When two best friends Mac Childs and Marilyn Robinson were ready for a change from the real estate scene, they gave up hot properties and picked up oven mitts instead. The two pals loaded up their mobile kitchen and rolled into the food business.
“It is incredible what you can do with a food truck. They are amazing,” said Robinson. The gourmet duo have been friends for 30 years. “People do enjoy our food. We do things a little differently. Most trucks focus on one type of food. We do hamburgers and hot dogs but we have specials that are a little more gourmet. One of our specialties is Italian meatballs and red sauce with capers, anchovies and vodka,” Robinson said. That’s a far cry from a hot dog.
So far the leap into the mobile restaurant has gone well. “We are at Capital Auto Group on Mission Street, and you can friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to check out our specials for the week,” she said.
The shack serves breakfast lunch every day except for Thursday and Sunday. They’re also available to accommodate special events.
“As a kid I worked in a restaurant. I didn’t think it was the job for me, but I was on the server side. I do enjoy cooking, grilling, smoking and trying new recipes. I also enjoy making breakfast,” Robinson said. “Mac is good with numbers,” Robinson said. “He is also wonderful on the grill. He makes a flank steak and garlic potatoes that are to die for. They melt in your mouth; he is the grill master for sure.”
Robinson makes a biscuits and sausage gravy that customers rave about. But breakfast and Chile Relleno casserole are her two favorites to make for customers. “We have fresh salad, homemade cookies, and we make everything from scratch as much as we can. We are not just about comfort foods, we have many healthy options.”
Price is important to the dining duo. “We keep everything under $10. We are on the cheap, we don’t want to out price anyone,” Robinson said. The two would take their families out to dinner and would end up saying that they could make ‘this dinner’ so much better and cheaper at home. “We know that price point was very important. We don’t want to scare anyone away. It’s more about passion than really wanting to make ourselves rich, because that is not going to happen. We are just having a good time,” Robinson said.
What would be the recipe for success? “For now we just want to have more customers eating with us. At some point within five years we would like to have another truck,” Robinson said. “But the concept of food trucks is new to Salem. Salem has between 3 to 6 food trucks now, but that is growing and I can see there being quite a few more.
TRY IT FOR YOURSELF
Grub Shack Baby
Capitol Auto Group
25th St. SE & Mission St. SE
Monday-Wednesday and Friday–Saturday, 9:30-10 a.m, and lunch until 3 p.m.
Friend on Facebook: Grub Shack or Twitter @TheGrubShack
Correction: We incorrectly stated that name of one of the owner’s of Grub Shack. The correct name is Mac Childs. We regret the error.
