SALEM, Va. – Food junkies throughout the Roanoke Valley are going to love what they’ve got cooking up over in Salem.
John Johnston of Warrenton, VA. is opening up 4th Street Eats, the first of its kind food truck lot in the valley. He set a goal to recruit eight to 10 trucks to rotate through the future food truck court, which will have parking, seating and bathrooms.
“4th Street Eats’ mission is to enrich the local community by providing a dynamic food truck lot that brings together diverse culinary experiences,” Johnston said.
10 News visited the site on Thursday, and to no surprise, there was already a food truck on site.
Dennis Beeput owns Countryman Jamaican Grill. He travels throughout the region and can be anywhere on any given day. Some days are better for business than others.
“There’s days when it’s 30 and the next day it’s like 110. I’ll take the good with the bad days and try and figure it out,” Beeput said.
Beeput is just one of many young entrepreneurs testing their hands at the food truck business.
Brent Bowles owns Big Daddy’s BBQ and is also the on-site manager for the future 4th Street Eats lot.
“It gives people a different idea of how to go out and get dinner or get lunch. Especially when you have a family of four and everybody wants something different,” Bowles said.
Situated on a 0.28-acre lot in the 600 block of West Fourth Street, the project should be under construction within two months and open about a month later, Johnston said. His Savory Ventures Salem LLC bought the site from the city for $88,500, according to online real estate records.
Johnston says the city is excited to partner to make this happen.
Salem’s Director of Economic Development, Tommy Miller, loves to see businesses flourish in the city.
“I get excited because I look at the food trucks as a lot of these inspiring entrepreneurs where if they have a concept that really begins to blossom, take off, has a following and they say ‘hey we want to move more brick and mortar’...hopefully they’ll get a little more comfortable with the city of Salem and we’ll be able to have them land right here in the community,” Miller said.
The food truck lot also allows for friendly competition, which in turn will boost business.
“The friendly competition is just that we want everybody to have fun. We want everybody to enjoy each other’s food. That’s what this whole food truck park is about,” Bowles said.