StrEat Food Truck Hits The Road

Not every building on the Texas Tech campus is equipped with dining options, and trekking across campus for lunch can be tiring and time consuming. Hospitality Services now has a way for food to come to you.

Anibal Galindo, a senior advertising major, enjoyed the chicken tacos.

Anibal Galindo, a senior advertising major, enjoyed the chicken tacos.

The StrEat food truck was revealed during a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Hospitality Services on Monday afternoon. The ceremony brought out many of Tech’s famous faces, including President M. Duane Nellis and Raider Red.

The food truck is the first of its kind in the Big 12 Conference, something Alan Cushman, business development manager of Hospitality Services, is very proud of. When the food truck was revealed at the National Restaurant Association conference in Chicago over the summer, it was well liked.

“You know, there’s been a growing trend as far as food trucks on college campuses,” Cushman said. “Today’s college students come from large cities that are, you know, used to dining like this, used to this style of food. For us in Hospitality Services, it kind of just made sense to bring something to campus that is going to better accommodate students.”

Cushman said the flexibility of the food truck will allow StrEat to explore different food and location options. He said the truck will have specific locations, which will be announced at a later date, Monday through Thursday. On Friday, the truck will venture out to other areas of campus, which will be announced via Hospitality Services Twitter and Facebook.

The StrEat Food Truck was a big hit!

The StrEat Food Truck was a big hit!

Kirk Rodriguez, director of Hospitality Services, said there are many places on campus they would like to have food services in, but cannot logistically make it work. Rodriguez said they worked with various student groups on campus to determine if the food truck was something that would be successful.

“This gives us an opportunity to go to the student,” Rodriguez said. ” Yet again, one of the things we’ve often said is we go toward, or go to where the students are gathered. And so this is a great opportunity that allows us to do that.”

During the ribbon cutting event, StrEat served various food samples including chicken tacos and Monte Cristo sandwiches. These will be some staples at the StrEat Food Truck. The rest of the menu will change monthly.

The Monte Cristo sandwiches were a crowd pleaser.

The Monte Cristo sandwiches were a crowd pleaser.

Kory Tillery, a graduate student, tried the chicken taco and Capresi Monte Cristo. He said both dishes were excellent.

“I think a lot of students come from, like, towns like Austin, where these kind of food trucks are everywhere,” Tillery said. “And it’s just kind of an easy way to get some really good food and it’s a good, like, social gathering kind of place. I think it’ll be something Tech students will be into.”

The StrEat Food Truck will accept all dining plans, as well as debit/credit cards and cash.

Look for the StrEat Food Truck on campus this fall.

About Sarah Self-Walbrick

Graduate Executive Director — Mass Communication Graduate Student, Class of 2017
Sarah, a Lubbock native, has two bachelor of art degrees in electronic media and communication and journalism, and is pursuing a master's in mass communications. She loves Texas, her husband and dog, and good storytelling.