Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Nogra.
Hi Zachary, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m originally from Crystal Lake, IL, and moved to Austin in 2014 with a good friend and future business partner, Rajan Shah. I got into the Food Service Industry as soon as I moved down here and fell in love with the atmosphere. At that time, I really did not have an idea of what I wanted to do with myself, but I did know that I wanted to own my own business. I had worked in the Service Industry for over seven years, managing multiple bars and venues, such as The Tavern and Esther’s Follies. I started going to college in 2016 and graduated from Texas State University with a BA in Economics in the spring of 2020.
Once the pandemic began, I transitioned out of the hospitality industry and pursued a career in personal finance. Although I was enjoying that career field, there was always something about it that wasn’t as fulfilling as I had hoped. I would continue to work in that field and would meet up every week to play a round of golf with Rajan. On the course, we would always banter about starting a food trailer, and what we would serve and how we could go about it. We laughed and joked and it was all just playful conversations. I didn’t realize it at the time, but what we were really doing was creating a vision of a dream that we both had.
One day, Rajan picked me up to play a round, and handed me a plan on how we could actually make this happen and Out Of Nowhere ATX was born.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I wish I could say that this was a smooth process, but it was not. We shopped for trailers for about a month, having multiple offers on the table to purchase, only to have them fall through. When we were able to purchase one, we had thought it would be smooth sailing from there, but that was only the beginning.
We dealt with every issue imaginable to get this up and running. We had issues with our electrical components, gas line, water heater, and even getting the vehicle titled and registered. Purchasing all of the equipment needed was difficult, as there were supply shortages, as well as limitations on spacing as well. Even the process to get it certified by the City of Austin Health Department was a time-consuming process, as we were not able to get the trailer in for six weeks. So we sat there parked for that time, doing R&D and not being able to utilize our trailer to generate revenue.
The biggest obstacle would be the two times that we were broken into. The first time was really a gut punch, as it was just so unexpected. The thief took a couple of thousands of dollars worth of valuables and left the inside of the trailer as a mess. Still, through this turmoil, we got everything cleaned up and opened for business that day. Fortunately for us, the second time we had better security in place, but there was still plenty of damage done that needed to be fixed.
As you know, we’re big fans of Out Of Nowhere ATX. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We proudly serve burgers, charcuterie and toast and are currently located at Wanderlust Wine Co. in East Austin. We pride ourselves on sourcing from the best vendors, as well as prepping as much food in-house as possible. We serve double smash burgers, which we make from Certified Angus ground chuck, which we season and hand smash ourselves. We hand cut all of our fries and make all of our special sauces in house. We also serve up Wisconsin cheese curds.
For our charcuterie, we proudly source all of our meats, cheese and accouterments from Antonelli’s cheese shop. They have been a fantastic partner in all aspects of our business. We have three different types of charcuterie options; and individual cup, a picnic box, as well as a full board. Since starting we have grown very rapidly, and quality has always been of utmost concern. Recently, the demand for our sourdough options have grown as we’ve evolved the toast menu to also include sourdough sandwich options. Unfortunately, we realized we were unable to meet demand and thus we needed a high quality and locally sourced sourdough to satisfy our customers. We recently started a relationship with Easy Tiger here in Austin, and are looking forward to progressing forward using their sourdough coils! We are thrilled about this partnership as we venture out to make an impact on East Austin. We are grateful for our Antonelli’s and Easy Tiger relationships and hope to continue fostering partnerships with local vendors around Austin.
Contact Info:
- Email: Outofnowhereatx@gmail.com
- Website: http://www.outofnowhereatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outofnowhereatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outofnowhereatx
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/out-of-nowhere-atx-austin
Image Credits
Out of Nowhere ATX
