“I’ve always liked fried chicken,” says Nick Lowell, the owner of Cockti Juicy Fried Chicken at 2701 E. Martin Luther King. We can’t blame him; we do too. It’s part of the reason why people haven’t been able to stay away from the food truck he opened just a few months ago.
An army veteran who’s worked for 13 years in the food industry, Lowell prioritizes natural ingredients in his menu. “I did a good bit of traveling when I joined the military and I was exposed to a lot of spices in Hawaii,” he recalls. “My partner Ana and I met and she started introducing new peppers to me, so I started messing around with those and made the dry rubs. We came up with agave nectar instead of using a lot of refined sugars.
“We just try to simplify everything, all the way down to the brine,” he says. “We stay away from all the MSGs and all the things that are gonna trick you into coming back and thinking you enjoy it.”
Lowell uses the phrase “transparent” a lot when describing his food. He’s not talking about serving portions so small that you can basically see through the dish – he’s talking about making sure the ingredients and methods used in his offerings are simple and easy for the customer to understand, with no artificial additives.
The approach comes from real-life experience. “My mom had her gallbladder removed and once she recovered, she had to start living like she was a celiac,” Lowell shares. “A couple years ago, I started messing around with a lot of gluten-free items like pancakes and baked items. I make a really nice gluten free brownie. We’re just trying to provide a truck that I felt Austin needed.” It inspired him to produce not only a gluten-free crust for his chicken, but also vegetarian/vegan sides like fried plantains.
I tried the spicy three-piece chicken meal, the chicken sandwich, and the mac and cheese when I stopped by the truck a few times over the last couple of weeks – along with some tres leches tiramisu – and every item was insanely fire (and I’m not referring just to the spice level). The menu’s unique blend of Asian, Mexican, and American flavors explains why Lowell is facing the best kind of new-business issue: huge demand.
“We’re doing four-to-six hundred dollar hours back-to-back because [customers] taste the [quality of the] food,” Lowell says. “So just like they’re supporting us, we’re supporting them by giving them transparent food with gluten-friendly and vegan items that are as high quality as the chicken itself.”
Cockti is currently open from 3-9pm Monday through Thursday and opens at noon on weekends (but closes at 7pm on Sundays). Lowell says he wants to eventually open for lunch service on Wednesdays and Thursdays and is planning to start closing on Mondays to ensure quality control. In addition to chicken, mac and cheese, fries, plantains, and chips with queso, he plans to roll out street corn, brussels sprouts, and polenta fries in the future.
He’s even game to ditch the food truck, quoting advice he’s received in light of his success: “If Austin wants you to be a brick-and-mortar, you’ll become a brick-and-mortar.” It may be a tad too soon for that development, but Nick and Ana’s young chicken and plantain slinging empire off East MLK and Walnut is sure to grow in scale.
This article appears in January 24 • 2025.
