‘I can do this.’ Centre County teen opens food truck, with big plans for the future
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Hungry in Happy Valley: Food trucks
This summer we’re highlighting food trucks across Centre County. Which one should we try next? Email jmichael@centredaily.com to give suggestions.
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Alexa Cowher didn’t invent the walking taco — a mound of beef, lettuce, onions and tomatoes atop Doritos in a bag — but the 16-year-old has spent months perfecting the recipe. At her new food truck, Joelle’s Sip & Bites, the crunchy, juicy specialty is already a crowd pleaser.
Hot dogs go fast, too, even on slow days. A vegan option, açaí bowls, balances out the food menu. Cowher’s most popular drink is a “Berry Proud” lemonade with strawberry and blueberry syrups, and her bestselling “dirty soda” is an indulgent blend of Mountain Dew, Gatorade and Sprite.
“I looked up some recipes and just winged it,” Cowher said.
Cowher, who just finished tenth grade, is not the only entrepreneur in the family. Her parents own the Millheim Hotel and her mother runs a store, Olde Village Mercantile Co., in Aaronsburg. Cowher’s parents promised she would one day run both businesses, but Cowher wanted to start her own thing.
After enrolling in cyber school last year, she realized she could do so while still a teenager.
“I just think about what my mom went through,” Cowher said, referring to her mom’s experience opening her store, “and I’m like, you know what? I can do this.”
Cowher’s opened her truck for the first time on June 6 at #1 Cycle Center in Centre Hall. Her regular spot is outside her mother’s store, Olde Mercantile Village Co., where she opens Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends.
The Centre Daily Times visited Cowher’s truck at her usual location for her soft opening on June 19. Cowher shook hot ground beef and toppings in a bag of Doritos, and blended creamer and vanilla syrup into Dr. Pepper for a “Texas Tab” dirty soda. It was just past 9 a.m. and the açaí still needed time to thaw.
“It’s definitely not clean right now,” Cowher said of her food truck. A neat row of syrups, granola in tupperware and a tidy mound of Doritos bags topped the counters. The joint was spotless.
Before opening her truck, Cowher heats ground beef in Millheim Hotel’s kitchen and chops onions, lettuce and tomatoes. She orders açaí, a purple berry and the base of her fruit bowls, from the food supplier John Gross & Co. As the teen establishes her business, she is picking up tips and recipes from family. The black trailer that became Joelle’s Sip & Bites belonged to her parents, who occasionally sold walking tacos outside of Olde Village Mercantile Co.
Cowher is starting small, but has ambitions to expand both her menu and venue. She plans to sell coffee by the fall, and soon after, turn the warehouse her father uses to store equipment for his business into a brick-and-mortar store of her own.
A precocious entrepreneur, Cowher refuses to rush these changes. She is saving up money to run a store herself, and won’t blow it before she is ready.
“It’s a learning process,” Cowher said, “with school and business.”
Cowher looks forward to her grand opening celebration on July 1 at Olde Village Mercantile Co. at 144 W. Aaron Square, in Aaronsburg. She hopes to have a new item on the menu: Dubai chocolate cups, a layered mound of strawberries and chocolate with pistachio filling.
Stay up to date about when, where and what Joelle’s Sip & Bites is selling on Facebook.
