Victor Aguilar Shares How Cooking Became Community Service

A food truck interview turns into a real-world disaster response story when Victor Aguilar steps up and starts feeding the people keeping the lights on. Victor is the owner of BTM Food Trucks, known for Biscuits Tacos And More, with two locations serving Mexican and American favorites plus catering across the Hendersonville area. He shares how he built the business from years in the food industry, then took the leap to open in June 2020, right in the middle of COVID, betting on hard work, a clear concept, and steady community support.

Then Hurricane Helene hit, and the work changed overnight. Victor walks us through the moment Duke Energy called asking for 300 meals, how that turned into weeks of 80-90 hour days, and what it took for a small team and a family operation to serve linemen, fire departments, the sheriff’s department, and other first responders. He also explains the quiet choices that mattered most, giving meals to neighbors who were out of power or couldn’t access cash, while trying to protect the effort from people who might exploit it. By the end, the scale is hard to grasp: roughly 26,000 to 27,000 meals served to crews and about 6,000 meals given away.

We also talk about the personal cost, the faith that steadied him, and why service keeps showing up again when snow and ice storms roll in and the calls start coming back. If you care about community resilience, small business leadership, food truck catering, and what real hometown heroism looks like, you’ll want to hear this one. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us who you think deserves the next Hometown Hero salute.

Transcript

Welcome And Segment Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Ford of love again. I'm a brand new man. That is Brooks and Dunn, right here on your Real Country Station. It's world YWHKP. And it is 8 45. That means it's time for something we take great pride in each and every Friday morning at this time, and that is uh our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero salute. And today's feature is Victor Aguilar. How are you, my friends? Good. How are you, sir? I am doing well. It's great to have you here. And uh let's just dive right in. We've got Greg here from the George Real Estate Group, my buddy Noah George. How are you, my friends?

SPEAKER_02 0:31

We're good. It's an honor and privilege to sponsor the Hometown Heroes series. Always every Friday morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Yes, something you guys have done for many years here at WHJP.

Meet Victor And BTM Food Trucks

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I need to count it up. I mean, I it's been a while, and we're grateful to be part of the supporting the community and shining a light on amazing stories in this community.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Absolutely. A lot of amazing stories, and uh no, this is just yet another one with uh Victor Aguilar, who is the owner of BTM Food Trucks, and uh of course you've been uh in business a long time, haven't you? For quite a while.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

It'll be six years this June 11th. Six years. On the on the first food truck, the second location we opened up about three years ago. Yep. That's incredible. But I've been in the food business since I was 15 years old.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

How did it happen that you were able to start your your food truck in your business?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

So, like I said, I worked at uh I worked at a uh local restaurant here for about four or five years, and then I worked at another food truck for about uh seven or eight years, and I just kind of always had that little thing in me that I wanted to, you know, open up something on my own. And uh we finally did back in uh right matter of fact, right in the middle of COVID, back in uh 2020.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

I was getting ready to say it.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yeah, it was yeah, yeah, it was June 11th of 2020. And uh when we opened it up, we just knew we wanted to, you know, we were I I've been here since I was eight years old. Uh so I'm you know, I I you know grew up eating both Mexican and American food. So when we open up our own thing, we knew we wanted to have a little bit of both. Yeah, so at you know, at the food truck we have Mexican and American food, and then we kind of jump all over the place.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

You're no stranger to a burrito, right? Oh no.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

But BTM stands for biscuits, tacos, and more. What a blend. So that kind of tells people like, hey, we got breakfast and American food, and hey, we also have tacos, yeah. And burgers, and I mean you got it all. Burgers, Philly cheesesteaks. On Fridays, we do uh uh barbecue, brisket, baby back ribs, so we got a little bit of everything. We try to have different specials throughout the week as well. Now, where are you guys, just for our listeners, where are you located? On Spartanburg Highway. It's 1048 Spartanburg Highway at Bob's Pit Stop, uh, right next to First Citizens Bank, and then our second location is out in Fletcher, uh at 3699 Hendersonville Road, right next to Lula's consignment shop.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Incredible. And something I'd like to interject too, uh, Victor, you I understand you did an uh amazing job taking care of everyone during the storm back during Hurricane Helena in 2024. And you're a a hero just for that.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Let's talk about that experience. Yeah, yeah. I mean, how and how did it impact you and your family personally, and then and then your decision to get back and be part of the recovery.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Honestly, man, it was a long three weeks because it doesn't now I can talk about it easily. But at the time, I love love what I do for a living. I love cooking, I love talking to people. Uh, to me, it's nothing to work 50, 60, 70 hours a week because I truly enjoy what I love. When you love what you do, you don't work in your life. You don't work a day in your life. Yeah, so if I could push that onto anybody, just find what you love to do and and then make some money out of it, you know, create a living off of it. Uh so but that was super mentally exhausting whenever that happened. Because uh just I mean, just as hard as it was for us, it was hard for them uh because they didn't know what you know how many people were coming in. Like you know, they didn't really understand how how bad it truly was at the time. Uh and so that the first time that uh that Duke Energy caught me was on a Thursday or Friday, I believe. Uh they called me at nine in the morning if I could cater for 300 people. And I don't know how I did, I pulled it off, and we did. And right after that, uh they called me um on Monday morning, I think, or Sunday, uh, and that's when we started feeding, uh we started feeding uh a lot of Duke Energy and a lot of first response.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

The linemen and the first response.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Yeah, we were uh we were doing uh a couple of uh fire departments around us, we were doing the sheriff's department, uh, and they were just I told them just call me, let me know what you need, and we'll we'll try to take care of you guys. Uh but uh we were there we were working about 80, 90 hours a week, and there's about 13, 14 of us, and every single one of us was including my dad. My dad and my mom were 60 years old and you know helping out, yeah, yeah. And it was it was uh like I said, uh once that first week was over, I sat down and I talked to to my siblings, my sister, my wife, and I was like, hey, you know, because we I I'm telling you, it was truly mentally and physically exhausting. Yeah, of course it was. So that Sunday I sat down and I talked to them, and of course, like we cried so much, you know, through those two or three weeks. It's a lot to process. Yeah, yeah, a lot, yeah. And so I talked to them and I said, Hey, do you guys want to keep going? Are you done? I was like, let me know what you guys want to do. And you know, my siblings and my family, they are super amazing. They support everything that I do, anything that I do, and they just kind of left it up to me. And they're like, if it's up to me, you know, we're gonna keep going. Uh, and so me and my sister sat down for a few hours and we kind of we we we made a plan finally after that first week. So that second week was a little bit easier. Still a lot of hours, still a lot of uh, you know, a lot of thinking and stuff, but that second and third week was a lot easier because at that time we had a plan. But I remember um that Sunday I just I went outside because I have little kids. I had a five and a six-year-old at the time, and I was, you know, taking my wife away from my kids. I wasn't seeing my kids. I mean, I was going to work and and the sun wasn't up and getting home and you know it was dark again, so I wasn't seeing my kids at all. So I remember I walked outside and I just I started talking to God because that's that's what I try to do, and I said, man, either this is what I know how to do. I don't know how to cut trees down, I don't know how to fix power lines. Exactly. This is uh this is what I know how to do. Is like give me the strength, like guide me, show me how to do it, and I will keep going as long as I can. And so that's what we did. Like I said, it was it was about three weeks, and um when they uh when the guys called me on the on the Monday or Tuesday, I believe, and he told me, Hey buddy, Thursday's your last day. I remember again I went outside and I cried and I walked back inside and I told my wife, I said, We're done. I said, Thursday's gonna be our last day. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. And throughout the town, like I said, you know, we we tried feeding the first responders for free. Anybody that walked up to the food truck at the time, we weren't necessarily putting out there because unfortunately there's a lot of people who take advantage of situations like that. And so we did what I told the girls at the food truck. I said, if anybody comes up here and they don't have, you know, they don't have power, like they got affected in any way, shape, or form, or even even banks, you know, you couldn't walk up there and get cash. Uh I said, You give them their food for free. And um, we ended up doing a wedding for free because the girl was supposed to get married down in Chimney Rock, uh, and then they lost their home as well. So I don't know how we put it off again, but I said I I caught her back and uh uh and I said, Hey, we're gonna do your wedding and we're gonna do it for free.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

The good Lord was in that too.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yep, yep, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so like I said, um I think altogether, uh Lyman and all that stuff, we ended up feeding about it was about 26,000, 27,000 meals. Uh, and then we ended up giving away, I believe it was about 6,000 meals. Yeah. No way. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

That's amazing. That's a lot to comprehend.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Yeah, during the whole thing, like I said, I would be completely lost if it wasn't for everybody who works with me. Oh, sure. I'm the worker. I'm like, you put me whatever you want me to work, and I'll be there. And if it wasn't for my wife, my sister, my siblings, I would be completely lost.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Well, you're not just a hometown hero, you're a great American hero, wouldn't you say so? Yeah. Absolutely. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

As a matter of fact, I just became a citizen this past October. Congratulations. Big deal. Yes, sir. Yeah, I was super excited about that as well. Yeah, I'm I am blessed beyond. Welcome to America and live the dream. I've been living it for a long time, man.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yes, making it a reality. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

That's incredible. Did you see where did you I mean, again, I believe generosity is I mean, again, where where did you first experience generosity maybe in your life that said, hey, I want to do this for s for others. Like when I when I have the chance, I want to start giving.

Feeding The Front Lines After Helene

SPEAKER_00 8:01

I don't remember, but I I just I know that my mom has always said that I've always been that type of person that uh even being younger, like if we were driving by and I saw somebody asking for money, I would always say my mom, hey, can I have a dollar or two? And I would I would go over there and give it to them. So I've always kind of had that in me. And I just I I I I believe that when you do good things for other people, good things happen to you. And again, I have you know, I opened my business up six years ago, but I started living my dream a long time ago, which is when I married my wife and started having kids. Everything that I have now is extra to me, and like God continues to bless me, and because of that, I want to be able to help out other people. Yep, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

You're and I love your faith story. I mean, like your faith and your relationship with God's is Oh, absolutely, yeah. Is is is how you live your life.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Yep, yeah, yes, sir. Yeah, I I I don't think I I wouldn't be anybody without him. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Yeah, it's incredible. Do you and again, even just recently with the the snowstorm, yeah, yeah. They call me now.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Now, if I see a little snowstorm or ice storm coming, I know they're gonna come in. And and it those the girls, you know, they are absolutely amazing at Duke Energy, and they're so thankful for everything. They would say, just bring me whatever for 300 for 500 people, and that's what that's what we would do. You know, they just call me. And so now this past time when they called me, we knew it was gonna get really bad with the ice and the snow and all that stuff, and I didn't want my people driving around, so we're trying to figure out. And my sister said, I'm sleeping at the kitchen, and we we ended up with we camped at our at our commissary kitchen for about three days, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Unbelievable, incredible. I mean, it did shut the town down with us with the ice that we had.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Yeah, and so I was having to drive out to uh to Ashwell at about six about 5:30 and six in the morning, and so I was just taking my time as much as I could, and uh, we were feeding the the uh Duke Energy uh in Ashville and the ones here in Hendersonville.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Yeah, that's incredible. Every year, I mean how could you take a guess at how many meals you're doing annually? I mean, if you could you between what the food truck and that?

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Just your entire like oh man, I have no idea. Hundred hundreds of thousands of meals. Absolutely, and then we do a lot of a lot of catering, yeah. I remember when I first started, again, I just everything that I ask God, he gives it to me. And and then some. Uh so when we started, it was catering, you know, a couple weekends here, a couple weekends there. And I used to tell my sister, I can't wait until I'm catering like in the middle of the week. And now they'll call me for a catering like on a Tuesday or Wednesday, and I'm like, I better double check because I might be booked already. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, and sure enough, we get we get we do a lot of like, you know, we do fire departments around Christmas time throughout the year. We do uh yeah, we do the first responder, yeah. Yeah, yeah, we do that. So we feed the first responders. I think it's a second Wednesday for free. It's an October. In October, yeah, yeah, and then uh, and then we do their dinner that night. Uh, and then we do a lot of things for the schools as well. Yeah, so like uh whenever uh um it's Teachers Appreciation Week, I am booked every single day those days for about a week, week and a half.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

It's incredible. It is for sure. Yeah, and so we we want to uh of course as we do each and every uh week at this time, honoring you is such an incredible honor because of the way that you do give back to the community, you do give back uh to the Hendersonville area like you have done, especially in these unbelievable, unprecedented times we've had from Hurricane Aline to the you know ice storms, snowstorms, etc. Uh kind of enlighten everybody too about it. So, like as a matter of fact, like today or you're cooking today too, right? You're you're okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

We gotta cater tomorrow actually for about a hundred, a hundred and uh twenty-twenty five people tomorrow. Yeah, so today we'll be prepping, we're getting all that stuff ready. Uh and then like it's it's a whole process. Do you ever need a break from cooking? No, I love I go home and I cook, man. Yeah, we just love it. Yeah, yeah. Again, I I truly love this. But like even barbecue in itself, and it's a lot of work. We start getting stuff ready for Friday since like Tuesday or Wednesday. Yeah. Yeah. But it's it's it's uh owning a food truck, uh, you know, a restaurant, it can be a lot of work, and a lot of people don't realize how much it is. Uh but again, when you when you enjoy it, you don't work a day in your life. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Well, we're so thankful for what you and your family are and everybody on your team do for our community. That's remarkable. You gave away over 6,000 meals during during Helene. You served uh over 27,000 just to the to Duke Power.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

I mean, it was between the linemen and the first responders and all that. Incredible.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Yeah, it's absolutely remarkable. So thank you. Yeah, absolutely. And here's a we have a certificate here. Let's present that.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Thank you. Appreciate it. And of course, you will see every bit of this on our Facebook page and social media, and we'll have it in podcast format too, online right there at WHKP.com. We'll also be able to link to uh uh Noah's team and all of that on Facebook a little bit later. So uh Victor, thank you so very much for joining us this morning as our George Real Estate Group Hometown Hero. Like I said, we take such great pride in uh this each and every week. Been doing it for a long time. Victor, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

I I know uh we just have a minute in wrapping up. I want to remind our listeners to go to our Facebook page. We have a couple of open houses actually this Sunday. 242 Carriage Summit Way and then 1867 Fruitland Road, both this Sunday, hosted by the Amy team. We have incredible agents, incredible listenings, but grateful to be here every Friday morning sponsoring the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

We love you, buddy, for sure. And we love you as well, Victor. You take care. Have a great weekend. Thank you.