Thyme Out is known for its delicious array of Mexican food, serving everything from burrito bowls and quesadillas to the classic nachos.
They’ve already made a name for themselves at their physical restaurant in Bandar Sunway, as you can see hordes of college students dominating the store during lunch hours and again late at night.
Recently they’ve expanded from a single store in Sunway to a food truck to join the myriad of hipster-aesthetic cafes that make up the grounds of Bangsar APW.
Nicknamed Roxanne, her “parents” are four friends that were originally from different industries, but united from their passion for food.
“We thought that with the relevant experience of having Thyme Out KL onboard, it was really a no-brainer in bringing the Mexican flavour to APW Bangsar.”
Roxanne made her debut as a 70s Volkswagen Combi and she carries a personality of her own.
“We wanted a feminine approach for the truck, which initially is from the greek word Roxana, but to relate it with Malaysians more we’ve decided to use Roxanne.”
“It is meant to signify beauty, intelligence,and some feminine appeal… she likes fine food, wine and takes cat naps when she can.”
She was officially launched on November 17 as a permanent setup in APW Bangsar.
They open from Tuesday to Sunday and run from 11am to 8.30pm. They’re sticking to their specialty cuisine, but still want to bring a few surprises to the table with a Grab & Go concept.
Some of their most popular menu items are the beef and lamb burritos, tacos, and tasty cinnamon churros.
“It’s always been a goal for Thyme Out to reach the masses around Klang Valley area which we haven’t been able to do as a physical restaurant. Ever since Thyme Out started as a food truck, we’ve been engaging with tonnes of events in famous spots such as Thvrsdays and Coffea—which we were unable to serve since it was stolen in 2016.”
They had been running their own food truck in the Subang and Petaling Jaya areas prior to this during 2014 to 2016, but the name “Thyme Out” was stolen in early 2016, thus halting their operations.
This temporary setback delayed their launch and for a while, they were uncertain of which locations to target for a consistent crowd.
After much deliberation, they felt expanding to KL was the best decision as they did not want to butt heads directly with their competitor.
“We at Thyme Out has always been moving forward with a subtle approach to observe the best location as Mexican Food can be rather challenging and is still seen as something foreign to a lot of people out there.”
The team adds that they managed to overcome this by introducing bite-sized food, which allows customers to have their food faster. Thus, they will be more inclined to try the main dishes the next time.
The food truck is also available for rent for private events and catering services; office deliveries are free of charge if purchases are RM500 and above for premises located 1.5km from APW’s location.
Currently they are only servicing Bangsar, KL Sentral and the east region of Damansara Heights.
Roxanne is fully-functional—she can be driven as well.
They had a total of RM100k capital to start things off.
“The reason we chose APW is because its the area where we can do deliveries to reach out to KL Sentral which is our main target market. Also, a majority of the crowd there has already familiarised themselves with foreign delicacies, so they will be more open to trying out our food.”
“When Thyme Out first began in 2014 it was much harder for us to reach out to customers than it is today simply because people are much more aware and open than before.”
Their plan to expand around Klang Valley doesn’t stop with Roxanne, as they want to open another brick and mortar store in Bangsar after moving the truck to Cyberjaya.
“Roxanne is specifically a lite version with lesser options. However the goal is the same for the group, which is to be around Klang Valley with the most cost-efficient manner and slowly expanding when market in the area is seen feasible.”
Feature Image Credit: Roxanne by Thyme Out
