University Star

Since the first food trailer park opened last year, more and more have been popping up all over San Marcos. WANderLust is one of the newest in town.

Wendy Wan, owner of WANderLust, prepares Thai Vermicelli noodles for customers. The noodles are served with assorted vegetables.

With all the eateries in San Marcos, some people may think there are no more surprises to be had. However, WANderLust has brought something new to the area, which according to owner Wendy Wan is “Italian, Asian-inspired global street food.”

The menu features different kinds of hot sandwiches, from all-American combinations like grilled cheese to more international sandwiches like the porchetta.

“I have definitely never had anything like this in San Marcos,” said Chamberlain Garber, a recent masters of psychology graduate, after eating one of Wan’s porchettas.

Garber said she chose to eat at WANderLust because she had never been to The Hitch, which is where Wanderlust is located. After walking to all the trailers, she thought it smelled the best.

Because of the Texas heat, Wan also offers cooler items including Thai noodles and internationally inspired teas, though she said the menu is ever-changing.

“I can create as I go, and it’s fun for me. I like being creative,” she said.

That is where she got the idea for the trailer’s name. She expects her customers will enjoy wandering through different cultures as they eat. Plus, she liked the play on words she created with her last name being in the title.

“These food trailers are almost like a little culture in and of itself,” said Brian Jacobs, a San Marcos local.

In the summer months, business dies down a bit, which makes things a little more difficult for trailer owners like Wan. She gets a lot of the working crowd during the week, so she made a commitment to herself to stay in the trailer from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

“It gets really slow sometimes, but I can’t run errands because I have some regulars who expect me to be here, and I need to be here for them,” she said.

As of now, Wan is the only employee, and she said she likes it that way. When school starts in the fall though, she hopes business will pick up a lot more and she will hire at least one other employee.

The hiring process may prove to be difficult because she is not originally from San Marcos. In fact, she is not even from Texas.

For the last 10 years, Wan cooked with top-notch chefs in New York. She took her experiences from there and moved them with her.

“It was time for a change,” she said.

She learned a lot of her cooking style from those chefs in New York who gave her very high standards for her food. She makes everything but the cheese and bread from scratch.
“It has a very homemade feel to it,” said Jacobs as he ate his porchetta.

Even the mayonnaise she puts in her coleslaw is made by hand instead of being pulled
from a jar.

Wan hopes all of her efforts will prove worthy and bring more people to WANderLust.