Chef Nick Melvin’s young sons love the song “Un Poco Loco” from their favorite movie “Coco.” The trio have been singing it together during their quarantine backyard journeys, walks, scooter rides, and while cooking together in their home kitchen. When he needed a name for his new pop-up, it seemed the obvious choice for homage.
Melvin, a chef with Fox bros Bar-B-Q and co-founder of Doux South Pickles, began his outdoor pop-up operation PocoLocoAtl specializing in breakfast burritos last week and it did gangbuster business its first day. His mission was to make people happy and in return, Melvin felt settled. “I never realized how much I fed off of feeding other people,” he said.
It all came from quarantine, said Melvin. He furloughed himself from Fox Bros. in order to allow two other employees to work and get paid. He also needed to be home to be with his boys while his wife Kristen kept working. “She carried the weight for a long time,” he said, “it was time to do the right thing.”
The first couple of weeks being at home were fantastic, then the longing for cooking for other people set in. He kept bugging his wife with ideas. He bought flats of fresh strawberries from Moore Farms and Friends from which he made jam and drove around the neighborhood giving it away. “It felt good to give,” he said.
“I was always obsessed with the idea of a bodega,” Melvin said. “What if we did burritos?” he asked his wife. She told him to go for it. “If I can get Kristen excited, sky’s the limit,” he said.
Last weekend was the first pop-up. Melvin made a simple egg, bacon and cheese burrito with homemade tortillas. He planned to try to sell 25 and ended up selling 35—overselling by ten in 45 minutes. He started getting emails and direct messages from people wanting more and wanting to pre-order for the next week.
Local purveyors jumped on the chance to help. “Rusty Bowers (Pine Street Market) was so kind when I told him about it,” he said. “He helped me out with proteins—bacon, chorizo, sausage, Springer Mountain Farms Chicken and Riverview Farms beef. That was huge.”
So how does PocoLocoAtl work? Melvin releases the menu Wednesdays at 11 AM on Instagram (@Pocolocoatl) and Facebook. Pickup is Saturday morning between 8 and 9:30 AM from Inman Park. You’ll receive the address once payment is paid via Venmo. Nick and Kristen have a 6-foot (lengthwise) table from which bagged orders will be picked up.
This weekend’s will be a chilaquiles verde burrito with Moore Farm eggs. There will be two salsas: Drunken Tomato Salsa Roja and Salsa Verde Crudo. Each week’s ingredients will come from Pine Street Market/Chop Shop, Moore Farms and friends, Riverview Farms, Springer Mountain Farms, Doux South, and Freedom Farmer’s Market. Melvin makes fresh tortillas in house using King Arthur flour.
“I’ve gotten better at learning to enjoy the moment through this,” Melvin said. “My mission is to make other people happy.
