Today we’d like to introduce you to Mustafa and Crystal Dinc.
Mustafa and Crystal, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We are a family owned, husband and wife, operated food truck. Mustafa is originally from Istanbul, Turkey and came to Texas (2012) on an internship six years ago. He came here specifically to learn English. He received a business degree and hospitality management degree.
Myself, I worked at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX, as a purchasing agent, where we met. We would take lunch together, and I would help him learn English. Seeing that he was only here for a year on a J-1 Visa, I only wanted to be friends, but Mustafa was persistent, and eventually, I caved and decided to date him. And BAM! Just like that, a year later we are getting married. I worked in the Marriott family for 17 years and decided to leave my job to stay home with our babies after we had our 2nd girl.
We have had a long road with various immigration issues, that took five years to resolve and finally get a permanent residence status.
Mustafa has always wanted his own business and has tried a few endeavors in his lifetime, that just didn’t end up well due to partnerships going sour. After we were married (2013), he introduced me to some Turkish cuisine. The most memorable for me was the kumpir, which simply put, is a baked potato overstuffed with the most unbelievable ingredients that you’d never think to put in a baked potato. Mustafa told me that he would love to serve them here, maybe from a food truck.
2014 – Another opportunity came around, where once again, Mustafa could partner up and open a restaurant. He tried this, and the partnership dissolved only after six months.
2017 – Mustafa tried a few jobs, but nothing was a good fit. He now had a family to support, but nothing was satisfying him. One day, in a Taco Bell, we were talking about our options. Mustafa said, I just want to serve kumpir, I replied, honey, you wanna serve potatoes, then DO IT! This was the beginning of everything food truck.
We found a truck for sale on eBay, Contacted the person, drove to Houston and made a deal. I won’t get into details here, the builder was/is a horrible company. Empty promises is where I’ll leave that. But finally, in March 2018 our truck was delivered! We wanted our friend Falk Houben to paint it. Falk had recently come to the US from Germany and has done work at the Gaylord where I (Crystal) met him. We only had a concept ‘Turkish Texans’ and knew we wanted a mix of the two cultures represented on our truck. This is how the Blue Genie was born.
We had a bumpy start. In April 2018, two weeks into running the truck, it broke down. 1500 bucks and two weeks later and we were back at it. It was mid-May and we were working maybe three days a week…if we were lucky. Hahaha, those were the days. But it was HOT, and no one wanted a baked potato. We revamped the menu and have made adjustments. The kumpir isn’t the main attraction on our menu, but it does make an appearance once in a blue moon. And people have started asking for it.
Has it been a smooth road?
Permits. Finding jobs. How do you start this thing?? We need a generator? It’s freezing, AND raining!!?? The truck isn’t starting! Why don’t I have power?! What??!! No propane?!?! You forgot the ____(fill in the blank)!
LOL Where to begin? No one has a handbook. You pave your own road as a food truck owner. You are responsible for knowing about and obtaining permits. You must hunt down the gigs, and get booked. If not that route, you need to find a spot that will allow you to serve. On top of that, most people think it is ‘cheap’ to run a truck and that the food will be cheap and fast. Some foods are precooked, but not really. Only so much can be prepared ahead of service. It takes time to cook and deliver a fresh, hot meal. And if we get hit with 6+ orders at once, there will be a wait, just as there is in a restaurant. And we are only 2 ppl. I cook the bulk of our menu, and Mustafa takes orders, cooks the fries and boxes it all up to deliver.
If we do festivals or events…most places want 20-40% of your sales, or there’s a vendor fee…so now you know why food is so expensive at these places because we have to adjust our pricing to make a profit. We don’t always adjust pricing; we really strive to give a nice price point, so the customer is getting the best value.
You have to beat a lot of odds to be successful in this business. Once we got into the swing of things, we started making some headway and making a name for ourselves. You do get business from people that just see you out n about, but most of our business comes from us hitting the road and searching for it. We also rely on breweries to supplement our income. It’s a nice relationship. We need them, and they need us. I can honestly say, I never thought I would be working for beer. hahahaa, but on slow nights, this is what happens. Even after all the planning and booking, sometimes people just don’t want to eat your food. It can grate your nerves when you’re at a place of business for lunch, or a brewery for dinner and possible customers order catering, pizza, or bring fast food. This is the business though, lots of competition.
We have a 1995 P30 Step van 18-foot truck; it used to be a Frito Lay delivery truck. We have a long list of repairs. It can be costly. For example, we just learned that Chevy no longer makes the transmission hoses, we paid an extra 300 bucks to have them special made. Ugh. But it is certainly a trade-off. A new truck can cost anywhere from 100K-200K and I know that’s a big monthly ‘car’ payment.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Turkish Texans – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a food truck that serves the DFW area. We frequent local breweries and serve lunch at various different companies throughout the week.
What sets us apart…? Turkish Pita Bread and Angry Turk Sauce
Our bread is something short of magical. We buy it from a Turkish company that produces it hand made from abroad. No other truck (to our knowledge) has this product and it makes our doner AWESOME! We have learned that Germany is really big on selling doner because we have so many followers that hunt us down to have what they had in Germany. It’s so interesting and we know they will love it.
I created Angry Turk sauce after trying a fellow truckers spicy sauce and was inspired. We needed something spicy to kick up the menu “Texan style”. I love sour cream and have always used in to cool down my spicy dishes. I also love sriracha and decided to add some chipotle flavor and a bit of magic. It’s good and has expanded to other items on the menu. It’s also gluten-free and I make it dairy free for my vegan/lactose customers. If you want it spicy, just ask and say, “make it angry”.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the people. We have yet to come across a person that isn’t nice, friendly or is rude. Our customers are awesome!
Least…? Construction, potholes, and red light tickets. Bad drivers as well. When you live life like a turtle and you’re driving your livelihood around town, you drive safely and notice everything. You also gain tons of respect for ‘real’ truckers. It can be stressful, especially in heavy traffic when the need arises to stop immediately. It isn’t an easy task when you’ve got a 10 thousand pound kitchen behind you. Not to mention the 200 lbs of propane and a generator full of gasoline. Mustafa is a city boy, so Crystal does all the driving.
Pricing:
- Beef Philly Doner $10
- Blue Genie Loaded Fries $9
- Original Kumpir $8
Contact Info:
- Website: www.turkishtexans.com
- Phone: 214-810-2778
- Email: info@turkishtexans.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/turkishtexans
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/turkishtexans
- Twitter: twitter.com/turkish_texans
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/turkish-texans-food-truck-fort-worth?osq=turkish+texans
Image Credit:
Michael Beard – the ‘personal’ pic and the first 2 pics (truck on the road and family pic). The rest are taken by Crystal and Mustafa
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
