Local Flavor on Wheels: This summer, we’re dining at area food trucks again for our Local Flavor series instead of sit-down establishments. We hope you’ll come along for the ride!
It’s always fun to check out a farmers market that’s new to us. That’s just what we did recently when my husband and I were in search of a tasty dinner from a local food truck.
The Barberton Farmers Market, which runs Tuesdays from 2 to 7 p.m. at 489 W. Hopocan Ave., has a selection of food trucks for those in search of good eats as well as a number of bakers and other vendors to peruse. The market, which started May 26, continues on Tuesdays through Oct. 13.
On a recent windy evening, some vendors were packing up just past 5 p.m. in anticipation of a rainstorm. We settled on some truly tasty dinners from the Tasty Wing Machine food truck, founded nearly two years ago by Mindy Alexander of Barberton.
“This has been my dream for a long time,” said Alexander, who was running her food truck June 16 with her 14-year-old daughter, Makenzie.
Her dream to own her own business had been in the works for 16 years, since she was a young, stay-at-home mom.
“Everybody loved my food and I just thought it would be kind of cool if I own my own food truck and be able to share my food with everybody else,” Alexander said.
Her husband, Calvin, helped make her dream come true by aiding her in setting up her business. He’s a mechanic who owns Bub & Jim’s Auto Repair and Towing in Barberton.
Alexander, who calls her husband by the nickname Bub, said he makes burgers for her family all the time. So she named one of her burger meals in his honor: the Bub Box. It’s a single cheeseburger served with six wings and fries for $20.
She also offers a Bar Box, which is a popular choice for the business she does outside bars. It includes a double cheeseburger, six wings and fries for $25.
What we ate
My husband, Steve, went for the Bub Box and couldn’t have been happier.
“It tastes very fresh. The lettuce and tomato are crisp, fresh-cut tomato, the bun is very soft and fresh, the beef is fresh,” Steve said of his burger.
From a choice of 15 sauces, Steve chose Ohio Gold for his half-dozen wings. It gave his wings a tangy and spicy honey mustard flavor. I’d never had a mustard-flavored wing before but I definitely enjoyed eating one of Steve’s.
At the Tasty Wing Machine, sauces include everything from sweet chili to hot garlic parmesan.
“My top seller on my truck is hot honey lemon pepper,” Alexander said. “Everybody loves it.”
Alexander stressed that her burger patties are fresh daily.
“Even my wings are fresh every day,” she said.
I was in the mood for a Philly cheesesteak, so I ordered the Philly steak with fries for $15. My sandwich was made with tasty green peppers and nicely sauteed mushrooms. The well-seasoned beef was juicy and flavorful, topped with mozzarella cheese.
The cheesesteak came with a heap of fries, way more than I could eat in one sitting. Needless to say, I took half the sandwich and most of the fries home as leftovers.
Alexander, who runs her food truck at events until December, will be at the Barberton Farmers Market every Tuesday through Oct. 13. She also can be found every other Friday outside King Sportsman bar in Akron, with the next date being July 3.
She’ll also be at the Mid-Ohio Bikefest in Mansfield July 10 and 11.
Throughout the year, she also offers direct ordering and catering. Tasty Wing Machine’s menu can be found on its Facebook page by the same name.
Drinks and dessert
Along with our dinner June 16, we purchased iced tea and pop from Fire and Ice for $6. The wind was whipping by the time we finished our dinners, seated on camping chairs, but we knew we had to search for a good dessert.
We found it at Sprinky Dink Bakery, where we decided to share a cookie cookie cake ($7), which is a deep-dish cookie with chocolate chips both in the cookie and the icing.
This was a delightful way to cap off our meals on wheels. Courtney Salyer of Norton is the owner of the new Sprinky Dink Bakery, which she started in April.
She has plenty of sprinkles and a hot pink theme going on at her booth, right down to her cute little plastic spoons. She also enjoys creating nostalgic desserts such as Rice Krispies treats, with s’mores flavor.
Other food trucks or mobile units at the weekly Farmers Market include Johnny Lote’s, Fire and Ice, Fry Your Way, Cado Cado Taco Co., Chalet Coffee Co., Bob’s Hamburg, Akron Pickle, the Chuck Wagon, La Reina Boricua, Cousins Maine Lobster, the Frosty Gator and Eddies Famous Cheesesteaks. Not every vendor comes every week.
Dessert offerings include Buzzy Bee rolled ice cream, Simona’s Sweet Bakery, Sweet Treats, Sweet Rise Bakery, Passion at Midnight macarons bakery, Kelly’s Cakes & Cookies, Rachie Cakes Bakery, Tessa’s Treats chocolatier, Timeless Treats, J & P Cookies, Our Daily Bread, Gracie’s Home Bakery and Jan’s Nut Rolls.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
Food truck: Tasty Wing Machine
Phone: 330-807-3492
Information: Tasty wing machine food truck on Facebook
Orders: Order directly by phone or through DoorDash. Phone orders are taken 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 1 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday-Saturday
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Burgers, wings more from Tasty Wing Machine | Local Flavor on Wheels
Reporting by Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kerry Clawson, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
