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Saturday turned out to be a
beautiful day in Lincoln. Although it was the seventh day of
November, the sun was shining brightly, and temperatures were in the
mid-sixties. It made for an ideal day for folks to come out and
enjoy the offerings of the new Taste of Lincoln food court on North
Kickapoo Street. Located just north of the Ace Hardware store, the
property is owned by Tim Brady and Wendy Long. They, along with son
Cody Brady, have been working to establish a great location for a
variety of local food truck/wagons to set up and sell their
delicious offerings to the public. The trucks line the outer edge of
the court with concrete walkways all around the area. In the center
of the court, the gravel area offers picnic tables for folks who
wish to sit down and enjoy their food on the spot.
As part of their celebration, a ribbon
cut was held at the northwest corner of the lot, in front of the
Taste of Lincoln food truck owned by Brady.
Behind the ribbon for the cut was Tim Brady, Wendy Long, Cody Brady
with Timbre, Mady Verd, Tim’s parents Connie and Jeffy, Wendy’s
parents Karen and Danny and the Brady children Devin, Hailey and
Rylee. Also joining the Brady family behind the ribbon were
representatives from each of the food trucks and tents. Those
included T & D’S, Daily Wrap, Taste of Lincoln, Samsational Treats,
Farm Fed Coop, Loo’s Sugar Buzz, and Baked and Loaded.
Kathy Schmidt was on hand representing the Logan County Board, and
representing the city of Lincoln was Mayor Tracy Welch, Alderpersons
Kevin Bateman, Dennis Clemons, and Robin McClallen along with
Lincoln City Clerk Peggy Bateman.
The first person called on to speak
was Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch who began by commenting favorably on
the Brady family’s commitment to the community in general, saying
they were giving and supportive. He went on to say that he felt like
a food court was something that the community did want, and that he
was glad to see the lot being put to good use.
Welch concluded, “Give Lincoln something they want, and they will be
excited about it. I wish you all the best.”
The second person to speak was Kathy
Schmidt, representing the Logan County Board. She said, “We are
thrilled as well. If there is one thing I know about Lincoln and
Logan County it is that we like to eat! This is a perfect thing; we
are so thankful this has come about.”
Next, each of the vendors on hand
selling foods on Friday were offered the opportunity to promote
their wagons by sharing what foods they are selling.
T & D’s Catering are focusing on Italian foods. On the menu are 8
items including Italian pasta, Italian Beef, Meatball sandwiches and
handmade pizza.
Daily Wrap was busy waiting on customers, but the name is
self-explanatory with their offering being a variety of wraps which
are quite popular food choices.
A Taste of Lincoln wagon, owned by the Brady’s will feature
different items each day. On Friday the offering was Jambalaya and
Cornbread, with a promise that the Saturday menu would include
Enchiladas with guacamole and chips.
Samsational Sweets, owned by Samantha
Danosky was featuring a variety of sweet baked goods.
Farm Fed Coop from Mt. Pulaski was on hand offering freshly made
soups and sauces, all made from locally sourced ingredients.
Baked and Loaded was the last one to speak, saying the truck offers
loaded baked potatoes with a variety of ingredients, hot dogs,
pulled pork sliders and caramel apples.
Tim and Cody Brady were the last two
to be called on to speak. Tim said that he felt like the previous
speakers had covered all the bases and Cody agreed. Tim added that
they were very happy to see the community come out on Friday,
offering support to the vendors and the food court.
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With the speeches concluded, everyone
stood for the traditional posed photo then helped with the countdown
of three-two-one-snip, when Cody did the honors of cutting the
ribbon on the new Taste of Lincoln Food Court.
In the week prior to the ribbon cut,
Tim and Cody spoke about the decision to put a food court for food
trucks/wagons in Lincoln.
It begins with the empty lot that the court now resides in. That lot
was next door to the Brady residence and owned by someone who did
not live in the community. As a result, the lot was not getting the
care and monitoring that it needed and was becoming a real eyesore
right on a main Route 66 corridor street in Lincoln.
When the lot came for sale, Brady wasted no time in purchasing the
property so that he could at least clean it up. He said that in
itself was quite a chore. He knew that people were throwing trash in
the scrub brush and overgrown weeds on the property but was still
surprised by the vast amount of junk and trash that had to be
cleaned out.
Already having some experience with them, the pair knew that food
trucks went with the flow, setting up at fairs and festivals, but
that there were many days of the year that the business was
stagnant. If there were a place available to the truck
owner/operators that they could occupy during non-festival times, it
would be a benefit.
The Brady’s went to work clearing the lot, establishing a parking
area for patrons on the back side, a wide-open space in the middle
of the court for tables and necessary accommodation for the wagons.
They secured some operators who were interested in pulling into the
lot and setting up shop on a regular basis.
Tim said that there is still work to be done at the lot. There will
hopefully be electric and water, brick and mortar commercial kitchen
and restrooms at the food court by spring.
Currently, the hours at the food court, and the number of wagons on
hand, will be sporadic. Several of the food trucks have social media
pages and notes daily where they are going to be, A Taste of Lincoln
Food truck among them. That truck also makes posts about who is at
the court on given days, so log in to
social media and mark the trucks as some of your favorites to
keep track of all that’s going on.
Nila Smith |
