JEFFERSON – Four food truck owners decided to roll the dice and set up at Giddings Park Thursday, Sept. 10, from lunch until dinnertime.
The gamble paid off.
The owners of Cooper’s Texas Filipino Smoke House and Nita’s Farm Fresh Café had a conversation about it and decided to invite some of their friends – namely the owners of Squeez’d and Evie’s Luau.
Weston Cooper owner of Cooper’s Texas Filipino Smoke House, said at around 2 p.m. that lunch had been as busy as he’d seen.
“We and Nita’s are always here at Giddings once a week anyways, so we thought we’d try this out and see if it works,” he said. “Jefferson has always been good to us.”
Cooper’s offers a counterintuitive combination of Texas slow-smoked barbecue and street food from the Philippines that really works. It’s surprising how well smoked chicken thighs and pulled pork work with lumpia – crispy-fried or pork spring roll that’s a Filipino staple.
Just down the row was Nita’s Farm Fresh Café, which was still crowded with customers at 2:30 p.m. grilling smash burgers and offering French fries, milkshakes and lemonade.
Squeez’d was busy cleaning up after their lunch rush squeezing lemonade and fresh drinks and toasting sub sandwiches.
Sarah Adams said the truck, which usually operates around Conneaut, had been doing gangbusters at Giddings Park.
“We’ve been doing great,” she said. “We got slammed about an hour ago when everyone was on their lunch break.”
At the south end of the line was Evie’s Luau, a Hawaiian food truck based out of Ashtabula owned and operated by Michael “Miko” Hodges.
“It’s probably been our best day all month,” he said, pointing to an empty overhead rack where 30 online orders had been stowed until they could be picked up.
Evie’s Luau specializes in Hawaiian-inspired plates and bowls, such as Kalua pork, sweet or spicy Filipino pork tocino, island-style hot dogs and desserts and a food cart classic for anyone who spent time at Schofield, K-Bay, Hickam or Pearl: Spam musubi.
The team up, which lasted through lunch and dinnertime Thursday, Sept. 10, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at Giddings Park, was successful, with Cooper saying he plans to do it again, a sentiment the rest of the owners agreed with.
