On a sunny blue-sky morning, the sprawling parking lot is empty. The clamor of cars up and down Howell Mill Road mingles with the whoosh of the I-75 on-ramp and the steady staccato of electric generators.
But a few minutes later, in the dramatic fashion of the curtain going up at a play, the scene quickly changes, as the first wave of eager eaters descend on the Atlanta Food Truck Park.
Suddenly, there’s a happier, more human din. Purveyors poke their heads out of windows in the sides of their trucks, and a little boy points and laughs, wondering if it’s some sort of puppet show.
His mom joins a line in front of the Marlay House truck, as a lunchtime throng assembles among rows of picnic tables shaded by red and blue umbrellas.
At one table, Shane Meder is trying the Mixed Up truck’s grilled lamb burger. Brushing away a messy slather of tzatziki sauce, he declares it, “fresh and delicious.”
Meder, the owner of nearby Black Sheep Interiors, is treating the women in his office to lunch here instead of going out to a restaurant.
“Today, I said let’s go to the Food Truck Park. The prices are good, and I own the company, so I can take everybody to lunch," Meder said. "It’s affordable and fun and it brings people together.”
Fixtures in cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, roving food trucks are a more recent phenomenon in Atlanta.
The Atlanta Food Truck Park, a dedicated spot for food trucks to gather seven days a week, is the big idea of co-owner Howard Hsu, a restaurateur who said he based the concept on similar parks in Austin, Texas.
The park, situated on a hilly, three-acre tract at Howell Mill Road and I-75, opened April 27, with 15 food trucks, and drew a surprising crowd of more than 3,000 the first night.
Earlier this month the park shut down for several days while some of the trucks cleared up permitting issues with the City of Atlanta. But it reopened May 18 with a gala party featuring music and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with City Councilman Yolanda Adrean, along with 15 trucks and another big crowd.
“I love the idea of the food trucks,” said engineer Stacy Loesch, scooping up a bite of bangers and mash from a paper plate. He has brought some co-workers from his Midtown office to check out his son’s Banged Up and Mashed truck. “I’ve tried several of the food trucks, and it’s amazing the meals they put out.”
His son David Loesch had been in food service for eight years, working at places such as Gordon Biersch and the Derby. With help from his dad, he debuted Banged Up and Mashed in February, serving up English-style pub grub.
“It’s been a wild ride since, especially with the permitting,” David Loesch said. “But it’s been a great new entrepreneurial endeavor and I didn’t want to work for a corporate restaurant.
“The food park is a great place for families to come for dinner. And it’s a perfect date night spot. You can bring a bottle of wine or some beer and have a good time. I like to see people pairing up our fish and chips with a nice English ale.”
Although the park appears to attract a wide demographic, Jasmine Ho, a self-described “food truck fan,” may be typical of the most dedicated group of young food truck followers.
“Anywhere they go, I follow them,” Ho said. “I track them on Twitter and Facebook. Buen Provecho is one of my favorites. I’m Puerto Rican and it’s an authentic Puerto Rican food truck with really good homemade dishes — stuff my grandmother used to make. Where else can you get a cooked-to-order churrasco steak and coconut mango rice in a good-sized portion for $10?”
Ho’s friend, Brett Eanes, is a California Culinary Academy grad and L.A. transplant, who started a catering business before going into the food truck business.
Eanes looks and talks like he might be on the road with a band. He calls his Mixed Up truck a “bus” and vintage concert posters and a bass guitar illustrate the company’s motto: “A Rockin’ Experience.”
“My truck is a no-holds-barred approach to street food,” Eanes said. “I’ve worked in fine dining, but now I’m cooking and selling the food I love.
"Is it fun? From the moment we load the bus up, we’re laughing going down the road. People are honking and waving. Then we pull up, and the thrill starts. You get that huge line, and we’re rock stars.”
Atlanta Food Truck Park, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. daily, 1850 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, atlantafoodtruckpark.com.
SIDEBAR: "Truck Food Cookbook"
Writer and former Atlantan John T. Edge’s new book, “The Truck Food Cookbook” (Workman, $18.95), includes 150 food truck recipes, plus rambles with some of the folks that operate the “restaurants on wheels.”
In his travels around the country, Edge has seen food truck parks become a growing trend.
“There are a number of places where it’s happening,” Edge said. “Austin does does a good job of building an environment where you can relax and eat. Portland [Oregon] is arguably the place where the permanent encampment of food carts reaches its apex.”
Edge also runs the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi, where his job is to celebrate and document the food culture of the South. Food trucks are part of that, too, he said.
“You can see the food truck or cart encampment as a kind of United Nations food court, wherein new immigrants make recipes that they borrowed from their mother or grandmother and their cooking serves as a invitation to their country and culture.”
As to food trucks in general, Edge thinks the appeal is rooted in something elemental and intimate.
“It’s one or two people in a confined space cooking something great and handing it over to you,” Edge said. "It’s reminiscent of your mama handing something from the stove to the kitchen counter. It’s also a bit like sitting at a chef’s table. People like that intimate exchange. That’s what they’re getting from the food carts and trucks.”
The Stove Works in Inman Park, 112 Krog St., hosts a fleet of food trucks, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday. John T. Edge will be there signing copies of "The Truck Food Cookbook" at noon on May 30.
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