Food truck park planned on city’s west side
The owner of Milwaukee restaurant Triciclo Peru is planning to open a food truck park on Milwaukee’s near west side.
The project, at 3739 W. Vliet St., is across the street from Triciclo Peru, 3801 W. Vliet St. It includes the current patio that customers could use to enjoy their to-go food from the Peruvian dining spot. The food truck park also will include neighboring green space.
“Vliet Street is a main street that has improved significantly in recent years,” owner Mario Diaz Herrera said in an email. “We are close to Fiserv Forum, Brewers stadium and big companies like Harley-Davidson, Miller and Marquette University. We have been working together with these institutions to improve the Near West Side area for the past three years.”
The project will be called “Minka,” a word from the language of descendents of the Inca Empire in South America that means to work together as a community.
The plan is to have eight food trucks, plus pop-up vendors on the weekends.
Diaz Herrera plans to open the food truck park in June with about 60 outdoor seats and 25 indoor seats. A second phase of the project, with plans to be completed by winter, would add about 40 seats indoors in a building that could be used for private parties and large groups.
There are also plans to cover the outdoor space during winter to increase capacity.
Diaz Herrera hopes to attract a diverse group of food trucks, including those serving vegan, Mexican, barbecue and hamburgers.
Triciclo Peru will operate the bar at Minka, which will be connected to the indoor seating and have a window to serve outdoor customers.
Milwaukee’s first food truck park, Zocalo, has been operating since 2019 at 636 S. Sixth St.
Triciclo Peru also had a Peruvian street food truck at Zocalo in 2021.