Mesas El Salvador food truck brings Salvadoran cuisine to N.C.

It was the desire for something familiar that brought the food truck to life.

Veronica Serrano and her son, Fernando Segovia, moved to Durham in 2002. Serrano, after years of working as a waitress, was ready for a new chapter. The pair found themselves missing the foods they grew up with, particularly the pupusas they knew from home.

“We could never really find exactly the pupusas we liked,” Segovia said.

What started as the desire to recreate the flavors they knew from home eventually became Mesas El Salvador, a food truck featuring dishes that fuse traditional Salvadoran cuisine with a bit of Southern flair. The menu includes items like yuca frita, quesadillas, tacos and pupusas — which are handmade tortillas stuffed with filling. Segovia’s personal favorite dish is the roasted pulled pork sandwich, paired with chipotle sauce and coleslaw.

“The food truck is kind of a culmination of everything that we missed from our country, but then at the same time celebrating specifically North Carolina, but the Southern culture,” Segovia said.

Segovia said one of the biggest benefits of owning and operating a food truck is being able to bring their food on the road to different events. Unlike a traditional restaurant, the food truck can travel to a variety of locations.

“We can generally go to the backyard of anyone,” Segovia said.

Mesas El Salvador has travelled to Greensboro, Tarboro and High Point, and continues to travel around the state.

For customers like Tony Willms, connecting with the owners has kept him coming back for years. Willms said he first encountered the food truck in Roxboro around 2020 and has continued to follow it to different locations.

“Every time I’ve gone up to their counter, they know who I am,” Willms said. “They ask questions about my life, and they’re just great people and really great food.”

For Segovia, the ability to build lasting relationships with customers is just as important as the food itself.

“So just kind of being able to have that customer loyalty because we were able to go at least once to that community, and them being able to taste our food and knowing the hard work and love that goes into it,” Segovia said. “Having that connection with them, it’s really important.”

Connecting with their community also extends to the events Mesas El Salvador attends. The Night Market Company hosts local events for the Triangle area that feature vendors, live music and local food businesses. Sara Buxton, who owns the company, said she has worked with Segovia and Serrano many times throughout their years of operation, with each experience only strengthening their business relationship.

“[Mesas] has always been very accommodating. I mean, their food’s amazing. They have some of the freshest food,” Buxton said.

Buxton said that part of her role is making sure vendors arrive on time, follow regulations and have the necessary permits and insurance. She said Mesas El Salvador has consistently met those expectations.

“I’ve never had any kind of issue with hosting them at any of my events,” Buxton said. “They’ve always been super, super easy to deal with, super friendly to all of their customers. I love working with them.”

While Mesas El Salvador continues to focus on Salvadoran food with Southern influences, Segovia and his mother have also expanded their business with Frito by Mesas, which was established in 2024. The new food truck focuses more on American classics, including smash cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, tenders and fries and their Thai chili chicken sandwich.

As Mesas El Salvador continues to feed people across North Carolina, Segovia and Serrano continue sharing their culture with anyone looking for a taste of El Salvador, while also offering the comfort of the South they now call home.

“We just kind of wanted to bring something that we recognize from what we grew up with back in El Salvador,” Segovia said.