WILMINGTON — Wherein food courts of the past have largely existed in shopping malls, one modern-day take on it comes with a permanent outdoor space for mobile eateries to park their wheels. The Port City will see its first food truck park hopefully in the next two months, if all goes according to plan.
Chow Town has been under construction in the Brooklyn Arts District since last year. Owned and operated by Zeke Nathans and Dynh Le, their goal is to have up to six trucks parked daily on site, offering people a place to dine outdoors for both lunch and dinner.
Nathans’ family — including father Dave of Urban Building Corp. fame — owns the almost half-acre of land at 1101 N. Fourth St. that the food truck park is being built on. The property owners had other plans for the lot, but the Covid-19 pandemic derailed it and the land has been vacant since.
“It seemed like the perfect spot for what we wanted to do,” Nathans said.
A general contractor, Nathans met Le while working on his downtown Tap Tea Bar location — part of a local franchise Le began in 2017. Nathans mentioned to Le he loved the idea of a food truck park opening in the area. Turns out, Le had a business plan he wrote more than a decade ago to do the concept.
“I mean, he had it laid out already,” Nathans said.
Le and his wife had visited Hawaii for their last vacation before becoming a family of three and welcoming their first born, a son who is now 9.
“And right behind our hotel was a food truck park and I thought it was just ingenious,” he remembered. “I told my wife: ‘We have to bring this back to North Carolina.’”
In the meantime, Le opened up Tap Tea Bar on Racine Drive, in Barclay Point, on UNCW’s campus and downtown, and so the food truck park was moved to the back burner.
“But I think everything happens in life for a reason,” Le said. “I was supposed to meet Zeke. I told him I already had the name for it: ‘Chow Town.’ And if he didn’t like the name, obviously we don’t have to do it together.”
Nathans was onboard out of the gate.
Upon completion Chow Town will be fenced in and consist of stalls for the trucks but also include picnic tables and lounge areas, with games like cornhole and ring-on-a-string available, and a stage for live music or open mic nights. Le said he’d like to eventually add a mini putting area.
Two shipping containers will be on site, one to run a commissary kitchen for food trucks to operate from, and the other to outfit a beer and wine concession area and sell Chow Town merchandise.
Chow Town’s lineup of first trucks to park have yet to be narrowed down due to an unclear opening date. Though Le did indicate his own mobile drinkery, Tap Tea — which launched last year out of a Sprinter van to set up at weddings, birthdays, concerts with Live Nation and the like — will make appearances at the park once open.
“It doesn’t necessarily even have to be food trucks,” Nathans said. “It can be any business that operates out of a truck or trailer.”
Le gave the example of a van that an artist sells pottery from or handmade clothing out of, and added there is space on the lot to bring smaller mobile ventures, such as hot dog or coffee push carts.
Nathans and Le said food trucks have been reaching out since the project was announced last year. The goal is to have trucks rotate enough to continuously bring back customers. They agree variety is at Chow Town’s forefront of operations, so there aren’t three burger or taco trucks parked at once — but maybe one of each, in addition to sushi, barbecue, slushies, dessert, etc.
“It really is about the entrepreneurial spirit; Chow Town is about helping small businesses,” Le said, “maybe for people who don’t have the funds to start a big operation.”
He said the response so far has been rewarding, adding their research has indicated more than 100 trucks operate in town. They’re also excited about drawing in others from outside the area.
“We imagine it will bring in trucks statewide,” Nathans said.
Scheduling will be a balancing act between giving new trucks a chance to grow their dining base but also including ones that bring out the most diners to the site. There is a $50 deposit to secure a spot for the day and then a commission is given to Chow Town from sales.
Right now, the group is a few weeks out from having landscaping finished on the triangle-shaped property and estimates once that’s wrapped they’ll be roughly a month away from opening. Located behind Jelly Cabinet Bakery at the corner of Cowan and Fourth streets, there is free onstreet parking available and Chow Town will be visible from Third Street when entering downtown from MLK Parkway.
“It’s uniquely shaped and really looks cool,” Le said of the property.
Nathans and Le endured a few setbacks in the last year while undergoing the project. For instance, in January they were stalled by four months from Duke Energy hooking up power to the site.
“It was bad timing with Helene and all,” Nathans said.
They also had to get a height variance to install three structures, 22 feet tall. They’re less than the 36-foot minimum requirement in the zoning but was passed by the board of adjustment.
While the food truck park will be Chow Town’s primary purpose, the crew envisions events hosted on the site, such as farmers markets, and is toying with the idea of renting part of it for parties as well.
Nathans said the portion of the venue that could be rented would be stationed off from the food truck park: “We could still operate half the venue.”
“I personally think we should try everything and see what works and doesn’t,” Le said, adding Chow Town will be open in colder months, too, with outdoor heaters on site. He would also like to see the addition of fire pits.
To follow Chow Town’s opening and progress, click here.
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