Fil-Am barbecue shack on a Texas farm road goes viral
Allen Cook also chops up lichen for eager customers. PINTEREST
Old Rooster Creek Filipino/Asian American BBQ in Princeton, Texas, began in 2017 as an American barbecue joint that also sold roast pig. It soon started selling Filipino food due to request by Filipino compatriots. Lately, however, it has been mobbed by a diverse clientele after popular food vlogger Mikey Chen, now a Texas resident, featured it on YouTube.
Customers eagerly try the lechón and Filipino street foods. Within two hours one day, the mom-and-pop business sold out of pork — including 1,200 skewers — and nearly all of the other Filipino dishes on the menu, according to a Dallas Morning News report.
Josephine Cook, seen here in their barbecue shack, came from Leyte.
Owners Josephine and Allen Cook, run the weekends-only outdoor food shack, which has picnic tables and its own vegetable garden in the back. The garden grows herbs, bitter melon, okra, eggplant, bok choy, and other vegetables used in Josephine’s Filipino dishes.
Josephine, originally from Leyte, cooks Filipino dishes to accompany the wood-grilled meats, lechón, and fish that she and Allen prepare all night on Fridays. ORC’s offerings include: lumpia; chicken and pork adobo; dinuguan; caldereta; sisig (a hash made of pig cheeks and ears, seasoned with chile and vinegar); isaw; and skewers of fried, caramelized bananas or sweet potatoes, to name a few. On Fridays, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., ORC serves Filipino tapsilog breakfasts.
Allen works weekdays as an aviation electrician at L3Harris. Josephine is a former band singer who had a clothing and home goods stall at the neighboring Old Rooster Creek Flea Market.
