The following is an extended version of the interview that ran in the September issue of our print magazine.
Photo by Shawnee Custalow
Brian Graff, aka “Taco Brian,” is the animated owner of Intergalactic Tacos and The Bearded Kitchen. The 32-year-old, with a space-themed food truck painted by artist Emily Herr, has transitioned from slinging $100 worth of tacos on the VCU campus using supplies bought at Kroger to selling out at area breweries and partnering with local farms. The born-and-bred Richmonder has become known for his positive shout-outs on the ’gram, bumping Rihanna on the truck and being involved in the community.
Richmond magazine: Have you always been active in the community and politics?
Brian Graff: No. Three years ago, I got a DUI and went to jail. I had just ended a relationship and didn’t handle it well. I went into a depression and self-medicated and drove drunk and got arrested. When I was [in jail], I thought, “This is messed up, this is how you treat people, this is how this works.” … I started kind of paying attention a little bit more. I was homeless, drinking too much, not getting paid enough, trying to start my own business and on top of that dealing with courts. I think that certainly has colored how we do things on the truck with a lot of the small things we try and do and people we work with.
RM: What are some of the organizations you work with?
Graff: We partnered with Rhonda Sneed of Blessing Warriors and donated a pallet of food to them. I want to work with people who are doing the nitty-gritty, where the rubber meets the road type stuff. She hands out Gatorade and water and sandwiches and clothes to the homeless. Last winter, we started doing stuff with the Conrad Center. There’s a lot of people out there who don’t have stuff, and I have stuff, so I try to go out of my way and use direct action and the money I make from the ... breweries.
RM: You also pick up trash at the river, correct?
Graff: I started doing that two or three years ago to literally get out of my depression and not be sitting in bed all day. I started going down to the river and would see trash and pick up a little bit and kept doing it.
RM: I know you are Team Rihanna, but what else plays on the truck?
Graff: Obviously a lot of Lizzo; she’s very hot right now. A lot of pop like Spice Girls, Selena, some Taylor Swift, Megan the Stallion. Lots of ’80s stuff — Michael Jackson, the “Space Jam” soundtrack, that’s a good one.
RM: How did you get into cooking and the industry?
Graff: I’m a front-of-house kid. I got a job at Brio Tuscan Grille at Stony Point and was there for six years and was a lead bartender before I left and then went to Selba. There I met a guy who wanted to open a dumpling food truck. After nine months and an eBay scam, it just fizzled out. I stumbled across the old Chupacabra truck for sale and bought it. I’d always cooked at home and grew up on every PBS cooking show. At the time, I was also doing construction and had a side job at Lunch and Supper — that’s where I met [owner] Rick Lyons. I told him I had this food truck and wanted to work in the kitchen but had no experience and would start as a dishwasher. But he let me start as a prep cook, and that was my first time cooking on a flattop rather than my range at home.
RM: Where did the name Intergalactic Tacos come from?
Graff: As you can see by my vintage Star Trek shirt from [Richmond-based Etsy shop and forthcoming brick-and-mortar] Cobblestore ... I’ve always been a space nerd. Before the truck was named, my ex’s nephew came on the truck, this 7-year-old, just like me when I was little, wild and [with] a crazy imagination, and he was like, “This is a galactic taco truck, and you fly around the galaxy meeting aliens and making alien tacos,” and I kept thinking of “galactic taco truck,” and the name was born.
RM: When did you realize that Intergalactic had “made it?”
Graff: Probably when I hired my second or third employee. It used to be just me, then me and one prep guy.
RM: Which local farms do you partner with?
Graff: All the proteins on the truck are 100% local. We use Sylvanaqua Farms in the Northern Neck area, all of our pork is from Autumn Olive [Farms], and the tofu is from the hippies at Twin Oaks. Chicken was the last one to be local, and we’re getting way better yield; it tastes phenomenal, and for me, whatever, I make less money, but I don’t give a s--t. I know I’m helping that guy out, and they support me. I’m actually getting an Andy the Turkey [a rescued Autumn Olive Farms turkey that died in July] tattoo at Black Rabbit [Tattoo] in a couple weeks. I feel like getting the wheelchair may be too much — I want to think of Andy in his prime. I got some space right next to my taco tattoo and hot sauce [tattoo].
