Cousins Maine Lobster San Antonio is loading up its food truck for a six-day swing through South Texas, with stops planned in Del Rio, Laredo, McAllen, Brownsville and Victoria from Oct. 21 through Oct. 26. The tour will bring wild-caught Maine lobster and New England-inspired dishes to breweries, shopping centers and community gathering spots along the route.
According to a release distributed via PR Newswire, the planned route runs from San Antonio west to Del Rio, south to Laredo, then through the Rio Grande Valley to McAllen and Brownsville before finishing in Victoria. The first stop is scheduled for Wednesday at HTeaO El Paso–Del Rio, located at 301 Veterans Blvd. in Del Rio, running from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
From there, the truck is set to roll into Laredo on Thursday for a stop at a Lowe's on San Dario Avenue, followed by a Friday appearance at Howling Rabbits Beerworks in McAllen. The schedule then shows a Lowe's stop in Brownsville on Saturday, another Lowe's visit back in McAllen on Sunday, and a final Lowe's stop in Victoria to close out the tour on Monday — each running the same 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. window.
What's On the Menu
Expect the tour menu to include a lobster roll flight alongside clam chowder, lobster tacos and whoopie pies. The company's lineup of lobster rolls typically features a Maine roll served chilled with a light touch of mayo and a Connecticut roll served warm with butter and lemon, along with a garlic butter roll finished with garlic, Parmesan and herbs.
Lindsay Herberger, the company's director of franchise development, said the San Antonio team is eager to meet communities and bring Maine lobster rolls to South Texas, per the release. The San Antonio crew is leading the road trip, which follows a pattern the company has used before to test the waters in new markets.
Part of a Bigger Road-Trip Strategy
This isn't the San Antonio team's first multi-city run through the region this year. An earlier six-day tour from May 13 through May 18 hit Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Laredo, Kingsville, Alice and Beeville, while another stretch from June 17 through June 22 covered Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, Rockport and Victoria, with stops that included three Lowe's locations and two appearances at Rockport Market Days.
The company has described these food-truck tours as part of a broader strategy to enter new markets and lay groundwork for potential long-term expansion. Cousins Maine Lobster uses the limited-time pop-up format to build excitement before deciding where to put down roots, and similar runs have played out elsewhere — a Central Valley tour hit Tulare, Visalia, Fresno and Clovis, according to YourCentralValley.com, while a Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky swing stopped at a Lowe's, a brewery taproom, a Tractor Supply store and a brew pub, as reported by WKDQ. That outlet noted that visits have often come with wait times of an hour or more.
From Shark Tank Pitch to Nationwide Brand
Cousins Maine Lobster was co-founded in 2012 by real-life cousins Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis, who built the business to bring Maine family traditions to customers far from New England. The brand began franchising in 2014 and later appeared on Shark Tank, where a partnership with Barbara Corcoran helped turn it into one of the show's most successful investments.
Today the company operates close to 50 locations nationwide, a footprint that includes nine brick-and-mortar restaurants, according to Restaurant Business. The fast-casual seafood brand pairs its food trucks and restaurants with an online shop that ships live Maine lobsters, and it continues to partner with local entrepreneurs to bring lobster rolls to new neighborhoods.
Cousins Maine Lobster San Antonio has posted the full South Texas tour schedule online and is encouraging customers to follow its Facebook page and download the CML mobile app to order ahead, earn loyalty rewards and confirm the latest stop times. As with any of the brand's expansion efforts, the company notes that no franchise will be sold to a resident of, or for operation in, any jurisdiction unless the offering is legally qualified and the prospective franchisee has received a Franchise Disclosure Document.
