Food truck sets up shop in Rockwell
Published 12:00 am Sunday, January 29, 2023
ROCKWELL — There’s something about ordering from a food truck that just feels right. Maybe it’s eyeing the menu while you wait in line or eating in your car after they’ve finally called your order. Or maybe because of how easier and faster it is than going to a sit down restaurant. If you’re tired of the same old fast food options, then there’s a food truck in Rockwell that might be your next lunch spot.
Located on Highway 52 right in front of Bargain Store Furniture Co., Burgers & More takes the hot trend of food trucks and brings them to Rockwell and the rest of Rowan County.
“I wanted something to do for myself, I thought this would be a good thing. So, we bought this trying to get it going now,” owner Wanda Williams said.
Burgers & More opened earlier this month in Gold Hill, but moved to Rockwell because their previous location was too expensive and was hard to see from the road. A few weeks ago, an employee from Bargain Store Furniture Co. contacted Williams to see if they would relocate in front of their store, which she did and now it looks like the perfect partnership.
“It helps with their business and our business. If they go in and buy something, sometimes they’ll buy something from us or vice versa,” Carolyn Pope, the only other person who works with Williams, said.
Everything on the menu is made to order. Since they close at 2 p.m., Pope says the key is to not overstock on food. Pope used to work in Cabarrus County Schools, but she “always cooked” and when Williams wanted her to help her with the food truck, she couldn’t pass on the opportunity.
“It’s a chance of lifetime. How many tell you or ask you, ‘Do you wanna help with a food truck?’ It’s a lot of fun, you meet new people, I’ve made a lot of friends,” Pope said.
Not that everything is as easy as it sounds. Pope stresses that there are still stumbling blocks to operating a food truck, but also how you need to power through to get to the end of the day.
“We have had challenges, but it takes a lot of work to keep one of them going. You have to make sure all your gas is filled, we got generators running, it has to be filled. Make sure all of our equipment inside is clean, we run off of propane, we have to make sure it’s all filled. When something breaks, and it does, as it does in every business. You just have to work with it and get it done,” Pope said.
“Your brick and mortar places are very expensive to have those. This is a lot better, you’re compact,” Williams added. One of the trade offs to that is weather is a bigger factor on how they do on a daily basis. Once spring and summer arrive, Williams think they will, “Do a lot better.”
Owner of Bargain Store Furniture Co. Debbie Helms, is glad to give Williams and Pope a better place to run their business because as a small business owner herself, it’s important to give back to someone when the occasion arrises.
“Anytime we have an opportunity and somebody locally wants to set up a food truck here, anything actually, we’re about supporting that because Rockwell has supported us very well. We’ve been here five years and Rockwell, Salisbury, and the surrounding areas, we’re going to give back any way we can to help anybody else that has a small business.”