Food Trucks Serving Up Good Eats At Bergen County Parks
PARAMUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Parks in Bergen County, N.J. are now serving up something a little different.
As CBS 2's Vanessa Murdock reported, food trucks are setting up shop at Bergen County parks in an effort to bring a greater variety of good food to park patrons.
Finding decent food in Van Saun Park in Paramus was not always an easy task, until now.
"I came here specifically to get lunch today," said Keith Smollin, of Montvale.
"This is a great experience," said another parkgoer.
"Love it, love it," said Westchester resident Michele Fishman. "They saw the truck pull in when we first got here; they were psyched."
The Sweet Spot Ice Cream truck was also a huge favorite amongst the children.
"I love the food truck," said 6-year-old Sadie.
One truck down, folks lined up to dig into some interesting hot dogs at Callahan's.
"It's just unique. They're deep fried," said one patron.
"I grew up with Callahan's, so they said they were in Van Saun Park so I said 'let's go guys!'" Saddlebrook resident Elizabeth Schreiber said.
There were plenty of smiles surrounding the food trucks, and smiles from inside the trucks too.
Food truck owners said they're glad to be parked in the park. They said the spots are good for business.
"It's a nice change of pace for us because these used to be off limits completely," said Sweet Spot Ice Cream Truck co-owner John Markowitz.
"I thought it was a no-brainer," said Bergen County Director of Parks & Recreation Ron Kistner.
Kistner and Jon Hepner from the New Jersey Food Truck Association are working together on the venture.
"Elevating the game. It's not just your standard dirty water dog," Hepner said.
The association pays $200 a month per location to park at the parks.
"It wasn't the idea to make money for the county parks, the idea was to provide services to residents who use the facilities," Kistner said.
"Today I'm trying the Sloppy Roe," said Tammi Purnell.
The Sloppy Roe from Rosario D'Rivera, of Rosie's Weenie Wagon, who was parked in Overpeck Park.
"I have no words really. It saved my business," D'Rivera said.
"Food trucks in New Jersey have a hard time finding places to go and operate on a regular basis," Hepner said. But no more. Now, they have a home in Bergen County parks.
Currently, 12 trucks rotate through the parks. The expectation is that more trucks will get in line, hoping to serve up their specialties to parkgoers.
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