Photos by Lexi Coon.
Hot Tag food truck owners David Woods and Fiona Marshall.
When Ghost Train Brewing Company hosted a “Brews and Brawls” night with Revolutionary Independent Wrestling in November 2018, Hot Tag food truck owners Fiona Marshall and David Woods admitted they might have been a strong influence in encouraging a wrestling event.
It was a hit, they added, where one of the competitors at one point was thrown against the truck.
“They were like, ‘Back up, back up!’ and suddenly, whoa, we just got baptized by wrestling, how cool,” Marshall said.
Marshall and Woods, also romantic partners, said wrestling was one of the first things they connected on, since they both grew up watching it. When creating the food truck, they named their menu items after wrestling terms. ‘Hot Tag’ falls under that category. Woods described it as a tag team match where the partner of one team perseveres and is able to help the team win.
“We kind of want to be the tag team partner for people having a bad day or just want to relax. When they come tag us in, we feed them good grub and take care of them. That’s the idea behind the name,” Woods said.
With Ghost Train being only a couple of years old, just like Hot Tag, Marshall said they were a good fit together since “both of them are kind of still babies on the scene.” Since September, she added, they’ve become “a zany family.” Hot Tag is in permanent residence at the brewery.
“We were interested in transitioning to something more permanent, but we still weren’t ready for a brick and mortar yet,” Marshall said. “… The people at Ghost Train are just so sweet and creative. They have a huge heart, and I think that fell in line with what we want with our business.”
Although Hot Tag plans on expanding its hours in 2019, it is beginning the year serving food at the brewery Thursdays and Fridays from 5:30 p.m. until closing, as well as at various events.
When Marshall and Woods first began dating, they also discovered they both wanted to open a small business. After brainstorming about a bar, they ultimately decided on a food truck, which, though still expensive, was slightly more affordable. After a series of catering events and pop ups around town at the local breweries, they launched Hot Tag food truck in 2015.
“We would go to all the different breweries and utilize the beer as ingredients and in some of our sauces, like if we were like braising pork tenderloin for a Cuban, we would braise it in beer,” Marshall said.
Now they are doing the same thing with Ghost Train’s beer. Recently Hot Tag used the signature Switchman’s Stash IPL in a beer-infused queso on nachos. The Stout Side of the Moon has been incorporated into a sauce with maple syrup for one of their brunch menus.
Marshall said they usually use beer in their wing sauces, as well, which are always really popular.
“Food is the most welcoming, loving thing you can do for somebody. So, that’s what we want it to always be,” Marshall said.
Even though they serve a variety of comfort foods, Marshall said they use “bar food” as their foundation, especially now that they permanently reside at a brewery. Popular menu picks include the wings, burger and fried chicken sandwich. All are items that Marshall puts extra care into by personally making her own brine mix and sauces that stem from her fine dining background.
Photo by Lexi Coon.
Hot Tag food truck recently gained permanent residency at Ghost Train Brewing Company at 2323 Third Ave. S. It offers specials such as sandwiches and french fries.
All the food is made fresh to order. Marshall added they also always have some sort of new vegetarian invention for people to try.
“Even though my background is kind of laced in [fine dining], we just want it to be a fun experience,” she said. “When I was in college, I always fed my friends. So, if we were hanging out and maybe drinking too much, I was always like, ‘I’ll make dinner, everyone sit down,’ and I’d come up with something weird,” she said.
Before opening the food truck, she worked at restaurants in Georgia, Slice, Daniel George Restaurant and experimented with bar food at The Ridge Eat & Drink.
Marshall said if she gets a new idea for a menu item, she usually runs with it.
“If [Ghost Train] has something coming up, we like to jump on board with them, and say, ‘Hey, what can we do for it?’ and we will put our heads together to come up with something,” Marshall said.
In the past, they’ve served items like Cuban sandwiches, Reuben sandwiches and Philly cheese steaks, in addition to a popular brunch special of a fried chicken sandwich with jalapeño jam and bacon between a Hero doughnut. Recently, they served it at Ghost Train’s Jazz Brunch, which happens at the brewery the first Sunday of each month.
Marshall and Wood have served Hot Tag at most of the other local breweries prior to their new permanent location, as well as at the Pepper Place farmer’s market. Wood said they used to get to the market early and get as many ingredients as possible and then build a brunch menu on the fly, which is something they hope to do at Ghost Train come summer 2019. The only food service they plan to provide outside of Ghost Train is occasionally at Hop City, where they have been serving food at sporadic wine and beer dinners.
“Our heart is in every single thing that we do, and that was definitely how we vibed with Ghost Train and why it was such a good fit,” Marshall said.
Check out the Ghost Train and Hot Tag Facebook pages for events, and visit Hot Tag at the brewery, located at 2626 Third Ave. S, and learn more at thehottag.com.