Lazily surfing Craiglist, I come across a listing for a food truck that doesn't include a thousand dollar signs and stars, most seem to read :
"$$$FOOD TRUCK$$$ money maker! Buy now!" "WE BUY SELL FIX FOOD TRUCKS!"
This ad in particular grabs my attention due to its low key nature, as a plus it's just outside of Mt.Vernon, a short lovely drive out Route 13:
"New York style food truck, Howard, Ohio." It lists the kitchen equipment year, make, and model, all you really need for a short ad. I call the owner Todd, he calls back quickly excited that it isn't some "scammer" or "weirdo", I feel the same way as most of my Craigslist food truck shopping experiences have led to a dead end. We set up a time and date, I can hardly contain my excitement and book an appointment for the next day.
Barely able to sleep, Aaron and I wake up early brew some coffee and hit the road. We drive out past Lexington into Bellville, the road turns curves and throws my Jeep around in the cold winter wind. We pull up to a large beautiful brick home with a kick ass workshop out back, where Todd said he spends his days. Walking up to the workshop two young deer hunters emerge from the woods, looking downcast; the days catch had out run them.
We step into the workshop, I instantly fall in love: table saws, interesting homemade chairs, a massive roaring wood stove and tiny kittens fighting over a mouse. My heart instantly warms to this place, quickly I talk myself out of admiration and attempt to put my "We might be buying this food truck" look on. The garage is half finished, we call out "Todd" several times with no luck. I creep along, walking carefully to the other end of the garage and knock knock on the door, behind it we hear giggling, music and good times. Aaron and I stare at each other, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, the door flies open revealing a professional office with printers desks and several massive computers.
The group greets us warmly as Todd shakes our hands and introduces us to his crew- a bunch of friendly smiling locals and a little sausage dog named "Bernie Kosar", one of Aaron's favorite Browns players who happens to also be a massive lush. Of course I launch into a joke about Bernie "hitting the dog treats hard, lay off the sauce Bernie!" We take an instant liking to Todd and his crew, small talk ensues; the crew builds websites for businesses in town, or something like that I don't speak computer. I admire Todd's working from home office and independent aura, leader not follower, he has that little something that food truckers like us must have.
We walk back into the workshop, after a brief tour he takes us to our potential mobile kitchen, what a beauty!
I'm a tall women, and I could stand upright hands outstretched in the truck with no problem! The roof doesn't leak etc. we go down our researched check list and find nothing wrong. It needs some fixing up, which we expected and frankly wanted. Aaron is quite handy has done roofing and other odd jobs. I spent half a hear renovating a train car from 1911 into a bed and breakfast and worked with a contractor that specialized in Natural Earthen building in College, we would have no problems fixing this truck up (maybe)! Todd is super honest and forthcoming about the truck, he leaves us to explore on our own and we jump up and down with ideas. Driving back to town we decide the next step is getting a mechanic to come check out the massive diesel engine, luckily our good friend Matt aka Sly has a buddy who is willing to come. I immediately make appointments for the following week!
The group greets us warmly as Todd shakes our hands and introduces us to his crew- a bunch of friendly smiling locals and a little sausage dog named "Bernie Kosar", one of Aaron's favorite Browns players who happens to also be a massive lush. Of course I launch into a joke about Bernie "hitting the dog treats hard, lay off the sauce Bernie!" We take an instant liking to Todd and his crew, small talk ensues; the crew builds websites for businesses in town, or something like that I don't speak computer. I admire Todd's working from home office and independent aura, leader not follower, he has that little something that food truckers like us must have.
We walk back into the workshop, after a brief tour he takes us to our potential mobile kitchen, what a beauty!
I'm a tall women, and I could stand upright hands outstretched in the truck with no problem! The roof doesn't leak etc. we go down our researched check list and find nothing wrong. It needs some fixing up, which we expected and frankly wanted. Aaron is quite handy has done roofing and other odd jobs. I spent half a hear renovating a train car from 1911 into a bed and breakfast and worked with a contractor that specialized in Natural Earthen building in College, we would have no problems fixing this truck up (maybe)! Todd is super honest and forthcoming about the truck, he leaves us to explore on our own and we jump up and down with ideas. Driving back to town we decide the next step is getting a mechanic to come check out the massive diesel engine, luckily our good friend Matt aka Sly has a buddy who is willing to come. I immediately make appointments for the following week!
The mechanic gave us more than a green light, "Keep up with this engine and it will go for million miles!" Standing out in the bitter cold Sly and his diesel mechanic friend play with the lift on the back of the truck and tell stories of school buses breaking down and all the times they had helped each other out of binds. Trying to take notes I eventually give up and live in the moment. We came to an agreement with Todd quickly, transfer the title with no bumps or hiccups, the best experience I have had buying a vehicle!
The next step is fixing her up! More posts in the near future!
Keep on truckin,
Anne
first view of the beauty!
driving her home!
happy chefs!
I got a wave from a fellow fed-ex truck!
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