Food trucks prepare for Monday launch

But with heightened protocols in place

WATERLOO REGION — There won’t be any picnic tables, and the lineups will follow strict social distancing protocols, but food trucks are coming back on Monday.

KW Food Trucks released a limited schedule at three different locations across the region for Monday’s launch, including Parkminster United Church in Waterloo, Cambridge’s Saint Luke’s United Church and Cedar Hill United, also in Cambridge.

The seven trucks, rotating daily, will operate from 4 to 7 p.m., five nights a week. A full list can be found on the KW Food Trucks Facebook page, complete to May 22.

All provincial social distancing rules will be in effect, and local public health officials have mandated only one truck per day at each of the three church locations. Customers are encouraged to take their orders back to their car or home.

“We're pretty excited about the schedule,” said Kamil Mytnik of Ish & Chips, one of the seven trucks scheduled to launch this week. “It's nice to see a very slow return to normalcy, in some form anyway, given that there will be certain limitations to reduce crowding and of course, social distancing being in place.”

In previous years, the region has seen food trucks at as many as seven church locations, with upwards of five trucks per location on any given day.

“Food trucks are a seasonal business, and we only have a short operating window,” said Sandor Dosman, owner of Fo’ Cheezy Gourmet Grilled Cheese. “So when this started coming on, we were very worried because we knew we were going to start losing business.”

Like other industries, Dosman said food trucks will likely come back gradually, with his truck set to launch later in the month.

Dosman, an administrator with KW Food Trucks, said the typical season kicks off in May and lasts about four months, weather permitting. Trucks typically rely on outdoor festivals and end-of-year school functions to drive revenue — both of which have largely been scrapped amid COVID-19.

Dosman had 12 school functions cancelled, and festivals as far out as August have already started announcing cancellations as well.

“Some trucks are husband and wife teams where this is all they’ve got,” he said. “There is no one else working in the family, so this is a critical first step for them to do what they can to get through this. I’m just super excited to get back out there and interact with my food truck family again.”