Brown Dining Services brought their new food truck, Bruno Eats, into service this Saturday. Set for a busy weekend at the University’s Wendell R. Erickson Athletics Complex, the food truck received a warm reception from spectators, drawing crowds looking for a pre-game snack at the lacrosse and baseball games hosted throughout the day.
According to Dining Services Director of Retail Operations Bobby Noyes, the truck for Bruno Eats was first purchased in Pennsylvania in October and brought to campus in December. The food truck has already been used at small-scale and private events, Noyes said, including serving meals at the Ivy Plus Dining Conference.
The truck fits the specific needs of Dining Services, Noyes said. Corey Allen, a chef for Dining Services, said the truck is “state of the art.”
“It’s like working in an actual kitchen,” Allen said.
Brown Dining Services partnered with the Athletics Department to preview the truck to a small group of students earlier this week in a trial run, said John Diamond, assistant director of athletics, fan experience and brand management.
A group of students was selected to “give (the truck) a test run, and Bobby and the team cooked burgers and fries for everyone,” Diamond said. “It’s restaurant quality, and it’s awesome to have it here around our athletics events.”
“We wanted to be very flexible, so we got a flat top grill” that enables the staff to cook a variety of options, Noyes said. In addition to the grill, the truck includes fryers, “plenty of cold holding” for perishables and a propane range.
“We can do pretty much anything,” he said.
Noyes added that the food truck will typically serve one type of cuisine on a given day. While the truck offered smash burgers and fries during its debut on Saturday, Noyes said that “it could (also) be a taco truck, it could be a falafel truck — (it can) really have any identity.”
Only certain Dining Services members are authorized to drive the Bruno Eats truck, but Noyes said that Dining Services staff will rotate through the mobile kitchen once it is parked.
According to Noyes, the food truck is currently being used to supplement sports games in the hopes of boosting attendance at these events.
“Any time we have large crowds (at sporting events), we want to do what we can to make everyone's experience better,” Diamond said. The addition of the truck “will make a big step in the right direction.”
Noyes also told The Herald that Dining Services plans to position the food truck as an occasional alternative to existing Brown dining halls with special outdoor events.
“We liked that it's flexible and we liked that it's mobile,” Noyes said, adding that he expects the truck will “enhance … and complement our services.”
Dennis Carey is a Sports Editor who enjoys playing volleyball, listening to and collecting vinyl records, and poorly playing the guitar in his spare time.
