To hear her husband, Mike Corass, tell it, Elsie was working at a Lowe’s hardware store and would sometimes bring her egg rolls and other Filipino cuisine to coworkers.
People loved them so much she started taking orders, Mike said.
A similar situation took root in the Hutto school district where Elsie’s children were enrolled in the 2000s.
“When my brother and I were in school, we would have potlucks, and [Elsie] wasn’t sure what to bring, and her sister gave her the idea to bring lumpia, which are Filipino egg rolls,” said Reina Lamberton, Elsie’s daughter and a manager at Elsie’s Egg Rolls. “So she made a batch ... and they became such a big hit that the teachers were like, ‘Can you make me some?’”
Between orders from her coworkers and school district staff, Elsie quickly found she could not keep up with demand.
In 2013, Elsie told Mike she was done working for someone else and got his blessing to start a business of her own.
A year later, Elsie’s Egg Rolls had a food truck in residence at Eli’s Roadside Produce Market off Hwy. 79 in Round Rock and also operated a second food truck in other locations around Central Texas.
“Her popularity just grew exponentially to where everybody was asking, ‘Do you have a storefront? Is it just the food truck, or do you have a restaurant?’” Lamberton said.
Based on the strength of her name and her following, Elsie and her family opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Hutto in January 2021.
Some of the most popular dishes at Elsie’s Egg Rolls include the Pinoy BBQ skewer, the pork adobo with a vinegar-based broth, the chicken curry, and the pancit—a noodle-based dish with pork or chicken topped with vegetables.
All of the dishes come with a choice of egg rolls that contain a range of ingredients.
The family still operates the food truck, but on a limited basis for special events, Lamberton said.
In early May, the Elsie’s Egg Rolls food truck helped cater a fundraiser for the victims of the war in Ukraine, Lamberton said.
Elsie remains emphatic that there is no other city where she would rather operate.
“I love Hutto,” Elsie said. “I want to see other states, but I don’t want to live there. I want to stay in Hutto as much as I can. Even if I become a millionaire, I will still stick with Hutto.”
Elsie’s Egg Rolls
525 Chris Kelley Blvd., Ste. 100A, Hutto
512-642-6984
www.elsieseggrolls.com
Hours: Tue.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mon.
