Best food truck

Mari’s Hella Fat Food

Best Food Truck

BY DANIEL HAND

nyone who visits breweries and bottle shops has seen a food truck or two in the past. It’s actually a common occurrence since most of them do not have kitchens and it’s easier to have a variety of food trucks come to their location. The food truck that has made a mission out of traveling around to breweries and bottle shops throughout North Carolina. Mari’s Hella Fat Food is just one year old has already setup and served food at dozens of breweries and bottle shops since starting. Mari’s is based out of New Bern, but you’ll rarely see them there because they are always on the road to places like Raleigh, Wilmington, Greenville, Surf City and Roxboro. Mari’s thinking is that they never want to be in one place too often, because people have a tendency to get burned out on the same thing over and over. They decided to branch out and travel to a variety of places instead of staying local. The response has been overwhelming with over 125 “5” star reviews on Facebook, not to mention Yelp and Google reviews. They are booked through all of 2019 at this time and is booking for 2020 already. Mari says there are always breweries and bottle shops inquiring about their availability but unfortunately right now they are booking many months out, so last minute booking are next to impossible to do. Why Mari’s Hella Fat Food? Mari is a craft beer junkie and has visited tons of breweries and bottle shops and attended numerous beer festivals, to include The Great American Beer Festival in Denver a couple of times over the years. This resulted in eating delicious food from a variety of food trucks. “I have a passion for food and obviously beer,” she said, “so when we link up with these killer breweries, it’s a match made in heaven.” Mari said she wanted a menu that spoke to everyone. Good food you can eat, and not some theme that focuses on a sole style that would exclude some people. Mari’s Hella Fat Food settled on sliders. Everything is hand made from the hamburgers hand pattied, slow cooked pulled pork, bacon jam and crisp slaw. The only items they say they can’t take credit for are the tots and the buns, though “not for lack of trying.” They were approached by Salty Turtle Beer Co. to come out and serve brunch. What is better than Nutella pancakes or bacon grease biscuits paired with STBC’s Breakfast Stout? A few other places have caught on and now Mari’s has added brunch items to the menu. On top of serving food, Mari’s Hella Fat Food also focuses on giving back and has done so in a variety of ways, such as providing

Afree food during Hurricane Florence to residents of New Bern, Pollocksville and Trenton. Mari’s also gives a portion of all proceeds to a select charity each quarter. The first choice was a nobrainer because the team recently lost family members to Parkinson’s, so they hooked up with Bethany Richards and Pedaling for Parkinson’s The Bike Box Project to help her cause fighting against Parkinson’s disease. The second quarter of 2019 was Eastern North Carolina Stop Human Trafficking and last quarter was the Colonial Capital Humane Society. “Yes we are a business, but it’s important to remember there are those in need and we want to do our part whenever we can”. Mari’s also has given a portion of all proceeds during events when they are supporting a local cause. You can visit Mari’s Hella Fat Food at www.MarisHellaFatFood. com and click on “Events” to see where they will be next.

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2nd -The Tiny Tornado 3rd - McGrady Grill