New food truck caters to Hawaiian fans and has secret menu for Tri-City high schoolers
Kennewick’s newest food truck opens with two menus for the public and one for local high schoolers on June 1.
The bright blue truck serves sandwiches and American-style fare under as “The Local Bite” and Hawaiian plate lunches under the name “ Tropic Hunger.”
It is the first food truck to stet up shop at 5222 W. Okanogan Ave in the Edison Food Park, a five-spot plaza near Kamiakin High School.
Owner Rachel Lundegard and her husband, Scott, are new to the Tri-Cities. They moved from Albany, Ore., last fall after spending several years traveling back and forth for his job managing Allegheny Technologies plants in both communities.
The Local Bite was an established favorite in Albany, where Rachel Lundegard operated it at a food truck park she said was similar to Summers Hub, a food truck cluster off West Canal Drive in Kennewick.
She moved the truck to Kennewick in September and it spent the winter in the driveway while sorting through Washington’s food service regulations. Red Mountain Kitchen in Kennewick serves as the commissary.
Getting settled included talking to developer Tim Bush, who together with his sons developed the food truck plaza adjacent to their Fat Cat business park. The Bushes adapted the site to accommodate food trucks and are preparing to break ground next door on a new three-space building.
When the building is ready, Lundegard will move the Hawaiian lunch plates business into the brick-and-mortar spot and open it as a family-friendly tropical bar and grill. She is funding the venture with personal funds, including the sale of her home in Oregon.
“I’m all in,” she said.
Until the new building is ready — by early 2024, she hopes — she will serve both menus from the single truck. She will have picnic tables for customers who want to dine outside. If two menus weren’t enough, she promised a third, unpublished one that will cater to Kamiakin High School students during lunch and after school.
Students can inquire about it at the window, she said.
Lundegard established The Local Bite in Oregon as a hobby while working a regular job with Allegheny Technologies.
She’d spied a need for a sandwich truck at the Albany truck hub, bought and equipped a truck in Portland and operated it while still working at her day job. That lasted about a year before she made the truck her full-time job.
The sandwich business focuses on locally sourced dairy, vegetables, baked goods and more. She is working to find comparable local vendors in Kennewick.
“It is a community business,” she said.
The Hawaiian plate lunches grew out of the couples’ love for Hawaii and Hawaiian food. She mastered a few dishes with help from Hawaiian restaurants in Albany. She decided to make it a business when she realized there wasn’t anything comparable in the Tri-Cities.
The truck’s most popular sandwich is a bacon and mac grilled cheese. The lunch menu includes a classic grilled cheese, jalapeno popper grilled cheese, chicken bacon ranch club wrap, chicken strips and several bowls. She serves fries and a homemade fry sauce as well.
It is meant to complement the neighborhood and won’t compete directly with Bruchi’s, which is across Okanogan.
Her Hawaiian plate lunch menu features rice bowls, kalua pork, Hawaiian beef, shoyu chicken.
The truck will operate from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Tuesday to Friday, and 3:30-7 p.m., Saturday. Lundegard intends to add more hours as the business gets settled.
Follow The Local Bite & Tropic Hunger on Facebook or Instagram.
Kennewick Farmers Market moves
The Kennewick Farmers Market is moving to a new location this year.
The market will operate at the Public Market at Columbia River Warehouse, 10 E. Bruneau, by the front yard.
Market hours are 4-7 p.m., Thursdays, June 1-Oct. 26.
Follow the market on Facebook.
Pets eat too
Pet Supplies Plus opened May 19 at 2913 W. Kennewick, Ave., in Kennewick.
The store carries pet food and other supplies and features self-pet wash stations. Pet Supplies Plus has 640 stores in 41 states.
Go to petsuppliesplus.com
Sign Up: Boom Town Tri-Cities
Stay up to date on Tri-Cities growth and development with our weekly business newsletter. Get the latest on restaurant and business openings and closings, plus the region’s top housing and employment news. Click here to sign up. In your inbox every Wednesday.
