North Austin just picked up a bold new chai stop. Soundra Roastery & Chai has rolled its trailer into 12400 Amherst near Parmer and MoPac, pouring steeped chai and turning out elevated Indian street food from a compact kitchen on wheels. Owner Ramya Patel, a Hyderabad native who walked away from a lucrative tech career to run the truck, named the business after her grandmother and says she roasts and steeps ingredients sourced directly from India. On the menu, Mumbai-style street staples like the Mumbai Veg Frankie and the Aloo Tikki Burger share space with mash-up drinks such as a Cadbury Cream Cheese Mocha and a Madras Mascarpone.
Chai and a family story
Patel told the Austin Chronicle that "Chai is like a love language for the whole of India," and that she "quit a $200K job" to run the trailer, now putting in long days from morning into the evening. As reported by the Chronicle, she sweetens chai with jaggery made from sugarcane juice and smokes tea with a spice powder sourced from an uncle in Assam. Vignesh Vasan, who helped turn the pop-up into a more permanent operation, credits Patel with a serious grasp of Indian flavor profiles.
Where to find the trailer
The trailer sits at Millwood Center, a food-truck hub at 12400 Amherst Drive near Parmer and MoPac, a site listed for vendors by FoodParks.io. Soundra's contact page lists a phone number and an address on Guadalupe Street, according to the Soundra Roastery & Chai website. Before heading over, it is worth checking the truck's online schedule, since hours can shift.
What to order
Menu standouts include the Mumbai Veg Frankie, which has already become the truck's top seller, samosa chaat, and the Aloo Tikki Burger that Patel calls her personal favorite, per the Austin Chronicle. The trailer pours three chais — masala, Banarasi, and an "old school" version sweetened with jaggery — along with coffee made from beans sourced in Chikmagalur, South India. Patel leans on house-made green chutney, tamarind, and beetroot raita to keep the flavors firmly in street-food territory.
On the scene
Patel says every cup leaves the window stamped with the Soundra name, and she treats inexpensive street food as something to be carefully crafted rather than mass-produced. If early buzz is any indication, the trailer is already edging past temporary pop-up status for Austin's growing chai and street-food crowd.
