By Jan Norris
Food trucks have come a long way from the pizza and taco trucks of only a few years ago. They’re more like mobile restaurants with artisan foods and creative takes on cultural recipes.
They’re no longer run by mainly college kids doing part-time gigs, or by weekend grillmeisters.
Professional chefs who have owned brick-and-mortar eateries have traded in plates and tablecloths for takeout boxes and picnic tables.
William Mattiello had a restaurant in New York City for 25 years. “Business was great some nights; some nights, not so much,” he said.
William Mattiello takes an order at his lasagna truck in Delray Beach. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Now, his lasagna sells out nightly from the Mattiello’s House of Lasagna truck parked at 1601 N. Federal Highway in Delray Beach. He’s looking for a new space as he may be forced to move because the building at that site may soon undergo renovations.
His food is authentic and made from scratch, with all the recipes from his hometown of Modena, Italy.
“People come to appreciate the craftsmanship,” he said. “This is exactly what you would eat in Modena, where it originally comes from.”
Even the noodles are handmade. “I mix the dough, I stretch the dough. I make the sauce and béchamel. Made fresh every day. It’s better than homemade because it’s all handmade.”
All except for the Caesar salad croutons, he said. “Everything else is made by me. It’s a long, laborious day.”
He starts at 8:30 a.m. and gets everything ready to open by 5 p.m.
“But we have customers who are always there at 4 to pick up dinner.” He closes at 9 p.m., and takes Mondays off.
The best seller is his classic lasagna, with the white béchamel, followed by the Americana lasagna with a tomato-based meat sauce.
Two other varieties — a short rib with brown gravy, mushrooms and shallots, and the vegetarian with spinach and mushrooms and béchamel — are popular. But he makes special ones now and then to add to the mix.
“Tonight is a blackened shrimp and zucchini with lemon zest and béchamel.”
All are served in single portions, $17 to $19.
The menu is limited, with garlic bread, salads and a couple of desserts — “when I have time to make them. Tiramisu and profiteroles from scratch: cream puffs filled with custard cream.”
All labor-intensive dishes.
Most customers come for takeout and dine at home. By 8 o’clock on a Friday night, he was sold out, and said it was usually all sold by 7.
Many fans buy the lasagna cold to take home and heat for dinner. Some stay, however, and order it served hot to eat in the small seating area next to the truck.
To entertain the patrons in the seating area, Mattiello shows sitcoms and movies — spaghetti Westerns — on a screen in the parking lot nightly. Few stay for the whole films that start at 7 p.m.
“But they really like The Love Boat.” He laughed about the 1977-86 series: “They stay around to watch it all when the weather is nice.”’
The truck’s a labor of love, Mattiello said. “It’s not a hot dog cart like before. It’s a mobile kitchen with a big, full menu.
“People come who wouldn’t usually stop at a food truck. Lasagna brings people together.”
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At Ukelele, a food truck at 1402 N. Federal Highway in Delray Beach, another professional restaurant chef turned to his native Venezuelan culture to create an experience through food.
Ukelele in Delray Beach serves Venezuelan food from a truck, but the seating and staff give it more of a dining experience.
The line above the menu reads, “Travel to Venezuela without leaving Delray.”
Owner Josney Peroza wants to be the culinary ambassador to the South American country.
After several years of working as a caterer and as chef for a Peruvian restaurant in Broward County, he decided to get something of his own.
Four years ago he began with only $3,000, renting a food trailer, and buying equipment over time.
“All we had was our passion and intention,” Peroza said.
He works with his wife, Lucia, who brings along son Josney Jr., 18 months.
Cachapas, arepas, pabellon and other foods from his family’s culture are all made in-house and fresh daily.
“The only frozen food we have are French fries. A lot of the work is in the prep. We slow cook the meat, shred it, and cook it five hours to cook again,” he said. Peeling and grinding corn, squeezing the citrus for the lemonades and making the empanadas by hand are part of the labor. “We really care about the food.”
It’s a long day of work, starting at 10 a.m. and prepping, then cooking and serving. The Perozas close at 10:30 p.m., then must clean and get it all ready for the next day.
“We get home at midnight.”
Recipes are authentic. “I used to work in tourism in Venezuela,” he said. “I traveled to many cities and small towns around the country and they have all these small restaurants with a grandmother or an older woman cooking her recipes.”
He’s replicating the experience, featuring favorite regional dishes and wanting his guests to have an emotional connection to the experience while eating at his truck.
“It’s a way to share Venezuelan culture. When you go to a tiny restaurant, it’s friendly. It feels personal and approachable.”
Delray Beach resident Garrett Golden and his friend Eric Hatton, of Boynton Beach, enjoy the shredded chicken patacon at Ukelele.
The cachapas — griddled corn cakes — are similar to arepas but not as sweet.
“They come from the plains areas. There is corn all around. Cachapas are made from yellow corn. Arepas, from white corn, are salty,” he said.
For vegans, he loads them with black beans and avocados. He’ll add cheese for lacto-ovo vegetarians, but has beef, chicken and pork options.
One of the most popular variations is the pabellon — a dish traditionally served over white rice, but instead served in an arepa. It’s filled with shredded beef, black beans, sweet plantains and white cheese for $13.50.
To compete with other trucks, he said, “You need to be in a high-traffic place. If you’re in a less high-traffic area, you’ve got to have something else. Roots, culture and a story behind the food. That’s hard.”
He’s planning special nights, but taking it all step by step.
“Some nights we pack the place, with good sales.”
Catering and other events help, too.
The Perozas also work with delivery companies such as Door Dash and Uber Eats, and do takeout. A canopied area with lights and tables lets diners feel as though they’re at an outdoor cafe. Order at the truck and a server delivers the food.
Open Tuesday through Saturday, 6-10:30 p.m.
“We don’t want to look at a restaurant,” Peroza said. “We’re more focused on this. It has to grow with soul. We are involved with this space. It’s part of a plan — keeping this intentional.”
***
A newer truck is Roka Turkish Cuisine, sitting in the Chevron gas station lot at Fourth Street and Northeast Fifth Avenue in Delray Beach. It’s been there for seven months and beginning to gain a following.
Kayhan Akin, a native of Istanbul, Turkey, runs it, selling food from his homeland.
He also is a restaurateur, having run three “real” restaurants in Turkey.
Kayhan Akin, who opened last year in Delray Beach, saw a truck as a better deal than a restaurant. Here he serves Jeff Fischer.
He and a friend serve up a dish of slow-cooked beef called kavurma. “It’s one of our best sellers,” he said.
The meat is braised slowly, then removed from juices, and cooked again with garlic and onion. After six or more hours, spices and pimento are added to cook another hour. The pan is sealed tightly and closed to rest.
It’s served over rice, with an arugula salad with jalapeños and tzatziki sauce. It’s $19.
Hummus beef is the slow-cooked meat served over housemade hummus along with with crispy Turkish pita.
Akin smiles as he talks about another favorite. “It’s a grandmamma recipe,” he said.
The appetizer of dalma is dried eggplants and dried bell peppers stuffed with Turkish spiced rice.
“The second-best seller is kofte over crispy pita with tomato sauce and yogurt.”
It’s minced meat, formed as meatballs, served with Turkish spices and a little kick.
Other favorites include chicken shish kebabs, kokorec, or grilled lamb, and for dessert the Turkish burnt creamy pudding known as kazandibi. There’s also baklava.
All the meats used are halal — processed according to Muslim laws and slaughtered humanely. The food is handmade “by me,” Akin said.
Vegetarian options are available throughout the menu.
Akin is in a food truck because, he said, “There’s not enough money for restaurants today. I see the food truck as a better opportunity.”
***
Neapolitan-style pizza is dished out from a truck called Rossano’s, adjacent to Ukelele at 1402 N. Federal in Delray Beach. The truck is the mobile arm of Rossano’s Pizza Lab at 1445 N. Congress Ave., Delray Beach, a restaurant owned by Marcelo Rossano. He started the truck during the pandemic to serve his Pizza Lab food.
A wood-fired oven cooks gourmet pizzas that require 48 hours to build. Served baked to order, on a fermented, crispy crust, the pies have ingredients such as mortadella, ricotta and pistachios (the Toto); arugula, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and burrata (the Rossano); and hot Calabrian salami, Calabrian peppers and fresh mozzarella (the Diabolo). Vegetarian options include the Margherita and an eggplant, zucchini and peppers with cheese pizza.
The Neapolitan culture is here, too. A huge portrait of Napoli’s football son, Diego Maradona, adorns the truck. A brightly lit piazza-like patio with a screen of palms and plants encloses tables for dining in.
As for most of the trucks, prices are sometimes equal to a restaurant’s. The pizzas range from $21 for a Margherita to $27 for the Rossano. That’s for a four-slice personal-size pizza.
***
There’s a $19 burger at Cheffrey Eats, the food truck permanently parked at Barrel of Monks Brewing at 1141 S. Rogers Circle, in the Penn-Florida Commerce Center in Boca Raton.
Owner Jeffrey Lemmerman touts it as “the best burger in South Florida.”
He didn’t make up the claim — his My Boy Blue burger won the title two years ago in a Sun Sentinel poll.
“It’s made with bacon, blue cheese and caramelized onion jam that we make,” he said.
Right now, however, the French onion soup burger is considered the best, he said.
“We toast the bun with a garlic aioli and Gruyere, add a 7-ounce patty, melted Gruyere, caramelized onion jam and a side of onion soup to dip it in. It’s killer.”
Another favorite is a pastrami special using burnt-ends pastrami atop the burger patty. Also on the bun are relish, homemade pickles, cheese, onions and sauerkraut.
Appetizers and sides include truffle fries, Mongolian Brussels sprouts, and buttermilk fried housemade pickles. “Those are really big sellers. We go through 20 gallons of pickles a week,” he said.
Lemmerman, 36, is a South Florida native and comes from a culinary background. He studied culinary at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami after getting a business degree at the University of Central Florida.
He worked in kitchens throughout college, then interned at the Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach. After working in other restaurants, however, he decided to work for himself.
“So I started the food truck.”
That was in 2016, and like most who launch trucks, Lemmerman went at it “driven by passion,” he said.
Having restaurant experience made a difference, although the truck is a totally different business.
“I went in pretty blind,” he said. “I kinda drove around, doing street events. I stopped those pretty quickly. They’re not good business.”
“Then I started doing breweries consistently. I was the Tuesday truck at Barrel of Monks for 21/2 years, then started doing more elevated stuff, like beer pairings and other specials to match their beer.”
The owner asked him to be Monks institutional kitchen, and he agreed.
“I’ve been here seven years, seven days a week.”
He loves the truck business, having found his niche and his place.
Place is key: “The thing I tell people looking at getting a truck is ‘get a spot — one location — don’t travel.’”
***
With new regulations and some confusing ones in certain cities, staying put may prove difficult.
For 3½ years, Dan Herrera set up his taco truck — Picnic — along the northern stretch of Federal Highway in Delray Beach, and for the last several months was at 3908 N. Federal Highway, over the Boynton Beach city border.
In January, the truck was ordered off the property. Herrera was taken by surprise.
“We have the permits, the property owner’s permission — we did everything right,” he said.
Then a city worker came by and told him he’d have to close — because of city rules. He explained he had all his paperwork in order — health and fire inspections, food licenses and so on. All were up to date.
“The first lady was very nice,” he said. “But the next lady from Boynton Beach was extremely rude, and shouted that I had to leave now.”
He tried to explain the previous city worker had said everything was in order, but this worker would not yield.
“She called her boss. He came out and said the first lady made a mistake, and I had to leave. I still don’t know why.”
Boynton Beach cited the owner of the property — made up of adjacent parcels, one in the city and the other in unincorporated Palm Beach County — for not having the proper permit.
Picnic became a popular taco truck that gained its reputation after the coronavirus pandemic.
Herrera, a Colombian native, started his truck after the pandemic closings wiped him out in 2020 up North.
“I started saving money again, and moved from Connecticut to Florida to start a new business” — Picnic.
He made up his own recipes, focusing on a small menu of Mexican favorites. It hasn’t varied much.
“Every time, I try and make it better and better,” he said.
The street food was a success. He found a spot on Federal Highway land, and set up a tent, with picnic tables and festive lights. “People liked to eat there,” he said.
Online reviews rave about the baked pork belly (chicharron) served several ways. “You can get it as a panini, burrito, taco, tostado, quesadilla — or in our custom-made ‘holy guacamole,’” he said.
All the fresh juices are natural. “No sugar added — they’re just pulp and water. Very healthy.”
He offers all dietary options, including gluten-free foods. “All our tacos are gluten-free.”
Now, he’s taking the truck to events around town, posting his schedule on Instagram. He’s serving lunch at the Delray Medical Center on the third Tuesdays of the month, and planned to be parked at the Boynton Beach City Hall for a festival March 6.
He also caters parties, weddings or corporate events in the Picnic truck.
“We’re looking for another spot permanently,” Herrera said.
***
Former car salesman Sammy Hadid decided to get a food truck as a retirement gig, and is having fun running it.
The Taste of Thyme truck is on Old Dixie Highway north of Walmart in Delray Beach.
He had to move in January from his spot in Boynton Beach on Federal Highway near Picnic. “You’d think the city would want us workers, contributing to the city. Yet they give the trucks and the stores a hard time. They close and move away.
“But it is what it is,” he said.
Hadid uses his wife’s family recipes to fill the menu at his truck with foods like falafel, homemade hummus and his “star recipe” — chicken shawarma.
He’s true to the cuisine of his native city, Jerusalem.
“We import all of our spices,” Hadid said.
He’s gaining customers who leave rave reviews online — the marketing method of this business. QR codes appear on all trucks for instant connections to the food trucks’ menus and sites.
“We have already 18 five-star reviews of the shawarma,” Hadid said.
The chicken shawarma is the best seller, but he’s switching things up with a shawarma taco — “but with our own spices. People are loving it.”
He also serves shawarma-loaded fries.
A melted cheese-beef bowl is another favorite special.
Dessert is a syrup-soaked basbousa, or semolina cake.
More about trucks
Lemmerman at Cheffrey Eats thinks the trucks are a good way to start a career in food. “It’s an affordable entry point to restaurants. Restaurants cost so much money up front.”
But it’s not as easy as the hopefuls think, he said. “It’s also some of the hardest type of work around.”
The responsibility of the entire business falls on the owner of the truck.
“People romanticize about a food truck, but there are so many hours people don’t think of that go into it.”
From obtaining several types of permits for each city they serve, to weather, to driving to pick up propane for stoves — “Companies don’t deliver,” he said — it’s a lot of driving.
Then there are vehicle breakdowns that many mechanics won’t work on. “I changed my own transmission,” Lemmerman said. Add in all the prep and cooking ahead of time, supply and crew problems, and it’s a tough prospect, he said.
“There are only a couple of hours a day where you’re making money.”
But it affords a work-life balance, and money can’t buy that, he said.
“I’ve got a 5-year-old daughter. I don’t want to miss those life moments. I didn’t want to be a big, successful chef and sacrifice that.”
A brick-and-mortar restaurant isn’t off the table, however. It’s all about timing, he said.
“Right now, I’m smelling the roses.”
Schedules can be erratic, since most truck owners also do catering, special events, or “just move to a better location,” as one said.
The owners depend on the internet, especially social media, to keep their fans informed. Find the schedules and full menus for each of the food trucks on Instagram, X or Facebook, or check out their websites.
All trucks have online ordering for pickup. Most pair with a delivery service such as Uber Eats or Door Dash as well. All take cards, cash or electronic payments.
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com.
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