Two Sisters, Two Food Trucks, and a Lot of Soul

When you pass 5903 Wellington Dr., at first you might not notice the pink food trailer in a small grassy field across from the apartments. Sometimes you can feel the trunk-rattling rumble from old-school slabs banging Screw as they swing their way through the Eastside (although that particular phenomenon becomes rarer and rarer as years go by and prices go up). It is here in the heart of Windsor Park that born-and-raised Austinite sisters Tieisha Hyder and Timisha Jones first established their food truck businesses.

Twins who were born the youngest of four sisters, Hyder and Jones (who is technically the older of the two) grew up on Luna Street across from Givens Park before moving to Pecan Springs and attended Sims Elementary as children, followed by Lamar Middle School and Anderson High. Their late mother, Evelyn Faye Hutchins Williams, ranks as an obvious influence on the women, who both named their trucks in honor of her. Evelyn’s favorite color was pink, which inspired Hyder’s signature pink trailer and benches, and there are pictures of Evelyn on the truck.

The sisters say that the food game is in their blood. Their mother would often host and organize card games, cooking while the girls waited on the clientele for tip money. It instilled the hustle of the hospitality industry into Evelyn’s children, and they learned how to cook for large groups by watching her prep in the kitchen. Hyder also gives a shout-out to Austin-area legend “Nubian Queen” Lola Stephens-Bell as her cousin and says their grandmother once had a restaurant on East 12th Street.

Hyder operates her food truck, MaMa’Z Soul Kitchen, on Wellington Drive and cheerfully greets every person who walks up to her trailer. “I love the community. I love the supporters. They motivate me to do everything that I get up and try to do,” she says. Just a block away to the northwest is old Windsor Village, the neighborhood’s central commercial space now owned by Transwestern; the shopping center is now razed and under construction while the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association still attempts to combat the developer’s plans for the area.

Hyder originally began cooking professionally as a way to make money while dealing with her own issues: Namely, that she was shot in the head and back when she was 20 years old. She says, “I was actually up the street from Givens … I was young, but I didn’t have any business being that way … [They shot up the] party and I was an innocent bystander.”

She continues, “During those days, I was doing wrong. I was hustling and trying to make ends meet from easy money. I’m not gonna deny anything I did, but ‘wrong place, wrong time’ got me shot up. I went to prison [and] did kitchen and hoe squad … That was a lesson to me because hoe squad would have you singing in line and chopping grass with an aggie [hoe]. That motivated me along with being away from my kids and my mom. Every time I would go down, my mom would get sick or someone would pass. They wouldn’t let you go to funerals so … It all was a lesson to just do better for myself because if you’re working down there for them, [it’s] for free. You’re not getting paid anything but three [hots and a] cot a day.”

During the process of recovering and figuring out what to do with herself, Hyder decided to start selling food. “I started from nothing, from fixing plates out of my car,” she says. “I sold plates out of my red car and made enough to be able to purchase the trailer. I would deliver to local companies or jobs and then my clientele was built.” As she currently lives near LBJ High School, she wanted to have the business near where she stays. “I had a friend named Patrick that sold turkey legs here [in town] and he knew somebody that had a spot [on Wellington] … I’ve been here ever since and I love them … they became family.”

Hyder has been running MaMa’Z Soul Kitchen for more than three years, with a rotating menu that changes week by week. Her common specials include the fan favorite oxtails (cooked with mushrooms and peppers) and enchiladas (brisket or beef) along with smothered turkey, pork chops, and chicken, but also pasta, tacos, seafood boils, big chef salad plates, and gumbo. She uses Facebook to post her ever-changing weekly menus and status updates on how close she is to selling out for the day. Although her plates typically start at $17, her portions are huge and easily make two or three full servings for a single adult with a healthy appetite.

“It ain’t nann meal that I haven’t done that’s not gourmet! You know it’s all good if you selling out everyday,” she says. “Some people [who own restaurants] have to have leftovers [at the end of the day] and I just thank the Lord I don’t.”

Jones’ truck, Big Mama’s Kitchen, operates at 12th and Springdale alongside Hungry Hill Handwash and Detail, which helps long-term unhoused residents of East Austin find employment. Across the street from Jones’ truck is Sims Elementary (which now sits empty as Austin ISD merged the student body with nearby Norman Elementary because of declining enrollment), Country Boyz Fixins (a local soul food staple that closed due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic), and thriving coffee shop Palomino Coffee.

Jones worked in health care for 14 years prior to getting into the food entrepreneurship industry herself, along with her partner, Otis Campbell. “When my sister opened her food truck, I said I could do it too. Starting it and getting it up and running was the hardest part,” she says. “We tried to figure out what people would like best for soul food. It was always my passion. I just always wanted to travel out of town and be a cook on a cruise.”

Jones’ truck has a consistent menu that focuses on traditional soul food cuisine. She knocks soul food out of the park with her well-seasoned takes on classic comfort foods like pork chops or chicken-fried chicken. Her personal favorites are the Dirty Damn Cajun Chicken Tenders and the boudin balls, while Campbell cites the pork chops as his go-to meal.

Open for a little more than a year, Big Mama’s Kitchen moved to 12th and Springdale a few months ago. Campbell says, “We’re still trying to figure out the best locations and see how the business is.” Jones’ goal is ultimately to open up a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Her younger sister’s expansion plans, on the other hand, involve eventually getting a second truck located in a different part of town to better serve her customer base in the Austin area. Hyder relishes the freedom that comes with not being tied down by a permanent location or menu. “I don’t wanna put too much on myself that I can’t bear. I try to work with what help I have and make sure I have a certain amount [of food] every day,” she says. “Once it’s gone and I sell out, I’m going home and going to bed. I don’t do too much I know I can’t handle.” She cautions entrepreneurs not to overextend or overcommit themselves, adding, “If you try to do ‘this, this, and this,’ you’re not going to make it. People [are] not gonna come to you every day. This is a lot of work.”

As these twin Texan sisters who have spent the majority of their lives on Austin’s Eastside continue to grow into their new callings as entrepreneurs in the city’s food scene, they do so in a space where everything from food prices to the ability to find good help to standard real estate lease amounts can shift on a seemingly month-to-month basis. “We embrace the change,” Jones and Campbell both say.

Hyder has a similar perspective. “The change I see is that everybody’s moving from outta town up here. But they love the food, so hey! They wanna buy a property, let them buy it. You know, I meet a lot of good people. Some of them are from California, Louisiana … just different places!” She pauses for a moment. “The community has changed a lot. But it’s okay … what can we do about it? Just go with the flow.”

MaMa’Z Soul Kitchen

Big Mama’s Kitchen

This article appears in February 17 • 2023.