Mother-daughter team run Fayetteville food truck serving Salvadoran pupusas

After years of working in chain restaurant kitchens around Fayetteville, Yeni Lopez was yearning to cook the foods of her native El Salvador and open a business of her own.

Lopez, 41, left a nearly 20-year career at Mexican restaurant On The Border last spring to open Rolling Tacos and Pupusas food truck with her daughter Zully Sherpinskas, 22.

The mother-daughter duo began serving a menu of Salvadoran and Mexican dishes from their huge pastel pink truck in mid-May, and since then, business has taken off.

“We’re thankful to the people who keep coming and trying our food,” Lopez said.

The women make nearly everything from scratch daily, including handmade tortillas, chips, salsas and agua frescas.

Sherpinskas said the two bestsellers are the birria tacos, which are made with stewed beef, mozzarella, cilantro and onions in a corn tortilla and griddled until the cheese melts; and the tamales, a steamed corn dough stuffed with either pork and red sauce or cheese and green sauce.

Pupusas, however, are the heart and soul of the operation.

“That’s our main dish in El Salvador, pupusas,” Lopez said.

Thick corn tortillas are stuffed with either pork and cheese or beans and cheese and griddled, her daughter explained, then served with pickled cabbage and a red sauce.

Another fan favorite is the nachos: a hefty serving of freshly fried tortilla chips layered with white queso, a choice of meat, pico de gallo and sour cream.

“I think it’s the white queso,” Sherpinskas laughed. “People love it.”

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Though Fayetteville has a busy food truck scene with many taco trucks and several pupuserias, she said, Rolling Tacos and Pupusas found a niche of its own.

The truck is a favorite among customers at Bethany Food Trucks in Stedman, Fayetteville breweries, apartment complexes and county schools. Rolling Tacos and Pupusas was recently voted Beaver Dam Elementary School’s favorite food truck and is serving food at an upcoming school event, she said.

Workdays are long, the work isn’t easy, and sometimes there are long stretches without any time off. But now, Lopez said, they are taking Sundays off work to worship with their family.

“I want to go to church and thank God for all our blessings,” she said.

Lopez said she’s grateful for the support of her husband, Jose, her five children and the rest of their extended family, who have lived in the area since they moved from El Salvador in the mid-'80s.

While she and her daughter said they don’t have any immediate plans to expand the business, Lopez is interested in opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

“You know, there is no Mexican restaurant nor Hispanic place downtown,” she said. “Maybe we could open a cozy little place.”

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at [email protected] or on Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Mother-daughter duo run Rolling Tacos and Pupusas Fayetteville food truck