The Dartmouth Dining Services food truck, which debuted in October 2016, resumed operations this winter after incorporating major changes to its menu and schedule based on the weather and student feedback this past fall.
Instead of syrniki — Russian cheese fritters — and sliders, the food truck will now offer a variety of poutines and melts. Tomato soup, salted caramel brownies and dessert poutines also replaced BLT salads and churros con chocolate in the new menu.
Chef and manager of dining services Andrew Walsh, who oversees the three-person staff running the food truck, said that DDS plans to revamp the menu every term. In the midst of winter, he said he wanted to offer more warm and comforting food like poutines and melts. Walsh added that the food truck will continue serving garlic parmesan fries due to their popularity among students.
Amanda Bak ’20 said that she appreciated the new food truck menu items.
“I went to the food truck a week ago and I found their pulled pork poutine really delicious,” Bak said.
On the other hand, Christopher Chon ’20 preferred the options from last term.
“Poutine is a little oily because its base is french fries,” Chon said. “I’d rather have sliders, but I do like their melts.”
The food truck will have a longer serving time at the Fahey-McLane cluster, one of the truck’s most profitable locations this past fall term. Instead of stopping at Fahey-McLane for an hour on Wednesdays, the truck will now park there on Mondays for an hour and on Wednesdays for two hours and thirty minutes.
“We were trying to zero in on where we get the most business,” Walsh said. “We spend the whole night [at Fahey-McLane] on Wednesday, because it is house night for all the fraternities and sororities right there and generally it is a great central spot.”
As a result of this adaptation to demand, the truck will no longer make a stop at House Center A. According to Walsh, only two students in the area bought food last term per night.
The food truck will still stop at Andres Hall, the McLaughlin Cluster, Massachusetts Row and the River Cluster Monday through Thursday.
Jordan Swett ’19 said that he finds the food truck’s proximity to his dormitory, Mid Massachusetts, convenient.
“I like having some extra variety in food late at night especially when [the food truck] is outside of my dorm,” Swett said. “I think it’s better than [Late Night Collis].”
The food truck will continue using social media as an advertising tool at least through the remainder of the winter term. During the fall, DDS staff members frequently posted on Twitter and Instagram to promote daily specials and announce the truck’s location that day. DDS is still looking to assemble a marketing team of student employees to manage the food truck’s social media accounts.
“We are actively trying to hire students but we actually get little interest from them,” Walsh said. “Where I came from, the University of Buffalo, we had student employees everywhere so it was a strange switch for me.”
Regarding sales, Walsh said that it is still early for DDS to determine whether the food truck has reached its financial goals. However, there has been no major red flag yet.
According to Walsh, the DDS food truck is planning to expand its operations in the future by stationing itself at various student events.
“We will likely be catering in Commencement in June,” Walsh said. “We are talking frequently with [the Dartmouth Organic Farm] for future sourcing of ingredients and to throw an event or two there sometimes.”
