Festivals are off, but Centre County food trucks find ways to roll on during COVID-19 pandemic

Restaurants aren’t the only dining option in Centre County feeling the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing precautions and canceled events have forced food trucks and concessions vendors to adjust their business methods and plans for the future as well.

However, communities around Centre County are coming out in full force to support their favorite food trucks and fair and festival concessions vendors.

The Facebook group “Centre County Covid Concessions” was recently established and features food trucks and concession vendors open for business around the county, with details on where hungry diners can find and support their favorites on a day-to-day basis. Pulled pork, soft serve ice cream, monkey bread, pizza and more are all on the menu for the group’s more than 5,000 members to check out.

“The whole community is really stepping up, helping and supporting not only us, but others, such as Rosie’s Pierogies and Clems, Brazilian Munchies, Snyder’s, Tacos Inc. and other local food trucks and concessions,” said Bonnie Walter of Bonnie Blue’s Smokeys & Sweets. The Bonnie Blue’s food truck is currently serving lunch and dinner around the area, with recent stops at Big Spring Spirits and Centre Boot Company in Bellefonte.

“We’re set up all over, in different towns, which the community seems to really enjoy,” said Steve Kozak of Kozee’s Monkey Bread. “They’re actually supporting everybody tremendously and enjoying their fair foods.”

With restaurants across Pennsylvania prohibited from in-house dining operations, food trucks are not mentioned in Gov. Tom Wolf’s list of life-sustaining businesses that can continue to operate. The state Department of Agriculture, however, provides guidance for food trucks operating during the pandemic, including limiting number of people in lines and practicing social distancing.

Vendors say they are taking extra precautions during this time to protect customers and follow social distancing guidelines.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on the cleanliness of our food truck. We are constantly wiping down and sanitizing everything as we go. Wearing masks and gloves is a must,” Walter said. “It’s nice to see that customers are practicing special distancing and taking advantage of the hand sanitizer that is provided at our truck courtesy of Big Spring Spirits.”

The Bonnie Blue’s food truck is also limiting cash payments as much as possible and implemented over-the-phone credit card payments to be touch-less.

“We wear face masks while prepping and serving food. Gloves have always been worn by anyone preparing food served to our customers,” said Amanda Scott of Scott’s Roasting.

Scott said business for Scott’s Roasting hasn’t been dramatically impacted by business closures and stay-at-home orders, as the Scott’s Roasting concessions stand is typically located at Tractor Supply in State College through April and May each spring regardless. Currently, Scott’s Roasting is serving pork and sausage from the Tractor Supply lot each Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Another Scott’s Roasting stand serves customers at the Zion Mart in Bellefonte, Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The team plans to continue serving customers at businesses in the area until fairs, festivals and shows resume, hopefully, Scott said, by August.

Other food trucks and concessions vendors are using the recent weeks to make renovations and changes. Brazilian Munchies is making renovations to the business’s food truck, adding a new sandwich prep cooler and taking out an unneeded freezer. April is Brazilian Munchies’s seventh year in business and second year running a food truck.

Brazilian Munchies plans to be back serving customers from the food truck soon, traveling to locations in Bellefonte and State College, but, in the meantime, is offering delivery, curbside pick up and Grubhub delivery from its commercial kitchen in Bellefonte, with orders taken via phone (574-2115) and email (flavia@brazilianmunchies.net).

While the team at Bonnie Blue’s Smokeys & Sweets aren’t making such major changes to their operations, Walter said they’ve become a little creative when it comes to their menu.

“It’s been a struggle trying to find some of the food items we provide on the truck, due to food shortages and limits on purchases, but like everyone else, we have to get a little creative with the food that we can get our ‘gloved-covered’ hands on,” she said.

For more information on where you can find these and other food trucks and concessions vendors around the county, visit the Centre County Covid Concessions Facebook page.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 6:00 AM.