New Truck With Fried Chicken Sandwiches Opens at a Southeast Austin Brewery

A new food truck dedicated to sandwiches both fried chicken and not opened in Southeast Austin this winter. Songbird is found at Meanwhile Brewing at 3901 Promontory Point Drive in the McKinney neighborhood as of January.

Songbird offers four chicken sandwiches, two fried and two blackened. Of the former, he classic fried chicken sandwich comes with iceberg lettuce, ranch dip, and bread-and-butter pickles, between slices of milk bread. Then there’s the General sandwich, where the fried chicken is made with a General Tso’s-style sauce plus paired with seared broccolini and pickled chiles. Then for the latter, there’s the Black Magic, with a blackened chicken, iceberg lettuce, and a remoulade; and then the Brutus which includes a Caesar salad, bacon, and pickled onions.

Songbird also has some non-poultry-based sandwiches. There’s the sweet bologna made with a Meanwhile Brewing beer-based beer cheese and maple syrup. And then there’s the patty melt, with a burger made up of ground sirloin/brisket/short rib, paired with sweet onions, crispy onion straws, and horseradish. And finally, a vegetable sandwich with farmer’s cheese and tomato confit. Then there are salads, bowls, snacks (fries, cheese toasts, loaded fries); and popcorn chicken and grilled cheese for kids; plus an array of sauces.

For sweets, there are malasadas, which are doughnuts that are Portuguese in nature but have become known as Hawaiian sweets: yeast doughnuts that are fried and rolled in sugar, and often come with fillings. Songbird’s iteration will feature changing fillings.

Behind the truck is executive chef Joshua van den Berg, who is originally from Florida. His culinary resume includes the now-closed Michelin-starred New York Portuguese/Spanish fine dining restaurant Aldea, longtime Tampa, Florida steakhouse Bern’s, and New York Japanese restaurant Suzume. He also competed in and won his episode of the food show Chopped.

Van den Berg moved to Austin in March 2022 to work at Sushi|Bar ATX in March 2022 (after the original owners left the business) until later that fall, when he started working on his food truck. He wanted to open something fast-casual, hence the food truck, inspired by his years in Bangkok, Thailand where he was training.

Other food trucks at Meanwhile include Eater Austin Award-winning barbecue truck Distant Relatives, taco truck Pueblo Viejo, pizza truck Side Eye Pie, and ice cream truck Besame.

Songbird’s hours are from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Update, 4:58 p.m.: This article, originally published at 1:45 p.m., has been updated to include Songbird’s full menu.