A new food truck is coming to 11th Street Station, offering customers a variety of grilled and fried chicken dishes.

Griffin Keim will oversee the Cluck Stop, which is expected to launch operations in late August.

Keim, 23, has created a menu that reflects both his passion for cooking and southern background.

“I think the appeal of southern food is just how much love is put into each batch of food,” he said. “It was a missing piece of Durango that I’m ready to bring to the table.”

The Cluck Stop’s menu consists of chicken tenders, chicken Cesar salads, vegetable salads, crème brûlée and banana pudding, among other items. Keim said his menu was inspired by southern cuisine.

“Where I’m from in Texas, there's no shortage of fried chicken and comfort food,” he said.

Keim moved to Durango three years ago from Austin, Texas. A series of service industry jobs led him to 11th Street Station, where he works at the station’s coffee shop, Cafe Amor. During his time in Durango, he said he could not help noticing an apparent shortage of fried chicken dining options.

“I think there’s some great spots in Durango to get chicken wings, but there's not anywhere to get fried chicken and that southern style,” he said.

Keim’s mother, Kim Böes Keim, owns and operates Earth’s Garden Gourmet Vegan and sells her pastries at Cafe Amor at 11th Street Station. while dropping off pastries one day in June, she saw a sign posted on a vacated truck urging interested parties to submit applications.

When Böes Keim told her son, he submitted an application with the hopes of finally having a venue to bring the “southern style” to Durango.

After three months of reviewing applications, tasting food, looking over menus and drafting lease agreements, 11th Street owners and CEOs Jamie and Marcos Wisner notified Keim that he had been selected to lease the truck.

“The food was great,” Marcos Winsner said. “I think it’s a great fit for the station and the town.”

While his friends and family are ecstatic about the prospects of the Cluck Stop, the fact that Keim is opening a restaurant was a surprise to few.

“He cooks for a lot of his nephews, his cousins, friends and his college friends and his co-workers, and everybody’s always going on and on about the food,” Böes Keim said. “They’re always saying ‘you need to have your own restaurant.’”

Keim’s passion for cooking traces back to his early childhood. Böes Keim attended culinary school and worked as a professional caterer in Austin, immersing Keim in the culinary world early on.

“Griffin has been interested in food his whole life, he just has a real gift for it,” Böes Keim said. “As a parent, it's really exciting to see your kids like grow into their gifts and be able to actually execute them.”

While the truck is still awaiting health and fire inspections, Keim anticipates a soft launch on Aug. 19.

lveress@duarngoherald.com