It’s called what now? Two new specialty eateries with funny names open in Turlock
Two specialty eateries with fun, catchy — even a little risque — names have opened in Turlock.
But they’re both serving up the kinds of comfort foods that attract fans from all corners of life. Porky Wow, a new pork confit ghost kitchen, and Spanky’s Wieners, a new hot dog food trailer, both debuted recently and already have found repeat customers.
The former specializes in making meaty chicharrones, or fried pork belly. The latter sells loaded hot dogs, with a healthy side of humor.
Porky Wow has operated out of Turlock’s busy food truck commissary on Kilroy Road since mid-September. The ghost kitchen (a commercial restaurant without a dining room) offers on-site pickup and delivery through third-party app DoorDash. Modesto resident and owner Fabricio Bernal started with a plan to create a chicharron production plant in the Valley and has opened Porky Wow as proof of his concept.
The idea came to him during the pandemic, after he was let go from his job with Hispanic specialty snack producer Gaytan Foods. About two years ago, Bernal developed his proprietary cooking method through the University of California, Merced, business incubator.
His ultimate goal is to open a large-scale plant in the area to produce the chicharrones for wholesale distribution as a chicken wing and other appetizer alternative for restaurants. The fried pork treat is already a favorite snack in the Latino community, and Bernal said he wants to bring high-quality chicharrones to the masses.
For now, his operation is very small, just a room at the commissary filled with cooking equipment and staffed by his family — his wife, Maggy, daughter Kayra and son Fabricio Jr. But they will be expanding soon to a food truck that Bernal recently purchased.
He hopes to have the truck up and running in Denair in December to give more people a chance to try their food. His cooking process turns large, meaty squares of pork belly into snacks that are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. The chunks are then frozen to be flash-baked to order.
The Porky Wow menu is simple and, as the name suggests, very pork heavy. His crunchy chicharrones are served on their own, as a trio of tacos or with bread (all for $12.99 each). Once the food truck opens, they plan to add ribs, also cooked with Bernal’s same secret technique, and sous vide pulled pork.
After a rough start — zero customers the first week — Bernal said they’ve attracted some regulars and hope the food truck will extend their reach.
“Oh, yeah, that’s good,” said Romulo Escobar, who dropped by for lunch recently. “This is a treat food. And something that goes really well with beer.”
Porky Wow, at 145 S. Kilroy Road in Turlock, is open 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. To order, visit www.porkywow.com or call 209-585 0424.
Across town, behind the Garton Tractor complex, sits Turlock’s newest food trailer. Spanky’s Wieners may have a somewhat NSFW name, but it serves up some all-American favorites and then some. Longtime Hilmar Cheese employee Frank Martinez is behind the cheekily named business.
But it wasn’t just named Spanky’s for the giggles. That has been the Delhi resident’s nickname for years. While he knows the name is almost too much to print in a family newspaper, he said he hopes people approach his business with a good sense of humor and a smile instead.
“I used ‘wieners’ instead of ‘franks’ to push the envelope a little and have fun,” he said. “I wanted people to remember the name. And I think if you can’t have a good laugh in life, what are you doing?”
While his name might be all fun and games, his hot dogs are no joke. The quarter-pound, all-beef franks are absolutely loaded with toppings. These are knife-and-fork dogs, from his Spanky’s Supreme (kind of like a hot dog cheesesteak with carne asada, grilled onions, green peppers and nacho cheese sauce) to his Elote Dawg (topped with corn, mayo, cotija cheese and chili powder).
He has about a dozen different offerings, all from $7 to $10 each. His sides are currently limited, but with loaded dogs like this, you probably won’t need them. The only dog he sells that is not all beef is the Casper dog, which uses the signature snappy frank made famous by the East Bay hot dog chain.
The custom-built 19-foot trailer has been on site in a small retail complex on Walnut Road since early October. Martinez said the freedom of having a food truck appealed to him after working for 15 years in water treatment at the Hilmar cheese plant. He’s dreamed of having a food truck for years, then started getting serious late last year and bought the trailer in February.
He said he hadn’t originally envisioned it as a hot dog business, but after doing research, he realized the city already had 41 registered taco trucks. So to stand out he went with everyone’s favorite ballpark or picnic snack instead.
Martinez mans the trailer solo, with some help from his fiancee on the weekends. He hopes to bring the truck on the festival circuit come summer.
Spanky’s Wieners, at 2370 N. Walnut Road, is open 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. For more information, visit www.instagram.com/spankyswieners.
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
