Food Truck Frenzy Hits Thunder Bay: Fine Food on Four Wheels

On your next visit to Thunder Bay you may be amazed at the food truck frenzy that has hit Northwest Ontario's largest metropolitan centre on the shores of Lake Superior. These food trucks, like in other large urban centres, no longer serve just hot dogs and hamburgers but offer fine food on four wheels.

Barbecupid, Success in First Year

“In my opinion, owning a food truck is like having seven restaurant locations a week. I bring the restaurant to the customer instead of making the customer come to the restaurant,” says Mike, the owner of Barbecupid with an upbeat view of the food truck business.

With sellout sales of his deep fried pickerels, Mike, is stoked about the response he’s getting for Barbecupid; he’s got die hard fans.

His red truck and pink sweaty pig/cupid logo are hard to miss. Yet Mike is serious about getting you the experience of the best barbecue in the world, bringing you the flavours of Memphis, Texas, the Carolina’s and Cuba. This will come to you with his “Texas Burn + End Beef”, Cuban Mojo Steak, “Thrilled Cheese” (grilled cheese with smoked pork belly), and “Large Farva,” which for only $10 includes pulled pork, burn+end, topped with beer battered onions and jalapenos and coleslaw on a garlic bread bun.

Here’s a sampling of the other food trucks you may seek out at events, parking lots or street corners in Thunder Bay:

Galo Food Truck

Fabiola, the daughter of the owners of the Galo Food Truck and their restaurant, Churrasqueira Galo at 570 Red River Road, which serves fabulous Portuguese cuisine, says, “The response has been great. We get to provide our food to people who don’t get to our restaurant. It’s something new for them, especially when they come from out of town.” Galo’s most popular dishes are the piri-piri chicken, the cod fish, and the signature authentic desert, pasteis de natas (custard tarts). They also serve different styles of ribs, pork cutlets, hot sandwiches, chili, stew, wings and various sides.

Local Motion

Local Motion offers a “Northern Fusion Experience,” and lists all their local food suppliers on their website to convince you that they’re super foodies. If that isn’t enough, the owner, Chef Nikos Mantis who runs the food truck as an extension of Pine Tree Catering mentored under some of Canada’s top chefs spending “several years in a 5-diamond restaurant kitchen.” He states that his food is “high end food at a fast food setting.” His most popular dish is the pickerel taco, which incorporates bannock, thunder oak smoked gouda cheese, and pickerel.

Easy To Find Truck Locations

Social media has changed how food trucks operate. Facebook and Twitter can get people out to a food truck location even before the truck arrives, as is happening at our City Hall on Thursdays and Food Truck Frenzy Tuesdays at the OLG Casino - Park St. parking lot where all the food trucks listed above join forces in the summer. Food truck owners announce when and where they will be throughout the week and what festivals they’ll soon visit.

New Trucks on the Scene

A few new trucks have opened in the last few months: Windigo on Wheels and Mik's Slush Truck. These trucks have already been getting rave reviews and are sure to please many customers. So get out to the festivals and events and try out the great new selections of food available on the streets of Thunder Bay.

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