Let's Eat: TNT Eats

Food truck owner plans to open restaurant

Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, Greg Taylor had plenty of inspiration when it came to honing his barbecuing skills, learning through trial and error.

After moving to Mankato five years ago, Taylor, who had been making a living as a truck driver for over a dozen years, recalled words of wisdom his grandmother instilled in him years ago.

“My grandmother told me that if you do a job you love, then you will never work a day in your life,” he said. “I had that in the back of my head for quite some time, and I found that statement to be very true.”

Those words compelled Taylor to follow his dream and open his own food truck, TNT Eats, about three years ago. He’s been serving homemade authentic barbecue with a “Mankato twist” ever since.

“I never feel like I’m working. I spend more time coming up with great tantalizing cuisines for the truck and making sure that we do something that you wouldn’t normally find in the Midwest.”

Along with catering private and public events, his food truck is a mainstay at the Food Hub in Mankato’s Old Town every Wednesday during the summer months.

While TNT Eats food truck is out and about during all kinds of weather – Taylor recalls serving barbecue when it was minus 17 degrees below zero and people still flocked to the truck to get their barbecue fix – he has plans for a permanent restaurant in the future.

The new restaurant location, just a few doors down from the Food Hub, is at 524 N. Riverfront Drive. His plan is to have that restaurant up and running before the end of the year.

“We wanted to open a restaurant in that area due to the fact that that’s where TNT got its start,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be open in about six months.”

From his food truck, Taylor serves everything from pulled-pork sandwiches, wings, brisket and ribs to the Mac Attack, one of his best sellers. His son-in-law came up with the name, and his daughter in-law suggested drizzling Taylor’s great white sauce on top of homemade macaroni and cheese covered with 17-hour smoked brisket.

“That is very popular here in Mankato and everywhere we go,” Taylor said. “We’re known for the Mac Attack. It took me three years to come up with my great white sauce. It can pretty much go on anything from meats to chips, salads, sandwiches and anything in between.”

Barbecuing is a time-consuming process, he said, from marinating the meats for 24 hours to smoking briskets for 17 hours and another 14 hours for pulled pork. That old school approach – smoking the meat with hardwoods such as maple, along with hickory and apple wood – gives his barbeque unique flavors.

Another popular seller is the pork belly burnt ends, something customers have dubbed “meat candy” for its sweet flavor.

“That’s where the bacon comes from off of the pig. We cut it into nice big chunks and put that on the grill with seasonings. It has a sweeter tone to it.”

Customers have a big influence on what ends up on the menu, and Taylor encourages people to offer suggestions on his Facebook page.

His personal favorite, the brisket nachos, were inspired by a 12-year-old kid who asked him if he had nachos. Taylor came back the next day with his barbecue-inspired version of the Mexican snack.

It starts with nacho cheese chips, covered in Taylor’s brisket cooked for 17 hours, topped with queso, his signature white sauce and TNT’s homemade red barbecue sauce.

“That kid said it was some of the best nachos he’s ever had, so it’s been on the menu ever since.”

While some favorites have been on the menu since the beginning, Taylor said he's added some more recent additions, like his fall-off-the-bone pork spareribs.

“我们的排骨是很多不同的比else you’ll find in town,” he said. “It still has the rib tip and belly meat on it.”