Mount’s very own food truck is back. The Emmit’s Street Eats food trailer is parked at its temporary home on Founders Plaza and began serving items from its rotating menu for lunch and dinner on Oct. 11. The food truck will be open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. and for dinner on weekdays except Friday from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Emmit’s Street Eats opened in the fall of 2020. Rev. Martin Moran, a Chaplin for the university, blessed the food truck in August of 2020 before its grand opening.
According to Howard Williams, the Director of Dining Services, “The idea of a food truck on campus was discussed between ARAMARK and university leadership for about two years starting in 2018 as a fun addition to the campus. When COVID-19 hit and we needed solutions to feed the student body and maintain social distancing, the ideas really crystallized, and we were able to open it in the fall of 2020.”
Dining Services experienced staffing challenges earlier this semester, so they had to postpone opening the food truck to focus on Patriot Hall as a core operation. Luckily, staffing has increased throughout the course of this semester which has led to the reopening of Emmit’s Street Eats after fall break.
Emmit’s Street Eats differs from Patriot and Mount Café since it is smaller with a more limited menu. The food truck rotates its menus weekly to offer different options, some like the ones that are offered at food trucks across the country.
“We plan to feature more local ingredients when we can in Emmit’s like local beef and fresh-cut fries. We can also offer different spins on traditional dining hall favorites like grilled cheeses, tacos, mac and cheese and the like,” added Williams. Emmit’s Street Eats is special because it is Mount made. Williams shared that it was designed by the Mount dining team; the truck was built by a local builder whose daughter and son-in-law are Mount graduates and the art for wrap design was created by Mount marketing.
“Our menus can be tailored to our community... we tweak and create new menus whenever we want to meet the taste of our Mount community,” Williams remarked. This year, dining services expanded its mobile ordering platform to include Emmit’s as a convenience to the community. However, it works differently than ordering food and drinks from the Café. For Emmit’s, students place their orders online, but meals do not start getting prepared until the students scan the QR code at the truck. This way the dining staff knows that those who ordered have arrived and are ready to get their food once it is finished being made.
“Emmit’s Street Eats gives the students another dining option which is great. I think it’s fun and flexible which gives us an opportunity to be responsive to unique tastes. It’s also trendy, which keeps the Mount up to date with what our customers are seeing at home and elsewhere,” Williams said. Tayla Stewart (C’ 23) echoed the same sentiments when she added, “I like the food truck as it is a good addition to the meal plan. It provides a variety of choices for you to eat. It is also very time sensitive as I am able to quickly get it between classes. My favorite week is taco week and the food tasted good every time I had it.”