While Bend residents wait for the opening of the forthcoming Abe Capanna’s brick-and-mortar pizzeria on the east side of the city, they can visit Cliff Abrahams’s most-recently opened food truck, The Lost Texan, at Crosscut Warming Hut No. 5.

It offers almost all of the same Tex-Mex fare as Queso in your Face-O, the food truck that was parked at Silver Moon Brewing in 2022, with a few exceptions.

The star of the menu, fajitas, are once again served with steak ($24), chicken ($18) or shrimp ($21) and come with grilled bell peppers and onions, rice, beans and come with guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo and shredded cheese on the side. Also returning are nachos ($14-$21), tacos ($4-5) and bacon-wrapped jalapenos ($10).

New to the menu is chicken tinga and pork slow-cooked in soda pop and brown sugar, according to Abrahams.

Austin-inspired Tex-Mex fare

The concept is Tex-Mex inspired, influenced by the time Abrahams and his wife spent in Austin, before relocating to Bend in 2019 and building the 8 Hands Hospitality brand, which reflects the family of four’s desire to place their future in their own hands.

“Sarah and I lived in Austin for 11 years. We love Austin. We love the food there. We love the culture. We always wanted to do an homage to Austin, Texas and Central Texas,” Cliff Abrahams said.

The food truck is currently working out some of the kinks, as when I visited last week, the fajitas took 30 minutes to prepare. As The Lost Texan establishes a rhythm, it’ll likely be able to prepare fajitas more quickly.

The truck was formerly the Eight Hands Sandos food truck. Before that, it served Mediterranean food for four years under the name Gyro Power.

More info

Location: Crosscut Warming Hut No. 5, 566 SW Mill View Way, Bend

Contact: facebook.com/bendqueso or 8handshospitality.com 

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon-9 p.m. Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Price Range: $4-$5 tacos, $18-$24 fajitas, $14-$21 nachos

Cuisine: Tex-Mex