This is the story of how Walnut Creek’s first Food Truck Market, “Food Truck Fridays” came to being.
This all started during Walnut Creek’s Community Service Day in 2023 when Sustainable Walnut Creek (SWC) members, Diego Dotta, Uli Wolf and Bob Joe was picking up trail debris and painting over graffiti on the Iron Horse Trail near the San Miguel Center.
We looked across the canal and saw this huge empty parking lot next to the Iron Horse Trail and thought why couldn’t that be used for commercial and affordable housing? This thought persisted and Bob called City Planning to find out who owned the land and met with Ben Knonick, manager of the San Miguel Center and learned that plans for a 90 unit housing development had been shelved for a variety of reasons.
It was SWC’s Earth Day event at Civic Park on April 22, that was the possible trigger of a vision for the vacant lot. Diego and Bob took a break from the festivities and sat on the lawn sharing a plate from Curry & Gumbo’s food truck and remarking how tasty it was. Some time afterwards thoughts emerged that really seemed to make sense. If not a housing development on the vacant lot why not a gathering of food trucks that offers a variety of affordable quality foods like what Curry & Gumbo offered?
This vision started to take hold, Bob phoned Sunny Pannu (owner of Curry & Gumbo) to see the vacant lot and to get his opinion. Upon see it, Sunny’s eye’s lit up and said “Let’s do it “. A meeting with Ben, going to the County’s Environmental Health Department, surveying of San Miguel’s businesses and receiving positive support, designing banners, flyers and planning for the Grand Opening on Friday, September 13. 2024
This is the story of how FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS, Walnut Creek’s first Food Truck Plaza came to being. We hope you foodies enjoy the tasty treats offered by all the food vendors. We thank you for the business, hope you tell all your friends and come back often for more affordable culinary delights!
Contact us on Instagram at wcfoodtruckplaza.
Bon Appetit,
Bob & Sunny
A percentage of profits from Food Truck Fridays will be donated to Sustainable Walnut Creek and Sustainable Contra Costa, a 501[C]3