But, a place that’s been having a moment for a couple of years now is ShaneBoys, a food truck at the bend in the road east of Rendon, which is halfway between Mansfield and Burleson, if that helps.
Shane Sutton is a native of Hawaii and grew up cooking alongside his mother and grandparents. By the time he was 20, he had his first fine-dining restaurant there. He spent his 20s and 30s as a corporate chef in Las Vegas and Texas.
In 2019, he decided to get back to his roots and opened a food truck, ShaneBoy’s, serving the Hawaiian barbecue and dishes he grew up with. If you’re thinking the odds on that pony, in that spot, are a longshot, you’d be wrong. Two years in, it’s rare they don’t sell out.
“I was talking to Daniel Vaughn [Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor], he’s a customer, and I told him that Hawaii is the most southern point of the country, so we are Southern barbecue,” Sutton said with a laugh.
He recently invested in another trailer, WingMan, which is parked perpendicular to ShaneBoy’s to sell just wings.
Sutton’s wife, a doctor, encouraged her husband to try coconut flour for the wings. It worked beautifully. He marinates the wings overnight before smoking them for four hours. The wings then rest in a “paste” that is part wet marinade and coconut flour. They’re plopped in the fryer as ordered. Sutton goes through 200 pounds of wings a week.
“Some things happen organically, in a smooth way, and when that happens, it’s meant to be,” says Sutton of selling Hawaiian food in Rendon while oozing an island vibe.
The menu includes a weekly special, which this week is loco moco, an Angus beef patty topped with smoked pulled pork topped with their house-made aloha sauce and an egg. All of their traditional plates are served with rice and salad. Macaroni salad can be added on for $1.50 more.
Firecracker chicken and coconut fried shrimp over a bed of rice with macaroni salad.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
The coconut shrimp is tender and snaps with a bright flavor. And with every dish, the rice serves as a blank canvas that absorbs glorious amounts of either aloha or firecracker sauce. It’s magnificent.
Before heading over, it’s highly recommended you order online or get there a couple of hours before closing. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. There are several covered picnic tables for dining there.
ShaneBoys and WingMan, 5731 Rendon Bloodworth Road, Fort Worth, noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
