‘It’s like an art.’ How Dubbs Grub rose to the top of Centre County’s food truck scene
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dubbs Grub opened in August 2024 and has since become a Centre County staple.
- The truck won first place for best food truck in the 2025 Centre County Favorites.
- The menu updates weekly and includes gluten-free and vegan options, and more.
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Though it’s only been open for about two years, Scott and Lyndie Dubbs’ food truck has already made a quick rise to the top of Centre County’s food truck game, thanks to an ever-changing menu of unique and made-from-scratch street foods.
The Dubbs Grub food truck opened in August 2024, and since then the wheeled eatery has become a staple at places like Boal City Brewing, 814 Cider Works, New Trail Brewing Company in Williamsport, local events, festivals and more.
Operating the food truck wasn’t always at the top of Julian native Scott Dubbs’ priority list, though.
Before owning the food truck, Dubbs spent 25 years working on the managerial side of the food service industry, primarily around Philadelphia as a regional manager and regional executive chef for various chains. There, he operated a small-scale food truck on the side, serving meals for Lyndie Dubbs and her coworkers at the horse stable where she worked.
After moving back to Happy Valley in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dubbs decided that they wanted to take another crack at the food truck idea.
“When we got back, I noticed that there weren’t really a lot of food trucks here — or at least not many that I saw — so I figured I would use my cooking experience to start my own and try to freshen up the scene,” Scott Dubbs said. “We both thought, ‘let’s do it,’ we made our debut in 2024 and we’ve been loving it ever since.”
Since then, Dubbs Grub’s popularity has grown so much that the co-owners have started to dip into catering. They now have almost weekly private catering events, such as weddings, Centre County Government and Penn State events and much more.
“We’re almost always booked with something, which really is a great problem to have,” Tyrone native Lyndie Dubbs said.
The Centre Daily Times caught up with Scott and Lyndie Dubbs at Boal City Brewing on Thursday, where the pair made three of their most popular dishes, discussed their constantly-rotating menu and what’s next for their food truck venture.
The truck’s ‘dynamic’ menu
The Dubbs Grub menu is updated weekly and includes various burgers, sandwiches, appetizers and other bites.
Customers with dietary restrictions like a gluten allergy, or those who practice veganism and vegetarianism, will be able to enjoy Dubbs Grub’s food too, as the co-owners make sure that there’s something on the menu for any customer who walks up to their window.
“The rice bowls we serve are truly gluten-free, and those dishes have become super versatile too, so we’ve sort of been able to do whatever we want with them,” Lyndie Dubbs said. “We wanted some vegan stuff too, and I mean you don’t see a whole lot of those options around town, unless it’s at a vegan-specific place, of course, and we realized that that’s a pain point in the local market. I had to be vegan for a little while because of some food allergies, and it was really hard to find food out at restaurants.”
Scott Dubbs agreed.
“It’s really important to me that we’re able to serve everyone with great food regardless of what they are or aren’t able to eat,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons why we have such a dynamic menu.”
Scott Dubbs draws inspiration for his many different dishes from almost anywhere he can, although two of his biggest inspirations come from family members living around the world. His mom is from — and currently resides in — Germany, and a sister-in-law was raised in Thailand and operates a Thai grocery store in Florida.
Because of those family members, a lot of German and Thai influence can be seen on Dubbs Grub’s menu, especially in dishes like the Bavarian pretzel dippers and Thai noodle salad.
Despite the mutable menu, there are some dishes that have become especially popular among the food truck’s customers, such as the beef bulgogi fries/rice bowl, which comes topped with Korean-style bulgogi beef, sriracha mayo, kimchi, scallions and sesame seeds.
Another popular dish is the carnitas pork bowl, which includes pulled pork, pickled red onions, guacamole, salsa verde, pico de gallo and sour cream, served atop a bed of steamed rice with hatch chile-seasoned tortilla chips on the side.
Perhaps Dubbs Grub’s most popular menu item though is its smash burgers — specifically the Down South Burger, which includes two smash burgers, pimento cheese, house pickles, arugula and Alabama white cheese, served on a brioche bun with chips on the side.
“I would put that burger up against anybody else’s burger, easily,” Scott Dubbs said. “I would put all of our burgers up against anyone else’s too, to be honest, but that one is absolutely one of our most popular items.”
Scott Dubbs’ confidence in his burgers was confirmed last year in the CDT’s Centre County Favorites contest, when his food truck was dubbed the eatery with the second-best burgers in the county, beating out staples like State Burger Co. in Bellefonte and the Farmstead Fusion food truck, and losing to The Field Burger & Tap in Toftrees.
Dubbs Grub did end up taking first place for best food truck, with Bonnie Blue’s Smokeys and Sweets and Scott’s Roasting coming in behind them.
“It was obviously not expected, but we’re super pumped that it happened, and it’s just super validating — it shows us that all hard work that we’re putting in is worth it, people are recognizing us and what we do,” Scott Dubbs said. “We’ve definitely gotten busier since then too. If I think back to a year and a half ago or so, to our sales on a busy night, we’re now doubling that.”
The pair have continued to grind out quality meals for all who ask, while also constantly looking for ways to improve their business.
“I care deeply about every single dish that goes out — my hands are on pretty much every single one of them, so a lot of love goes into this,” Scott Dubbs said. “I’m not just doing it to make money, you know? It’s like an art. We have incredibly high expectations here, and we don’t want anybody to come here and spend their hard-earned money and be disappointed.”
Visiting Dubbs Grub
Cuisine: Street food — unique burgers, sandwiches, fries and other dishes
Where to find them: Boal City Brewing, 814 Cider Works, New Trail Brewery in Williamsport, events/festivals across Centre County
How to track them: Facebook, Instagram, www.dubbsgrubfoodtruck.com
