By Debora Almeida, News Correspondent
Students looking for a nighttime snack will now have more on-campus options as a fleet of late-night food trucks cruised to the Northeastern area earlier this month.
Along with being able to ride the late-night T, students can expect to see some new nighttime munching options from a variety of food trucks such as BBQ Lamb Brothers, Bon Me, Chicken and Rice Guys, Cookie Monstah, Frozen Hoagies, Meng’s Kitchen, Mediterranean Home Cooking, Stoked Pizza, Tea Station and The Bacon Truck. The last four trucks are also brand new to Boston.
“It’s a pilot program,” Toirm Miller, co-owner of Stoked Wood Fire Pizza, said. He explained that the food truck operation time was extended in conjunction with the late night T service.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s late-night task force launched their new pilot program for late-night food trucks on April 1. At three locations, a select group of food trucks will stay open an extra hour until midnight.
“I think this new mayor just gets it. I’ve used the 2 a.m. T and I’ll try to stop by the midnight trucks too. This is a city of college students, so it makes sense to cater to us,” Valerie O’Rourke, a freshman health sciences major, said.
One of those locations happens to be at Northeastern. Students can expect to see the new food trucks parked on Opera Place (next to Speare Hall) until midnight.
“We’re excited to be here,” Miller said of his truck serving the Northeastern crowd. “We see it as a great opportunity.”
The other two locations are the Morse Auditorium at Boston University and in front of the Boston Public Library at Copley Square. According to a City of Boston press release, these locations were chosen due to the amount of foot traffic and public safety concerns.
“Food truck owners and customers have been asking for later hours for food trucks, and we’ve been listening,” Walsh told the Boston Globe. “We’ll be looking at this pilot to see if it’s something we can expand to more sites.”
This program is put on by the Office of Food Initiatives. The department’s purpose is to expand and promote Boston’s food industry. The ultimate goal is to make Boston one of the country’s finest food cities.
While few trucks stay open all year round, many trucks will be open starting April 1. The Jakuj family is new on the block, but along with Miller’s pizza truck they’re here to stay.
There are six other new food trucks around Boston this season. These include: Chicken and Rice Guys #3, Evan’s NY-Style Deli, Lillian’s Smokin’ Rack BBQ, Moyzilla, Tenoch Mexican, and Zo on the Go.
A few weeks ago, Walsh encouraged students and Boston residents to ride the T as incentive for the program to last more than a year and the same goes for the food trucks.
“I think that more options during the day would be great but, I feel like the late night crowd has a tendency to be very loyal to the places that they already go to,” Carrie Brown, freshman political science major, said.
