SALISBURY — On Saturday, the typically empty parking lot 816 West Innes Street resembled an outdoor food court.
Organizer Teresa Parks, who is herself a local baker owning T’s Sweets and Treats, said that she was trying to give people something new.
“We are building a community where people can come out and it is a fun, friendly family event,” she said.
Numerous food trucks from the area surrounded the parking lot offering everything from Thai food (Thai & Sam Lao Street Eats) to Philly cheese steaks (Taste Sumn).
“It is a busy intersection with a lot of traffics,” Parks said of the location.
Other food trucks included Island Boys and B&T Cuisine. Juicing with ShaNanigans had a booth set up.
“I am a cake baker myself,” Parks said. “But, I just want to really let other people make money.
I have a passion for my business and I just want to work with others that have passion in theirs.”
She said that by bringing the food trucks to that lot, they were offering something you cannot get on that side of town.
“I think we need this in Salisbury,” she said.
There are quite a few restaurants west of Main Street, from Mykonos (Greek) to Monterrey (Mexican) and several others, but as Parks pointed out, an open air food court, like the one she is trying to curate, gives visitors more than one choice in one simple location.
It helps that the proprietors of those food trucks have a good rapport with one another as well.
“We have been to events together,” Parks said. “We just built a family together and decided we just needed to come together for the community.”
Saturday was the third time that the event had been held at that location, according to Parks. The goal is to maintain a consistent bi-weekly schedule, offering a pop-up lunch location every other Saturday.
Food truck events are popular in Salisbury. Food Truck Tuesdays recently returned to the Rowan County Fairgrounds. On any given day, people are liable to see food trucks in various locations around Salisbury and the county serving up their dishes. Parks is eager to tap into that food fervor on a day of the week when many people are off and enjoying themselves.
Describing it as an open-air food court, Parks invites anyone and everyone to come check them out and to bring their appetites.
