Yukas Truck Cafe
Courtesy of Yukas Truck Cafe
The Mains
Couple Brings Real-Deal Café to Car Dealership Parking Lot
The words “car dealership coffee” conjure up images of sipping lukewarm brew from an elf-sized paper cup while praying to the credit gods for a decent interest rate. Ekaterina Stetsenko and Erick Salas dare to ask: What if a dealership offered joe so good it can draw customers who aren’t in the market for new wheels? The married duo recently launched mobile food and coffee bar Yukas Truck Cafe. Parked in a nook behind the pair’s University Heights car dealership, the outpost serves up lattes, cold brew, and breakfast bites.
Ekaterina and Erick have spent a collective three decades working in the restaurant business, with experience in nearly every role the industry offers, from washing dishes to managing eateries. “We love taking care of people,” Ekaterina says. “I love feeding people.” Yukas Truck Cafe (the moniker is a nod to Erick’s nickname) will make joe to-go with Cafe Virtuoso coffee beans and other beans imported from Italy. The truck’s breakfast and lunch menu includes their Yukas burrito: eggs, bacon, cheese, pico de gallo, and tater tots wrapped in a spinach tortilla. Ekaterina also developed a menu for four-legged friends along for the ride. Take your lavender matcha and croissant sandwich on the road, or cozy up at one of their outdoor bar or bench seatings—and maybe scope out a new sedan in the process.
BBQ House
Courtesy of BBQ House Mediterranean Cuisine
Mediterranean BBQ Food Truck Parks in Mission Hills
Tip: Riesling and sauvignon blanc play nice with shawarma. I mention it in case you’re tempted to pick up some Mediterranean food on your next stop at Hills Wine and Spirit. After 20 years in the restaurant industry, Feras Barakat applied his food-world acumen to BBQ House Mediterranean Cuisine, a food truck posted in the parking lot of the Mission Hills liquor store. Try the chicken shawarma with marinated chicken, garlic sauce, and marinated pickles wrapped in saj bread and the falafel dish with hummus, mint, cucumber, and pickles swaddled in pita. You can grab them to-go or through a delivery service like DoorDash.
Lost Cause Mead
Courtesy of Lost Cause Meadery
Quick Bites
Bay Park’s Lost Cause Meadery took home the top title of best mead at the inaugural US Mead Open. The husband-and-wife owners crafted their winning brew, called “Wolf: The Dawning,” in honor of their son.
San Diego Mission Bay Resort hosts their first Beers by the Bay event on Friday, June 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. The event features a four-course beer pairing dinner with local Bay City Brewing suds alongside dishes like lamb vindaloo and pork belly chop, all prepared by the resort’s chef, Roy Henderickson.
California Wine Festival calls Carlsbad home this year. The two-day wine tasting event takes place Friday, June 23, and Saturday, June 24, at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort. Ticket holders can sample hundreds of California wines, plus craft beer and snacks like cheeses and bread.
Have breaking-news, exciting scoops, or great stories about San Diego’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
