page with K104 Dede in the morning. Big thanks to our friend JKRUZ for getting us in there. What an amazing experience with there. I didnt want to leave. They are some comedians up there. Im so glad everyone loves our food. Its a lot of hard work but its worth it! It’s a Passion of mine! We are just getting started! That’s our story!!! God Bless! Petrina Tate, Roger Mitchell and our kids Kerissa and Jayden Take Care!!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely Not
Finances, permits,and we get some haters. We are trying to find good locations. We deal with a lot of scammers! We lost family members, dealing with the small space in our trailer. We wish it was bigger. The Denali struggles to pull it,we wish we could afford a truck. We need a better and bigger pos system. Our merchant is mot keeping it together when it comes to our money. Then, they raise their merchant prices without telling us. So,we are switching to a different merchant through our bank. Our insurance on everything is out of control expensive .It’s been a hell of a ride! Ugh!! Yet,we still keep going
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a Libra woman and I’m very gifted and creative. I sketch,creative be beautiful delicious recipes with my own twist. For example, Texas Peach Cobbler Nachos ,our 10 ingredient Banana Pudding with moist cake crumbs & homemade caramel drizzle, Jalapeños Ranch for our fries, Texas Heatwave secret sauce for our burgers
Fried Cheesecake Eggrolls rolled in brown sugar after lightly deep frying it ,our Smoked Pepper Jelly Cream Cheese Angus Bacon Burger . Should I go on! We are different, and people want different! We are a restaurant on Wheels! We get a lot of wows! 😆
It makes us so happy ! It’s my passion! All videos,marketing, food pictures are ours mainly. We love to please everyone,diabetics and all. This one lady which was an elderly and diabetic at a
nursing home wanted our fried strawberry cheesecake Eggrolls .So I made one for sugarfree. She loved it! I’m very creative like that. I spend a lot of time making our videos and menus by myself. I did not want a cartoons on our food truck because of bid corporations that hires us. I just want classy and simple.
What sets us apart from other food trucks,our sense of humor,our Smoked Gourmet foods with a twist!
Our delish 8 ingredient Frymagic seasoning, our consistency of real gourmet food and drinks like our Blue Magic Slushies with grape soda and lemon Wedge or our no Sugar added fresh smoothies that everyone loves so much.
Funny story,we were at the Northside Rockwall margarita Festival and this guy comes up to us wanting to make sure there was no alcohol in the Blue Magic Slushie! It’s that pretty! We get that a lot from our specialty drinks!
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
For us to keep growing our business because it’s our pride and joy.
Also to make sure every customer is excited to come see us and loves our gourmet food and is happy no matter the wait. We always strive for 5 star reviews and our food will always be what customers expect.
Pricing:
- *Pepperjelly Cream Cheese Bacon Burger 17.99
- *10 Ingredient Cream Cheese Banana Pudding 8 99
- *Garlic Fries with Jalapeños Ranch 5.99
- *Smoked Quesadillas Steak or Chicken with garlic fries and Jalapeños Ranch 18 99
- Texas peach cobbler nachos with vanilla ice cream 9.99
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Petrinaflavors78
- Facebook: Gourmet Flavors of Texas LLC
- Youtube: Gourmet Flavors of Texas LLC
- Other: Tiktok – petrinatate0
Image Credits
Canva
