The local food truck Fatboy Sandos has been doing big things in Tucson and beyond since its inception in 2022 — they have an out-of-town location in Mesa (1920 W. Broadway Rd #103). In 2023, the team opened a location inside American Eat Co. at 1439 S. Fourth Ave., and they’ve since moved out and are now serving out of the Park Place Mall‘s food court (5870 E. Broadway Blvd.).
“Park Place has been going great — definitely a big change for us volume-wise, so we had a lot of adjusting to do crew-wise since we are taking a way bigger volume of customers,” said Raphael De La Cuesta of Fatboy Sandos. “We’ve adjusted great and coming here to Park Place has let us know we’re still very much in the ‘discovery phase’ of our restaurant’s life.”
Now that you’re all caught up with the local business known for its Japanese-inspired sandwiches, let’s check out some of the new dishes Fatboy Sandos. They’re offering some tasty additions that’ll perhaps break you away from your regular go-to spots inside the mall.
“There’s still so many people who have no idea who we are,” he added. “So we’re definitely focusing on getting new customers to give us a try.”
When folks aren’t craving a sando, one of the Fatboy Sandos’ popular menu items is the Negi Miso Onigiri. “It’s our triangle rice ball stuffed with sautéed leeks and shallots, white miso paste, and chili crisp oil,” said De La Cuesta. “This is our vegan Onigiri — we’ve had it on the menu for a bit!”
“It can be hard here at the mall because people are creatures of habit,” De La Cuesta added. “It’s sometimes hard to sway them away from their normal Street Taco or Panda Express order, but people have been awesome and we are getting new customers and regulars every day.”
Neatly wrapped is their Spicy Coconut Shrimp Musubi — two large pieces of coconut panko-battered shrimp on a block of fluffy sushi-seasoned rice. It’s then drizzled with a spicy garlic kewpie and wrapped in a piece of crispy nori.
The Eggplant Katsu Rice Bowl is visually stunning but even more enjoyable to eat. This dish comes with a vegan Japanese mayo and tonkatsu sauce with shredded Japanese cabbage.
Save room for dessert! De La Cuesta and the crew gave us a sneak peek of their Kakigori — Japanese shaved ice. Their Kakigori is made with a pure Kuramoto Japanese block of ice, which is shipped from Japan like a lot of the products at Fatboy Sandos.
“Each Kakigori comes with a scoop of ice cream in the middle, topped with fresh cream, and a whole piece of fruit on top,” said De La Cuesta. “We will be debuting this item this upcoming week! We will normally have one flavor available at a time and will also offer a vegan version.”
The Kakigori is actually what De La Cuesta is most excited about, which should be on the menu soon. It’s something he’s been wanting to bring to Tucson “for quite some time.”
“We also want to encourage people who have tried us at the beginning of our journey, or even at American Eat Co., to please come and give us another try,” he added. “We have changed so much since our food truck days with our recipes, bread, and other ingredients changing many times. It’s helping us to find ourselves and be as authentic as possible for ourselves.”
“We want to give our customers the best experience possible.”
Fatboy Sandos is located at 5870 E. Broadway Blvd. For more information, follow Fatboy Sandos on Instagram.
Article written by:
Matt Sterner
More about MattAt a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.
He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.
If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.
