Bud the Spud movin’ on nd
Food Truck forced to relocate after losing prime spot
“We put in a bid that we thought was comparable to previous years. It just so happens that someone put in a bid that was higher.”
Kyle Conrod
Now, Bud the Spud will do 100 km/h on a flat highway. But as soon as the 1989 Chevrolet Grumman meets an incline, the old beast’s 188-horsepower heart gets a bit wheezy.
“On a hill you’ll start slowing down towards 60, it could be a bit embarrassing but you just got to go with it,” said Kathleen Porter, who along with her fiancé Kyle Conrod bought the chip truck in 2021.
Bud the Spud will be doing a bit more driving for the foreseeable future.
The iconic chip truck’s owners lost a competitive blind bid last winter for the prime real estate in front of the former Spring Garden Road library it has occupied each summer for most of the past 47 years.
It came as a blow to Porter and Conrod but won’t slow them down.
And they wish the best of luck to the site’s new occupants.
“The bidding process was put in to make it fair,” said Conrod.
“We put in a bid that we thought was comparable to previous years. It just so happens that someone put in a bid that was higher.”
So, this summer you’ll find Bud the Spud at 3422 Dutch Village Road on Sundays, 567 Sackville Drive on Wednesdays and usually out front of Nine Locks Brewing in Dartmouth from Thursday to Saturday.
Mondays and Tuesdays, the Spud will be sleeping but Conrod and Porter won’t be.
They’ll be running errands, doing prep and spending time with Conrod’s five-year-old.
Running a chip truck has proven to be a life-consuming business for the two 30-somethings.
For years, they’d worked at the Lower Deck Pub in Clayton Park.
Coming out of the pandemic, they wanted a life change.
And they got one when they bought Bud the Spud from Jody Leblanc who himself had bought it from founders Bud and Nancy True.
“It sounds clichéd to say, but it is a bit of a Halifax icon,” said Conrod.
Owning an institution has come with a sense of responsibility – they take care to prepare the Prince Edward Island potatoes in exactly the same manner as previous owners.
The only big change they’ve made is by adding smash burgers.
“You take a big ball of fresh ground beef and put it on a hot flat top and then you smash it down so the edges get really thin and crispy but it’s still really juice on the inside,” said Conrod.
“That’s a generational thing – smash burgers weren’t as big of a thing for previous generations. Now they’re the top seller on the menu.”
A family member spent the winter going over the old Grumman’s brakes, steering and lighting and this summer they’ll be taking it to Prince Edward Island for events there.
If you find yourself behind them going up a hill, Conrod apologizes in advance.