I know what you’re thinking. I know, I know. We must be crazy! I mean, We can hardly keep up with the restaurant, and like everyone else, we have staffing issues…we can’t remember the last time we weren’t dog-tired, and here we are adding another thing to our plate! And not a little thing, by any means!
People wondered when we left our good paying jobs in 2017 to open a Food Truck if we’d gone mad! And then, again, in 2020 when we opened a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, our friends and family were pretty sure we’d lost our marbles.
And maybe they were right, maybe we’ve lost our marbles! But after we sold the food truck last summer we almost immediately realized we weren’t finished with the Food Truck business and went on a search for a new one. I admit, we weren’t sure we were ready to deal with all the red tape of getting a mobile unit permitted and licensed, and we worried about the staffing issues, but when we found the right truck, we knew it was the right time.
I mean, honestly, if it doesn’t scare you to death and make you pray with all your might, is it even worth doing!?
As usual, we jumped in with both feet! We bought a truck, and started the work to make it work for us. There was some revamping and upgrades needed, outside lights and an awning to ensure our guests at the window can see in the evenings and not get drenched in our typical northwest weather. A badly needed paint job on the outside, now all prepped and ready for a new logo to be applied.
During all this time, we started letting the word out, putting out feelers for places to park this Beast. The idea of the Brewery Circuit didn’t appeal to us this go round, so we made a list of where we’d like to park on a more permanent basis. One of the first people we called was Jason at Stemma Brewing. We loved our time parking Foodtruck 1.0 there and we work well with Jason and Kim. (It doesn’t hurt that our adult kids and our grandkids hang out there) Jason was immediately excited to have us back and we began getting ready to open Big Stick at Stemma Brewing.
It’s been a long six months of upgrades, revamps, and meeting L&I and Health Department compliance requirements, but here we are!
Finally!
Big Stick Barbecue Foodtruck 2.0 is officially open at Stemma Brewing!
So as we close out the weekend of our Grand Opening, we need to acknowledge some folks who have helped get this party rolling!
Jason and Kim at Stemma have been so generous to let us park at their beer garden long before being ready to open, and their staff have patiently answered everyone’s questions about the unmarked foodtruck out front and when will it open. Thank you so much Stemma crew! We appreciate you all and we are all excited to begin seeing you on the daily!
Andy at Al’s RV has once again come through and helped us build out a rolling eatery that looks great and is up to code! We go way back with Andy, to his days of youth, Rick even officiated at Andy and Holly’s wedding, so the friends and family ties are strong!
Brandon at Coastline Equipment jumped in just two days ago to help us with some welding that needed done on the hood vent to pass L&I inspection, without that detail, we’d still be fretting and stressing about how to get to this final step. Thank you Brandon!
The guys at Classic Collision did a fantastic paint job. Not only was the price reasonable, but they went above and beyond with sanding and smoothing the rough surface of a past paint job over old stickers, without up-charging. We were completely floored at how much work they did and great it turned out. You guys, seriously. Thank you.
The truck is ready for signage and this coming week Stickers For Days will come work their magic and our friends at Stemma will get a break from all the inquiries! We can’t wait to see the final Big Stick Food Truck 2.0!!
Last but certainly not least, and with hearts filled with appreciation, thank you to our awesome staff for your patience with this project! Some of you were hired for the exact purpose of working the foodtruck and our setbacks have limited your working hours .Thank you for hanging in there with us!
And Nick, our collective Right Hand Man, and Manager of the Year, thank you for keeping staff morale at optimal levels and transitioning from scheduling one location to two locations with such seeming ease. We see you in the hall studying the schedule against your phone calendar every day and we know that hours on the clock don’t come close to the mental work you expend to keep us all on track.
Now… it’s time to go to work!!
Big Stick BBQ 