East Lansing resident Meredith Nelson, left, and her cousin, Hoboken, N.J., resident Holly Nelson wait for their order at Trailer Park’d food stand Tuesday in Lansing. The food truck, which has been in business two months, is parked in Lot 56 in Old Town most weekdays.
Last week, Brennan Woods had a meal unlike anything he ever has had before — hand-squeezed sage lemonade, a burger made with tall grass beef, caramelized red onions, balsamic vinegar, organic greens, fontina cheese on foccacia bread — and he got it from a trailer.
Woods, an MSU alumnus, first heard about Trailer Park’d “Slow” Fast Food, a nomadic local food trailer based in Lansing, from friends and was encouraged to try it.
“It was pretty packed when I went there — there was a long line,” he said. “It was well worth it, and there was a lot of different menu choices, and they were really nice.”
Starting this Sunday, Trailer Park’d will be at the East Lansing Farmers Market, 400 Hillside Court, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Trailer Park’d updates their Facebook page, Twitter account and website — trailerparked.com — daily with their menu and location.
MSU alumnus and the co-owner and sous chef of Trailer Park’d Ben Ackerman calls the menu items “locally-sourced street food.” The most consistent items are burgers, tacos and pollo tortas. Other than that, the menu changes daily.
Ackerman said he and his fellow chef and co-owner, Jesse Hahn, wanted to provide another option for people besides places like McDonald’s or Applebee’s. A lot of their menu items are fairly healthy.
“We basically do food that we want to eat, and we feel comfortable giving to other people,” Ackerman said. “It’s real, honest food.”
The food trailer has been open for just under two months and has had steady business thus far, he said. On a typical good day, they serve about 60-80 people.
Ackerman said they have a lot of returning customers and have served people of all ages. They draw a lot of customers through word-of-mouth.
“Everybody seems to enjoy everything,” he said. “I haven’t heard one bad notion yet.”
Brittney Hoszkiw, executive director of Old Town Commercial Association, said Trailer Park’d has been an excellent addition to the unique businesses in the community. They like to see businesses that are involved in the neighborhood.
“Since coming to Old Town, they have been a great partner in not only becoming a member of the Old Town Commercial Association, but also participating in some of our festivals and events,” she said.
Ackerman and Hahn make everything from scratch, even condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard.
Hahn said they develop the menu around the freshest ingredients available from local farmers markets and businesses. In doing so, they are trying to maintain business as a whole in the area.
“The most fun thing about working at a farmers market is getting ingredients from the people working next to you and using it that day,” he said.
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