B
utchering — cutting down an animal for
food — is an art, a calling, a passion. But for
Mikey Lawrence from wildly popular food
truck Buck Buck, it’s his life. “It’s all I have,”
Lawrence says.
In fact, he's so dedicated, Lawrence has a small meat
cleaver tattooed next to his right eye.
After working for years in Japanese food and most recently
at Belly in downtown Eugene, Lawrence took steps to
fulfill the dream of owning his own place.
Last winter he opened Southern-style Buck Buck with
business partner Edgar Arrellano in the parking lot of
Oakshire Brewing in the Whiteaker neighborhood.
Lawrence grew up “an Army brat” and, while living
in Turkey as a boy, he remembers an old woman, after
butchering a chicken, saying: “Buck Buck die!” Lawrence
felt the name was perfect for his chicken-centric food cart.
Lawrence calls opening a food truck in winter a little
crazy, but during warm summer months, being partnered
with Oakshire allows patrons to enjoy Southern-style
cooking and Northwest beer in Oakshire’s plentiful outdoor
seating.
While he is from Montana, Lawrence’s grandma
grew up in North Carolina, and he uses many of her
recipes for everything from his fried chicken to his light,
fluffy biscuits. Chicken is the star on Buck Buck’s small,
manageable menu, as well as kale, mashed potatoes (so
creamy they’re almost like warm potato ice cream) and
chicken and waffles.
But the undisputed champion dish is Buck Buck’s
chicken biscuit, a mouthwatering piece of fried chicken
served between two fluffy biscuits with creamy sauce
packing a hint of heat and (the dish’s true stroke of genius)
sweet, caramelized onions.
When presented (like much of Buck Buck’s hungry
person’s portions) the chicken biscuit can be intimidating.
BUCK BUCK'S CHICKEN BISCUIT
WITH A KALE SALAD (WITH CHICKEN)
AND AN OAKSHIRE BREW
PH OTO S BY T RAS K B E D O RT H A
But commit to the chicken biscuit, and the first thing that
hits your senses is the crunch.
And if you’re a crunch addict like me, you might lose
some sense of reality as you go back in for more, slurping the
tender chicken from its breaded armor. The sandwich does
fall apart, but you’ll have no trouble mopping up the scraps of
onion, gathering up the last bits of breading and licking your
fingers while wondering if, despite the size and against your
better judgment, you could handle another serving.
And Lawrence says that, due mainly to social media
raves, Buck Buck’s business has taken off. Back in April,
Lawrence and Arrellano served chicken to Snoop Dogg
when the rapper was in town for a show the Cuthbert.
Snoop said, “This is really good chicken,” Lawrence
recalls in a dead-on, stoned Snoop impression.
Buck Buck is open 12:30 - 10 pm Tuesday to Saturday at 207 Madison. For
more information find Buck Buck on Facebook.
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