ABILENE, Texas – In the middle of the key city, you’ll find a park that’s perfect for people looking for a particular plate of food. We’re in Abilene at a parking lot that’s packed with food trucks, and we’re making our stop at one place in particular.
Jessie Husbands and Mando Asencio comprise the dynamic duo that got things rocking and rolling on the only burger bus bistros based out of Buffalo Gap, Rockn Rollerz.
“The two of us together since we were kids, you know, it just always meshed well,” said Jesse. “Our ideas, and the way we worked together, and stuff like that, so. It’s just been better than anything I could imagine.”
Back in 2014, these two buddies pooled all their resources in the hopes of following a childhood dream.
“We are a scrappy insurgency is what I like to call it,” Jesse said. “We sold and pawned stuff and took the last of our paychecks and scrapped some metal just to get the funds together to get the food truck going.”
It didn’t take long for Jesse and Mando to start racking up the accolades. Now they’re one of the hottest stops in Abilene combining their love of music, food, and fun to come up with one crazy concoction.
“Our number one seller is the Poppin’ Johnny, and the best way to describe it is like a jalapeno popper on a burger,” said Jesse.
With heat in the meat and a sweltering sizzler, we got right to the burger.
Mando can take the heat so he never leaves his kitchen, and that’s a good thing as we get start with the Poppin Johnny’s main ingredient…meat.
“It’s a 80/20 black angus six ounce patty,” Mando said. “Not too big, I think it’s right about perfect, actually.”
After seasoning the meat and putting down on the fryer, a broche bun in toasted. Mando uses a fancy tool to flip his burger – a paint scraper.
“I think it just works easier for me,” Mando said.
Then the savory smell started taking over the trailer, and then it was time to build the rest of the burger.
First up, some onions in the fryer and a cream to cool us off.
“This is just your basic cream cheese, nothing special about it either and stuff like that,” said Mando.
There’s always something special about cream cheese, whether it’s on a bagel or a burger! Next up was the beautiful bacon.
“We call it meat candy,” Mando said. “We top it off with the jalapeno ranch. And there you go. That is the Poppin’ Johnny.”
My name is Johnny and it might be sin but if you bet I wouldn’t regret this burger, you’re right.
The textures on the burger are amazing. You go from that soft bun to the outer crunchy edge, then the crunchy onion rings followed by that bacon, cream cheese, and jalapenos in-patty.
It’s like a trail of textures for your taste buds. Despite the fact that it’s only six ounces, this burger’s as big as a food truck! It definitely is like a jalapeno popper on a big ole’ burger – one tasty jalapeno popper.
Jesse wasn’t kidding – this burger is the boss. The Poppin’ Johnny at Rockn Rollerz rolling grill at the food park in Abilene, Texas – well worth a stop on The Texas Bucket List.