The food truck hadn’t opened yet, and there was already a line forming outside on a Friday in May at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge.
Customers knew to arrive early at Fat Elbows Southern Cuisine & Catering, a food truck voted this year as Baton Rouge’s best Black-owned restaurant, food truck and catfish in the newspaper’s Best of Baton Rouge awards.
It’s a family-owned business where every member has a role. On May 22, there was a crew of five, including Andrea Rankins, co-owner and mom, but customers know her as Ms. Anna or Sugar Mama. Working by her side was husband John Rankins, nicknamed Big John or Paw-Paw.
The couple has four adult children, including Angel Smith, who creates all the sauces and seasonings, such as their signature seasoning, called Angel Dust. Their son (and Smith’s brother) John “Junior” Rankins staffed the fryer, and being engine savvy means he helps fix the truck when it has issues…