Rincon's Chicken Shack BBQ Food Truck Has a Grand Opening in Every Sense
Luis Lugo, co-owner of the Chicken Shack BBQ food truck in Rincon, handed me a rib while I was paying for my order on Monday, the day of the truck’s grand opening, and it was so good I got in my Jeep and sped home faster than usual to start eating.
And it didn’t disappoint.
For me, the opening of Chicken Shack BBQ, next to my Gulf gas station in Rincon on Carretera 115 near its intersection with Carretera 414, and next to the pink Bikini Bus, was much-anticipated.
Hey, it wasn’t like renowned chef Daniel Boulud opening a new restaurant in Manhattan, but I just started this Real Puerto Rico blog, and it’s supposed to be about cool food trucks, restaurants, and unknown places to visit, and here’s a food truck opening in my frigging gas station of choice.
Chicken Shack BBQ co-owner Lugo, a Mayaguez native, inherited the culinary gene from his dad, who was a cook. Lugo, who worked in the States for several years, returned to Puerto Rico a decade ago, and operated a food truck in Añasco, just south of Rincon, for several years until Covid basically killed the business. Earlier, he ran a baked potato business there.
Lugo, in turn, is passing down that culinary gene to his family. Luis Lugo Jr. is co-owner, and the younger Lugo’s Peruvian wife, Joselyn Lugo, was there on opening day serving customers.
Lugo told Real Puerto Rico that he decided to open the truck in Rincon to cater to both American tourists and Puerto Rican residents in the hope that he can please both customer types. Hopefully, he said, some may grab some chicken or ribs en route to area beaches. Lugo thinks the aromas of the chicken and ribs cooking will attract customers.
The truck is open Mondays through Saturdays from around 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for now.
“Many Americans like roasted meat, and we’re also going to have some Puerto Rican cuisine besides that,” Lugo said, citing everything from macaroni and cheese to brown rice with gandules (peas), and dishes with cassava root.
I rushed home with orders of ribs with rice and gandules, and chicken with yuca, and a side of mashed potatoes.
Both dishes were smoky and tender, with the ribs and chicken effortlessly peeling off the bone. You could make a meal of the rice and gandules alone. I am admittedly not a yuca expert, but they didn’t knock me out. The mashed potatoes were grand, and almost buttery soft.
The chicken from Chicken Shack BBQ was actually so good that it has created a domestic crisis for me. I cook a lot of chicken at home, and now my own home-cooked chicken seems so bland and unsatisfying in comparison.
About the only negative thing I could say about Chicken Shack BBQ is that the chicken and ribs have to be consumed right away because they didn’t taste nearly as good as refrigerated leftovers the next day. Are they supposed to? Probably not.
But the food truck hit the mark so well that I went back a few days later when I was passing by on the way to the post office, and spontaneously ordered some more. Again, I hightailed it fast back home to eat because I could hardly wait.
Lugo, who worked in the States as a communications technician years ago, is a modest guy. He was reluctant to pose for photos by himself — he wanted his son and daughter-in-law to be included. This is definitely a family enterprise.
I tried to bait him, asking him why would Chicken Shack BBQ be better than other chicken food trucks or roadside establishments such as Rancho Carbon Express down the road in Aguada, for example.
Lugo declined to diss the competition. “No, the guy is good,” Lugo said, referring to the owner of Rancho Carbon Express. “He’s my friend. And you know what? No one is better than anyone. In food, everyone has his taste. What is good for one is not good for the other.”
Lugo plans to be flexible about how the Chicken Shack BBQ menu may evolve. He wants to get feedback about what customers like and perhaps he’ll incorporate some Peruvian menu options from his daughter-in-law.
Lugo hopes people will like what Chicken Shack BBQ contributes to Rincon.
“I hope so, “ Lugo said. “The best ingredient we have here is love. We do things with the heart.”