Mike Rypka has done it again: at his renowned Trailer Park eatery on S. 1st St, he has debuted a fabulous brunch menu which we recently partook of in its entirety.

The Trailer Park concept started with Torchy's Tacos a couple of years ago in an empty lot a block or so up 1st St. Though they have hit a few snags along the way, it appears that the concept is finally starting to bear fruit. After moving the Torchy's trailer here, Rypka opened Shuggies last fall as a burgers & seafood stand. Once the cold weather came they shut down Shuggies to reopen this spring. A few weeks later, brunch.

If a picture could speak a thousand bites, it would be of these grits. Garnished with bacon and cheese and spiked with enough butter to clog a pound cake, the shrimp & grits are the star attraction.

Because Shuggies is in a trailer, they are unable to serve alcohol, so we generously brought our own. Amazingly none of those photos survived. What we did is take two bottles of sparkling wine and mix in a picture with black currant juice and mint syrup. And then we drank it.

The menu consists of
Fried Chicken & Waffle
Pecan-crusted French Toast
Doughnut Holes
"Elvis Cristo"--battered & fried peanut butter & banana sandwich
Shrimp & Grits
Migas
(all are pictured here except the migas)

The donuts were nice and light (as far as donuts go). In my ideal brunch fantasy, I would have had these as an appetizer with my coffee, while I waited for everything else

I felt that the french toast was the only item on the menu that was not a real winner. When we make french toast at Tipsy Manor we soak the bread in the batter til it soaks it up thoroughly and the end result is moist and custard-like on the inside. This toast was pretty dry.

The Elvis Cristo: cornflake-crusted, fried peanut butter & banana sandwich

I had the pleasure of tasting an early prototype of this sandwich a few weeks earlier and chef sampled it to us with a strawberry compote as a topping. When we came for brunch, we just got syrup. The syrup is not a bad accompaniment, but it is kind of repetitive when you've already had syrup with the french toast and the waffle.

Chef Mike with Jenna of Edible Austin. Mike said his girlfriend might get mad if I took this picture. Attn Mike's Girlfriend: Please note that both hands are on the table and that I made him pose for this picture. Thank you.