Greenville's food truck business continues to grow with plans for food truck village

Greenville area food trucks are gaining in popularity and evolving from mobile eateries into brick-and-mortar restaurants with a strong following.

That's why the Fall for Greenville festival hosts Food Truck Row, and euphoria brings various mobile food vendors to town. Both events help mobile trucks gain larger followings and eventually become standalone restaurants.

"I can remember Mayor Knox White coming to the first day of our food truck opening in a bank building parking lot," said Ruta Fox, media relations specialist for food truck Asada.

Asada is the first food truck in the city of Greenville, according to the business license department of Greenville.

"From that first day, we attempted to build a following, and it's turned out to be successful for us," Fox said.

After opening in 2011, the Latin American mobile food truck spent its first three years in parking lots near Donaldson Center on Church Street and Augusta Road. The food truck also had a designated area near Falls and Broad Streets in 2013.

By 2014, Asada had transitioned into a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant and has sustained business at 903 Wade Hampton Blvd. for more than 10 years.

Comal 864, White Wine & Butter and many others began as food trucks and eventually transitioned into storefronts. Some failed, while others gained statewide, regional and even national attention.

As of February, the city of Greenville has about 75 active food truck vendors, according to Claude Turner, business license officer for Greenville. This doesn't include traditional food carts requiring transportation or ice cream trucks; the majority of which, have hopes of becoming permanent fixtures in Greenville's dining scene.

Providing a unique taste of home in food trucks around Greenville

In Greenville, most food trucks provide services to manufacturing plants, residential buildings, corporate events and large crowd gatherings, with the hope of building the rapport to grow into a full-scale restaurant.

Some of those food trucks have been successful and are known for their specialties. Harry's Hoagies, 1700 E. North St., formally known as Mike's Cheesesteaks, flies in bread daily from New Jersey.

Sofrito's food truck brings South Florida recipes and Cuban cuisine to the Upstate. A Taste of Detroit specializes in Coney Island-style hot dogs that exhibit a taste of the Midwest to the South.

Robert Webster, co-owner of A Taste of Detroit, estimates that almost half of his food truck's customer base are Michigan natives who now live in Greenville.

"Our goal is to become a storefront," said Michelle Webster, co-owner of A Taste of Detroit food truck, alongside her husband, Robert. "We may look into it later, but for now, we're focused on introducing a taste of Detroit to Upstate South Carolina."

"People dictate whether you're good or not," Robert said. "We've experienced hurdles, but we're consistent, rain-or-shine, and we have something different to offer, like our special sauce (authentic chili-based). You can't find it anywhere else in the Upstate."

Food Trucks by the numbers across South Carolina

• According to the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), as of February, South Carolina has a total of 1,896 food trucks in service, 437 of those existing in the Upstate between Anderson, Greenville, Pickens, Oconee and Spartanburg counties.

• South Carolina had a net gain of 336 food trucks across the state last year, according to DHEC.

• According to a US Foods study, Americans have the same likelihood of going to a cafe as they would a food truck, cart or stand.

• Here is a list of active food trucks in the city of Greenville as of January, and a graphic of food truck counts per county throughout South Carolina:

Greer to have first food truck village in area.

Dorchester County near Charleston is home to South Carolina's first food truck park, which began in 2020 as St. George Food Truck Park, opened by Sammy Reeves. He offered buffet style — first come, first served, as truck drivers could book whenever. The Dorchester County food truck park brought diversity in food to a community of nearly 2,000 people.

"We're a small town, it's the same three or four restaurants in town, so this brings a lot of different foods," said Caleb Patrick, marketing manager for St. George Food Truck Park. "When they come, they kill it, especially food trucks with diverse food like Dizzy Lamb and sushi trucks. It broadens everyone's choices for food."

In Simpsonville, Scuffletown Food Truck Park has a similar concept except it offers a yearlong residency to six participating food trucks at 206 Laden Court.

"Greenville itself is a very big food truck community, so we decided it would be a cool thing to bring a few trucks into the same location," said Allie Holck, co-owner of Scuffletown Food Truck Park.

Holck and her husband, Justin, moved to Greenville from Bend, Oregon in 2021. They owned a few food trucks in Oregon and envisioned a centralized location to have a variety of food trucks in Greenville. Together they own the property, beverage and food sales business, and lease out spaces.

"We're excited about contributing to the food scene here and giving foodies a place to get familiar with what the area offers," Holck said.

Soon to come in the spring is the Greer Food Truck Village by Hector Batista, owner of Sofrito and The Goat Bar & Grill. The half-acre food park will include fresh, homemade pasta, smash burgers, traditional tacos, a pizza truck, and a coffee station. A dessert station will contain an indoor bar and live music on weekends.

Greer Food Truck Village had planned to open in March, but expansion plans were delayed due to the addition of more connecting roads, parking lots, and space for food trucks.

Although there is no update on when the food truck village will open, the premises to support the growth of mobile retail food businesses remain the same.

"With the food truck village, we may end up being a partner with food trucks, Batista said. "We want to support small business owners and ― provide consistency to help build a following. I have an idea on how to sustain and grow food truck businesses, so I'm excited about the food truck village to come."

– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and downtown culture for The Greenville News. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on X (formally Twitter) @ajhappened.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Plans are in the works for food truck village in Greenville County