The La Plata County Fairgrounds and Events Center and Durango Chamber of Commerce started Independence Day weekend festivities on Saturday by celebrating area independent food trucks.
Six vendors catering to varying palates gathered under the summer sun at the fairgrounds to share a taste of the independent food truck lifestyle, meet potential new customers and celebrate the ability to be their own bosses.
The air carried mouthwatering smells of fried chicken and barbecue across the fairgrounds as vendors worked their grills in preparation for crowds of hungry festival goers, while Carrie Foster, known to some as The Ice Cream Lady, served sweet, cold relief from the heat in the form of ice cream and other frozen treats.
Emily Spenser, general manager of the La Plata County Fairgrounds and Event Center, said the food truck roundup is “the quintessential example of the American dream.”
“This is a female-owned minority business and she just got her approval yesterday to operate in La Plata County,” she said of Maria Carranza and her food truck, Taco’s La Carranza. “To me, that’s what the food truck community is all about. People who want to own their own businesses, do not have the finances for a brick and mortar restaurant. And what an awesome way for them to come together, work together and have a fun event. It’s really cool.”
She said the county and the chamber of commerce partnered to host the independent food trucks free of charge and saw Independence Day weekend as an opportunity to help local businesses.
Vendors were certainly in the Independence Day spirit.
Eric Frost, owner of The Crazy Coop, said he started the fried chicken food truck in 2020 because Durango was lacking in places to get fried chicken and that had to change.
“I’ve been here almost 15 years. It’s like, man, gotta make some fried chicken,” he said.
He has cooked in many Durango restaurants and decided to pursue his own business. He said the food truck comes with its ups and downs and challenges like any brick and mortar kitchen, but he prefers the food truck.
Frost said he mostly caters events like weddings and music festivals, but if he isn’t booked, one might find him at The Crazy Coop parked outside the Billy Goat Saloon on Fridays.
He said it’s a nice feeling to see people smiling and enjoying his food.
“It’s just a simple chicken sandwich, but people love it,” he said. “They’ll call out and (say), ‘It’s the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had.’”
Ty Henderson, owner of his family business Texas Ty’s BBQ, has been in the catering game for a few years, but he only just emerged onto the food truck scene a couple of months ago. Like others, his food truck is a chance to practice his independence.
Texas Ty’s is open Fridays through Mondays because Henderson works on a ranch full time, he said. But the ranch is being sold, and he sees his food truck as a means to make a living in the city.
“We love Durango. That’s why we’re trying to do this. We want to live here. It’s hard to live here,” he said.
Henderson said his barbecue stands out from others because he smokes his meat the old-fashioned way with mesquite wood, the same way his grandfather did years ago.
“I’m up all night cooking. (There’s) a lot of pride in what we do,” he said. “Everything’s homemade. My wife makes the banana pudding. My nephew does the potato salad.”
The best way to find Texas Ty’s is through its website, he said. He frequents locales including the Billy Goat Saloon, Forest Lakes and Hermosa. Occasionally, Henderson and his family might be spotted with their food truck at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 or the Durango Elks Lodge.
Jenni Gross, owner of The Soup Palette, and her husband, Jacob, were among vendors at the fairgrounds on Saturday. She said she has been an independent businesswoman for 30 years. Her food truck serves as her commercial kitchen for her catering career and she doesn’t rely much on curbside business.
She said that works perfectly for her because she values being her own boss over forking over would-be profits to a landlord renting a parking space to her.
And the flexibility of running her own business can’t be beat.
“I wanted the mobility. I wanted (the option to say) I’m booked for a month because I’m going to Michigan to visit my mom,” she said. “That’s what I needed with two teenagers. Soccer every Saturday and Sunday. You’re kind of like, I can’t work every Saturday and Sunday, I’m 50 years old.
“I pick and choose now. I’ll do things I know I’ll make money at. That’s why I’m catering,” she said.
As far as Gross is concerned, the other food truck vendors are her friends. She said she doesn’t know Carranza well, but she was happy to see Taco’s La Carranza at the fairgrounds.
“We all feel the same, to be open is what we want to be,” she said. “... We try to make the best, homemade, hand-crafted, beautiful food with local sources. And that’s been our motto since 2014. I hope it gets busy. Go tell your friends.”
Foster, aka The Ice Cream Lady, said she bought her ice cream truck – a small white vehicle that was a Denver Post delivery van in its past life – from two men she met in a bar back in 2000.
She was divorced and a sick parent, she said, and she was desperate to earn money.
“I overheard a conversation, two guys in a bar,” she said. “‘Hey, we should go get the ice cream truck if we want to sell it.’ And I tapped him on the shoulder and a few hours later I owned an ice cream truck.”
After that, she became The Ice Cream Lady, and she worked for 16 years before selling her truck and moving to Durango. But last September, she bought her old truck back and once again took up the mantle of The Ice Cream Lady.
She caters weddings, bar mitzvahs, any sort of event one can think of, she said. Also, she’s British. She said people hungry for ice cream can also get a taste of her London accent when they visit her food truck.
cburney@durangoherald.com
