Your favorite food truck was likely born in W. Eugene.
More specifically in an industrial part of town full of non-descript storerooms. Fractured panes of grimy glass line the exterior and cats without collars prowl across dirty gravel parking lots in search of a meal.
One such warehouse is owned and operated by technical engineer Bill “Tex” Rouse who runs the place with his brother Justin Pierce, a welder-fabricator, and Eep, another employee.
“I grew up having to fix everything I owned,” Pierce said. “All I had was garbage and it all had to get fixed.”
This is the crew behind Nasty Works, a Eugene firm that builds custom food trucks and carts for clients throughout Oregon, Idaho, Washington and California.
University of Oregon alum Casey Brooks asked the brothers for help fixing up his Sammitch Food Cart.
“(The business) was so needed in this area,” said Brooks. “They’re just fulfilling that gap. That gap is huge because there’s 20-30 carts in town and all of them don’t have a place to repair. And they all break.”
The brothers got their start in their backyard in Jasper, Oregon where they had to constantly rearrange the shop, depending on the project. They’ve moved to the Eugene warehouse in the last year.
Within Eugene alone, Nasty Works is also responsible for Tam’s Place Vietnamese Cuisine, Da Nang Vietnamese Eatery, Rivas Taco Shop and Sum’s Sliders, Salads & Wraps, among others.
“We stand behind everything we build,” Tex said. “We’re definitely proud of what we do, for sure. We do service repair, not just for our stuff, but all the local stuff as well. We service other carts just to keep them up and running.”
The name “Nasty” came from his DJ persona, Tex Nasty. He’s a turntable mechanic and has been spinning records since he was 16. He loves breaks — an electronic music genre with a distinct percussion — but says he’ll spin anything, especially during his annual trek to Burning Man, where he met Brooks.
“We joked about being the Nasty Family and it led from there,” Tex said. “It’s one of those names that’s very unique and people remember it. It’s a little dirty, but not quite. A little provocative.”
Inside, the warehouse’s first floor houses the company’s current projects — a few gutted trucks, sitting in various stages of disassembly.
There’s a ’52 Ford with the frame pulled out from underneath. It was refurbished with a Chevrolet motor and other parts. The suspension was updated and the floor replaced. The body was dropped by three inches to provide more room to work inside. Soon, this will be an operational coffee truck in Salem, Oregon.
Next to the red truck is a two-story covered wagon bus that they drive out to the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man each year. It’s equipped with a P.A. system and also boasts a functional dance floor on the roof. They plan to install a staircase before next year.
“(Burning Man) is why all this started,” Tex said, referring to the entire warehouse. “I ran into (Brooks) there and we had a great time. He said he’s starting a food cart and he asked for me to fix some stuff. It’s weird how all this stuff comes into play.”
Upstairs in Tex’s office, some pliers, a cup of coffee from 7-11 and a few plastic safety goggles encircle his desktop computer. A grubby glass jar full of ashes and cigarette butts idly smokes nearby.
Tex and his brother are from Grand Prairie, Texas. They moved up to Eugene in the last few years.
“There’s just a very brilliant and vibrant flavor down there,” Tex said. “With the trucks, you’re getting that brilliant flavor, because you’re getting these unique meals and this unique flavor from these people who have awesome recipes.”
A number of variables, from the style of restaurant, to the menu, differentiate every food truck design, Tex explained. The client is involved and consulted throughout the entire design process.
“We don’t want to make the same cookie-cutter stuff. We’re always looking to push the buck a little bit. I’d rather do something completely custom.”
Sumer Jones of Sum’s Sliders, Salads & Wraps recalled how Tex bought the truck with her business partner, made sure it was in proper working order and drove it down from Washington with him.
“Every step of the way, we wanted to make sure he was doing exactly as we asked,” Jones said. “He was very cool about it. If anything goes wrong, I feel way comfortable in asking for help.”
Tony Ngo, another Nasty Works client, remarked that “Tex takes a lot of pride in what he does. He’s very particular on how he wants to do something. He wants to do stuff right. That’s what I liked about him – his commitment to doing really good work.”
Past projects have had carts with bar stools plugged into the sides, snowboards flipped upside-down for countertops — all things Tex says “really gives them personality.”
It’s an undeniably popular shift in Eugene’s dining culture: People are choosing to operate a food truck over a restaurant. It’s much less expensive, a manageable size and, of course, mobile.
“I think people are tired of the mainstream restaurant,” Pierce said. “There are a few Chinese restaurants around, a few soul food restaurants. Then there are these food trucks, which have a blend of everything. It’s personal, home-cooked recipes. It has more love in it than something that’s slapped on a griddle in a restaurant.”
Tex’s business brings in plenty of clients from California, where food trucks come with a high price tag. Here in Eugene, Nasty Works is one of the only businesses that builds and services food trucks.
“We’re expensive locally, for what it is,” Tex said. “As far as we know, there’s nobody locally. There are a few carts up in Portland, but they’re just cranking out crap. There’s competition, but we haven’t really had any problem staying busy.”
With the current warehouse location, Nasty Works finished its most recent truck construction in a brief 11-day period. The average truck takes a month to complete, but the crew is becoming proficient in constructing quality trucks quickly. The upgrade from working out of their backyard has been a significant change.
“They’re pumping out stuff,” said Brooks. “They (used to) put two carts in their backyard, other than mine. It took them months. Now they can just bang them out. They have some room to play.”