Bella Vista great for food trucks
When Sara Parnell bought the old Linebarger log cabin and winery, she added a row of electric hookups along the road that was once U.S. Highway 71. While residents wondered if she was planning a camp ground, she kept her plan quiet. This year her plan was revealed when two food trucks moved in.
“No one wanted to be the first one,” Parnell said about her search for food trucks. A friend introduced her to Nimith and Missy Luang who had just purchased a trailer. They were happy to move in.
Many businesses start with a food truck and move on to brick and mortar, Parnell said, but Missy Luang did the opposite. She owned a full service Thai restaurant in Bentonville and had many customers who drove from Bella Vista. But she wanted to downsize.
“We wanted more time with family,” Nimith Luang explained. They also wanted to be part of a community. After they outfitted the truck, which they named Street Ninja, they looked around for a spot where they would be unique. Bella Vista seemed perfect.
Although their preparation space is limited, they have a menu with appetizers, entrees and salads, as well as mango sticky rice for dessert. There’s often a weekly special and they will try to fill any special requests as well. Everything is cooked fresh in the trailer, Luang said.
They are happy to take phone orders and have them ready for pick up, Missy Luang said. They can even carry them out to the car. In the evening, many customers choose to eat at one of the patio tables set up near the trailer.
The trailer usually stays in its space at the ARC, but, occasionally, they will move it to a special event.
The Luangs aren’t sure what winter will bring to their mobile business. They may take the cold weather months off, or they may become a delivery business. It all depends on what their customers want.
Next door, Paul Smith’s Brain Freeze trailer offers more than 70 flavors of shaved ice. Shaved ice, he explained, is like snow cones, but smoother. There’s actually many more flavors because they can be mixed and matched. Some flavors are available without sugar, he said.
Since the Brain Freeze trailer is doing well, Smith is in the process of adding a barbecue trailer.
“They don’t have anything like that in Bella Vista,” he said. He hopes to have it open within two or three months.
Another food truck in the area is more mobile.
Jeff Wetzel of Le Bouvier Chef Services is sometimes at the ARC, but he hauls his trailers to other destinations in the region, Parnell said. He caters many of the ARC’s special events.
Parnell described Wetzel as a French chef who is also a redneck. His menu ranges from Bouvier Burgers to ricotta donuts.
Because the location in Old Bella Vista is on septic, a traditional restaurant can’t move in, Parnell said. But she wants her guests at the center to have food available. The food trucks work out well for her.
Her next addition will be an organic farmer who will have fresh, organic produce available at the ARC.