A popular Atlanta food truck was recovered June 11 in Decatur after it was stolen from a parking lot in Norcross.
Cara Delalla, who operates Meatballerz with her mother, parked the truck in the parking lot of a commissary kitchen on Jimmy Carter Boulevard on Friday, June 7. When she came back to the lot on Sunday she found the truck missing, with broken glass in the area.
Tuesday afternoon, Delalla received a call from an employee at an auto body shop who noticed the food truck in the parking lot of the Pendley Hills Plaza shopping center in Decatur. The vehicle had sustained some damage, including a stolen generator and broken window, but most of the equipment remains intact.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster, obviously, but it has also restored my faith in humanity,” Delalla said. “I’ve always thought that people are mostly good, and you know, they are.”
Meatballerz will operate out of a truck lent to Delalla by a fellow food truck owner until repairs are complete. However, Delalla is eagerly awaiting the day she can return to her own truck, fondly dubbed “Cristo.”
“I love my truck, and I felt like I worked really hard to get it,” she said. “Everything is in there, we’ll make it work.”
The food truck is Meatballerz's largest source of business, but the company also offers catering and has plans to open a brick and mortar restaurant offering the same fare. The restaurant, which is scheduled to open in late August, will be located at Prep 3, industrial kitchen space "subdivided into private kitchens that will be used for central commissary production, catering, food manufacturing, restaurant retail and ghost kitchen operation," according to its website.
The truck is best-known for its meatball sandwich, but the menu also boasts pasta, pizza and a vegetarian grilled cheese, as well as special offerings for events.
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