The smell of burgers was in the air as I took my dog for my evening walk in February. Our leisurely stroll turned into a risky mission – I had to find out where the heavenly smell was coming from.
The source of the smell was a blue food truck filled with Looney Tunes-esque farm animals. I waited patiently in line, ordered a cheeseburger, and rushed home to start eating.
It was love at first bite – the juicy meat with the perfectly crispy outside, covered in American cheese and a flavorful sauce, all between two slices of fluffy brioche bread.
When I finished, there was no doubt in my mind that I had just eaten the best burger of my life.
For three years, CowPig has been delighting customers with its smash burgers and loaded fries, proving that you don’t need a fancy restaurant to serve food so delicious you can’t get enough of it.
Javier Castro and his sons own CowPig, a food truck specializing in smash burgers, chicken tenders and loaded fries.
Javier Castro began his career in Las Vegas, working the night shift in a casino kitchen as a cleaner. He climbed the career ladder, becoming a dishwasher, then a cook, then a sous chef, and finally a head chef.
He later moved to California where he worked for a while and eventually came to Tucson to work at the Starr Pass Resort. His last move before opening CowPig was to Casino Del Sol where he worked as executive chef for 10 years.
After spending 25 years of his life in the restaurant industry, Castro was burned out.
“I had enough. I didn’t want to cook anymore,” Castro said.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Castro was able to spend more time with his three sons. One evening, he was chatting with a friend who had just bought a food truck, and he decided to invest in a food truck as well, where he and his sons could serve delicious food the way they wanted.
And so his passion for food was restored.
For his smash burgers, Castro uses fresh ground beef from a local butcher and makes sure it’s cold when he presses the patty onto the grill so it gets nice and crispy.
However, CowPig didn’t start out serving smash burgers. Instead, they started with breakfast. They soon realized that a breakfast cart wasn’t going over well with customers, so they started experimenting with different menu items to see what worked and what didn’t.
“There are so many trucks out here, you have to stand out from the rest,” Castro said. “We realized that people like burgers, fries and chicken tenders, and we took off with that. We perfected it and went from there.”
To stand out from the competition, Castro chose smash burgers in particular.
Smash burgers are thinner than a typical burger patty, and Castro uses fresh ground beef from a local butcher. He makes sure it’s cold when he presses the patty onto the griddle so it gets nice and crispy around the edges.
Castro and his sons were able to get creative when putting together the CowPig menu. The menu features a selection of smash burgers and hand-breaded chicken tenders, served with fries with buffalo sauce, ranch and CowPig sauce and topped with pieces of chicken tenders.
CowPig’s CowMelt sandwich is topped with juicy grilled onions and green chilies.
While their fries and chicken are delicious, their CowMelt and Basic Cow burgers are the real showstoppers.
The CowMelt is a fan favorite at the food truck. For this sandwich, Castro makes a smash burger and adds green chiles, caramelized onions, bacon, Swiss cheese, and CowPig sauce. He finishes it off with Texas toast as the bun.
Every burger joint needs a classic cheeseburger, and CowPig’s version beats them all. Even though it’s called Basic Cow, its taste is anything but basic. All the classic flavors blend together so perfectly that you’ll be hooked after the first bite.
The Basic Cow is a great burger with lettuce, pickles, onions, American cheese and CowPig sauce. You can taste the gooey cheese and special CowPig sauce in every bite. Combine that with the crispiness of the patty and the softness of the bread and you get a 10/10 burger.
Whether the Castros are at Coop, their new chicken tenders spot at 429 N. Fourth Ave., or parked at an event with their bright blue truck, you can always count on the family to serve burgers that put fast-food restaurants to shame.
“We’re just out there having fun, working together and being a family,” Castro said.
Check out CowPig’s Instagram page to see their weekly schedule.
