Ice cream trucks might have been the very first food trucks. Serving ice cream and sweet treats while playing music, driving through neighborhoods brings back childhood memories. They are still around, but the food truck world has expanded beyond delivering ice cream.
Food trucks are a take-out restaurant on wheels. They come to you. There are options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – and everything in between. With limited kitchen space, many food trucks focus on a specific type of food. There are food trucks with vegan options, seafood specialties, Mexican dishes, Italian delicacies, burgers, assorted handhelds, slushies, and the list goes on.
The food trucks are foodies on the go. The flexibility of a mobile kitchen makes a food truck suited for catering various events: graduation parties, end-of-season team parties, festivals, pool parties, blood drives, birthdays, and work gatherings. They can go where they are needed. Many develop a loyal following and have fans of their food.
While customers typically order and pay at a walk up window, some food trucks offer the convenience of online ordering. Menus are often posted on chalkboards and dry erase boards. As items sell out, they are simply erased or scratched out.
Several food trucks are wheeling around the area and here are a few you might want to check out.
The Melt Grilled Cheese Co. food truck started a few years ago. It is owned by a husband and wife team, Dave Lepore and Ewa Zajac. “We opened the truck in August of 2023 and have been loving every moment, especially being located here in Lexington. It has been an amazing experience to go out and meet people and give back to the community. We love being out and about at fundraisers, feeding teachers, church events, weddings, neighborhood events, or at our fall commitment to the corn maze and pumpkin patch at Clinton Sease Farm,” Lepore shared.
Menu items include grilled cheese varieties, chili, and soup. Customer favorites are the Southern Charm with bacon jam, Havarti cheese, goat cheese, and fig spread; Liberty Bell with ribeye, onions, peppers, mozzarella, and horseradish sauce; and Muscle Mommy with chicken, pesto, provolone, mozzarella, and balsamic.
“Owning the food truck has also allowed us to serve on the Town of Lexington Small Business Advisory Committee,” Lepore said. “Being a part of and serving the community we love is what is most important and rewarding to us.” Find them on Facebook or Instagram.
The Barn Bites food truck has been in business for four years. They keep a busy schedule going to businesses and neighborhoods in areas in Lexington, Blythewood, Newberry, Irmo, and West Columbia. Favorite items on the menu include the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich with 16 different spices and the Barn Bowl with fries, mac-n-cheese, pork or chicken, and barbeque sauce.
“Owning food trucks has been a great experience,” said owner Sam Quiller. “My first attempt at it years ago turned out to be a good learning experience. Having mobility is helpful and adds variety. Being able to move around to different places and seeing people’s faces after they taste my food is an amazing feeling,” he shared. See where the Barn Bites truck is scheduled to be on Facebook or Instagram.
Quiller also has a second food truck.
While coffee flavors and types of donuts might vary, customers have tasty options at the Dark Wing Donuts & Coffee food truck. Selections might include coffees like a black Dark Wing Coffee, Obama with brown sugar cinnamon, and 1600 hazelnut. Customers might want to complement their coffees with assorted donuts. Donut flavors could be powdered sugar, oreo and cream cheese, and/or cinnamon sugar to name a few. “These two concepts, Barn Bites and Dark Wing Donuts & Coffee, are really taking off,” Quiller said.
Quiller said a third truck is planned by the end of the year.
There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes with food trucks. Aside from the creative side of running a food truck with planning menus, prepping the food, and marketing, there is the business side. Food truck owners must have enough staffing to keep up with scheduling demands. They have to plan for the numbers, restock supplies, and maintain customer relations. And at the end of the day, there’s always clean-up detail. Food trucks also have to pass health and safety regulations, hold certain permits, licenses, and adhere to specific regulations.
Support local food trucks when you see them around town and book for an upcoming event at Roaming Hunger.