Want to enjoy the food trailers with your kiddo but not sure where to get started? Let me help. After dragging my six-year-old to many a trailer stand over the last two years, my typically picky daughter has offered to share a few of her favorite trailer finds — for kids.

Don’t get too excited — there aren’t a lot of truly ‘kiddie’ options, but most of the trailers have kid-friendly food that can be modified from their existing menus.

Small, snacky meals you can enjoy with kids:

Biscuits

The “Bee Gee” ranks high in both kid approval and pocket-book friendliness. For just $1, you can snag a biscuit with butter and jam (grape, strawberry or jam of the day) at Biscuits and Groovy on 5015 Duval. Your children might also be convinced breakfast is fun with the $5 “Breakfast Plate”: eggs cooked to order with a side of bacon or sausage and a biscuit with gravy and sausage. Moms and Dads might appreciate the “Donna Summer” ($8), biscuits smothered in your choice of gravy with sausage (meat or vegan), cheese, eggs and chives. Or perhaps a more raucous “Philly Nelson” ($9): Philly cheesesteak meat, bacon, sausage, bell peppers, onions, cheese and chives on top of biscuits. French-pressed coffee and bottled OJ are only $1 each.

Crepes

A dish full of protein that you can stuff with ingredients to any parent or child’s liking, crepes make for a fun family-friendly trailer trip. Try Sun Farm Kitchen if you’re East (1106 East 11th Street), Crepes Mille if you’re South (1318 South Congress) or, for the founding mother of the trailer scene in Austin, check out Flip Happy Crepes just off Barton Springs Road (400 Jessie Street).

French Fries

Several trailers offer some version of a fried potato that your child is bound to enjoy. Some of our favorite fries are the rosemary baked fries for $2 per order from Conscious Craving. Specializing in eco-conscious vegan food, they have two locations, campus (1901 Rio Grande Street) and south (1311 South 1st Street). Wash them down with some organic blueberry lemonade for another $2, and you’re still under $5 for the whole snacky meal.

Potato Chips

You have a baby…. in a bar? Luke’s Inside Out trailer is snugged up next to the Gibson Bar (at 1109 South Lamar) and offers eccentric gourmet chow for moms, dads and outgoing youth. The non-adventurous (palette-wise) kids can play under the shade tree and nosh on parmesan chips, which are homemade fresh to order. The parm adds a little cheesy, salty, herbal touch to a bland potato that children of all ages love.

We also love the fresh (real) potato chips that Hey! You Gonna Eat or What dishes out of their red trailer at 108 Gibson (off South Congress). Parents can delight in sinfully rich flavor profiles of the sandwiches, while the kiddos eat chips and get distracted by the cute puppies at the Austin Pet’s Alive trailer close by.

Grilled Cheese

Most any trailer that has bread and cheese can whip up a quick grilled cheese for your youngster. I know for a fact Way South Philly is willing and able. They even have board games to play while you enjoy the afternoon in the safe confines of the fenced in trailer park on East 6th and Waller.

Pizza

There are several varieties of pizza pies to choose from in trailer land, so I recommend trying them all until you find the one your family’s heart desires. Via 313 is brother-owned and operated just outside of the Violet Crown on East 6th and Waller. They serve authentic Detroit style (square-shaped) pizza that has cheese all they way to every edge. Available in gluten-free and dairy-free, their pizzas are craved by many Austinites.

Across the street is the large gorgeous, family owned and operated vintage Spartan Pizza trailer, also offering handmade pizzas. And down the street at 1001 East 6th, Firefly Pies serves wood-fired, brick oven baked, Neapolitan-style pizza in the East Side Drive-In trailer food park.

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With many trailers targeting adults, but not necessarily families, I would love to see more trailers offering one or two menu selections for children. Most food truck demographics are aimed at the adult crowds either during their lunch break, or for a late night grub to absorb an evening's worth of alcohol. Yet part of the beauty of trailer food lies in it’s inherent, if not purposeful, participation in the slow food movement, which targets people taking time to sit down and enjoy meals in community. Plus, so many of the above locations are a fun and safe place to meet for a playdate snack!

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