SVM_Business Journal - Summer 2023

BY CODY CUTTER | SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

The smells of fresh-cooked food drifting through the air, the sound of humming generators, the sight of people breaking out in smiles of delicious delight — the mobile food business keeps our senses wheeling.

While the idea of peddling food on wheels isn’t new — dating back in the U.S. to the 19th century — the industry has been picking up speed lately. According to government reports, the number of food trucks has more than doubled in recent years, with revenues nearing $3 billion, and they’re not likely to slow down anytime soon. The mobile food business has become an increasingly powerful vehicle for economic growth across the nation, and the Sauk Valley is no different.

In Rock Falls, Food Truck Fridays at the RB&W District riverfront park has been a popular attraction once a month during the past few summers, with vendors serving up a variety of foods and drinks accompanied by live music — but that’s about to change.

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Foodies needn’t worry though. They’ll still be able to walk up and walk away with a bite to eat while enjoying some tunes, but now they’ll be able to do it on a different day. Rock Falls’ tourism department, which operates the event, has switched gears and turned Food Truck Fridays into Eats ‘N’ Beats at The District.

The new name won’t change what the event is about — tastes and tunes — but now it will be on Saturdays from June to August at the riverfront park. Eats ‘N’ Beats will run from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on June 30, July 29 and Aug. 11.

Rock Falls Tourism Director Melinda Jones coordinates and books vendors and trucks for the event, and recently heard interest from some about possibly extending the event to include Saturdays.

“Last year we didn’t have many food trucks, so we’re really trying to work on getting more this year,” Jones said. “People come down because we have their favorites, and now we’re able to throw in some new ones.”

Among those that have participated in the past include: A.R.

Chimney Cakes of Lostant; Brent’s Firehouse Coffee from DeWitt, Iowa; Mama Jayne’s Grub of Rock Falls; Sweet Butts Cotton Candy of Deer Grove; and Brito’s Grill, Brother Daryl’s, Chill Shack and Shelby Rae’s Italian Ice and Custard, all of Sterling.

Though the roster of vendors at Eats ‘N’ Beats wasn’t available as of this magazine’s press time, the music lineup has already been determined: Problem Child will play June 30, Drew Cagle and the Reputation on July 29, and The StingRays on Aug. 11.

What was known as Food Truck Fridays began in 2018, with the number of vendors increasing almost every year. Mother Nature didn’t seem to be a fan last year, though, and the weather caused some vendors to pull out and attendees to make other plans. However, with a new identity and the new Saturday date, Jones is optimistic that this year’s will be one of the best ones yet.

“We hope people can come and get the variety of food that they want,” Jones said. “We want the community to come together, be around other people and support our local food trucks.”

The event was one of the first to utilize Rock Falls’ recent riverfront development project, RB&W Park, named for not only the former Russell, Birdsall and Ward nut and bolt factory that once stood on the site, but for the park’s purpose: the Run, Bike and Walk Park.

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Dixon has also invested in riverfront redevelopment efforts, including Heritage Crossing, which opened in 2009 and is where the annual City Market takes place most weeks during the summer. The event, which will run from 5 to 8 p.m. June 7 to 21 and July 12 to Aug. 30, attracts food and drink vendors, including food trucks, as well as arts and craft stands — about 40 to 60 vendors in all. Live bands play each week.

The food portion of the market has grown considerably since it began in 2014, said Dixon Chamber & Main Street events and sponsorship director Jennifer Lang, thanks in part to growth that expanded the event’s boundaries slightly off of River Drive: A portion of Hennepin Avenue up to Commercial Alley, in front of the Chamber and Main Street’s office, was used during the market’s final weeks last year.

“Last year we were exploding and busting at the seams,” Lang said. “We went and got a road closure [request] on Hennepin right after July, so we finished the season real strong, with approximately 60 vendors each week, and we’re looking at maintaining that this year.”

Some food vendors, Lang said, have used outdoor events such as the City Market as stepping stones to expand opera-

tions, or even establish brick-and-mortar locations. One regular Dixon vendor, Luchadores Mexican Grill, is the most recent food truck to have a building to cook food and serve customers; it opened at Leprechaun’s Bar in Harmon with a soft opening May 18.

Sterling, where most of its community events are overseen by Sterling Main Street, also has several community events that welcome food trucks, such as an annual car show, its Hops on the Rock craft beer festival, and pop-up markets throughout downtown. In addition, they’ll be out for the new Rally on the Rock cruise night events on June 2, July 7 and Aug. 11, downtown at the Sterling Marketplace.

Food trucks are also part of one of Main Street’s biggest endeavours, the new Shoppes at Grandon Plaza small business incubator site downtown on Second Avenue, which opened June 7. Two spaces will be set aside for food trucks.

Groharing

“Food trucks definitely play a major role in our events,” Main Street Executive Director Janna Groharing said. “One, we need food. Two, they’re entrepreneurs in our community and small businesses just like any others, they just have mobile storefronts. We’ve got a lot of unique and diverse food offerings in our community, and those food offerings say a lot about the diversity, culture and heritage of our community.” n

Lang

By Cody Cutter Sauk Valley Media

aying for college can really put a squeeze on a person’s finances. It can be tough trying to come up with the cash for a higher education. People can get

But not Madison Wescott. She made the best of a challenging

where she’s studying for a law degree and has earned a spot as an Honors student, Wescott rolled up her sleeves and started her own business — and this is on top of working full time at the Sterling Candlelight Inn. Talk about making a winning case for determination.

The 2021 Rock Falls High School graduate mans the lemon juicer at Main Squeeze, a trailer she pulls in to special events and regular spots throughout the area.

“It was something that I hadn’t seen around the area,” Wescott said. “We have a lot of cool food trucks in the area, but not many do drinks and travel.”

Wescott was inspired by a girl in Kentucky who used the social media app Instagram to promote a similar drink trailer, also to help pay for college.

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Madison Wescott

“I was like, ‘I can do that,’” Wescott said. “We bought a trailer last May, had it renovated inside and got it fully functional and up to the health department codes, and last fall we opened. It’s been pretty awesome. It was more learning by trial and error, and it came together like that.”

The power of social media in action: Main Squeeze owner Madison Wescott also works at Candlelight Inn in Sterling, and it made a Facebook post on its page promoting her drink trailer. “There were like 180 shares and all these likes and everything, and just from that it’s been so huge,” she said. “I never expected it to get this big.”

This isn’t her first time offering ’ade to thirsty customers. Like other kids growing up, Wescott had a lemonade stand. Back then, it was just some Solo cups and a pitcher of pre-made lemonade. These days, the cups are bigger 32 ounces — and the lemonade is made from fresh-squeezed lemons, with some lemon pieces tossed in for added flavor.

“I’ll see little kids hold it, and it’s as big as their face,” Wescott said. “That’s one of the best sights, seeing them carrying it.”

Straight lemonade is Plain Jane — “nothin’ more, nothin’ less,” as the menu reads. But if customers want more, Main Squeeze has it: Popular combinations include Ocean Water,

COMMUNITY IS MORE THAN PART

which is a mix of lemonade and blue raspberry with a splash of coconut flavoring; and Tropical Paradise, a combination of lemonade, mango and peach. Golf lovers will recognize The Arnold, which is a lemonade and tea mix — the drink favored by legendary golfer Arnold Palmer. Other flavors can be combined for a make-your-own concoction — blackberry, blue raspberry, coconut, hibiscus, lavender, mango, peach, pineapple, pomegranate, raspberry, strawberry and watermelon.

If you need a pick-me-up, Main Squeeze also offers 24-oz. energy drinks with a boost of Coconut, Raspberry, Blackberry or Strawberry Energy mixed in. Five are on the menu — Blue Hawaiian, Just Peachy, Sweet Summer, Smash Berry and Flower Power — but customers can also mix and match their favorite flavors to come up with one of their own.

Sugar-free drinks are also available, in blue raspberry, coconut and strawberry.

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Dixon

Morrison

Rock Falls

Sterling

Fulton

Madison’s isn’t the only smiling face you’ll see in the window at Main Squeeze. Her family helps out, too, including parents Brian and Nicol, grandmother Linda Webb (above), and younger brother Dylan. “They’re always there when I need them,” Madison said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without all of their help.”

Korinna.BardierTeam@gmail.com

Wescott hopes that once you have one, you’ll be back for more. Punch cards are available — buy 10 and the 11th one is on her.

Wescott began putting together her plan for Main Squeeze in April, bought the trailer in May and set up for her first event Sept. 24, at the Bugsy’s Arcade Parking Lot Party at Northland Mall in Sterling. She’s also taken the trailer to Morrison, Milledgeville and Lanark; and has future stops lined up for Dixon’s annual Petunia Festival in July and Mendota’s yearly Sweet Corn Festival in August.

“With every event we go to, returning faces are always excited to see, and then the new faces are too,” Wescott said. “It’s super awesome.”

Cranking out cups and cups of drinks, buying supplies, doing the books and planning events isn’t a one-person endeavor, however, and when Wescott was looking for help, she didn’t have to go far. Her parents, Brian and Nicol, grandmother Linda Webb, and younger brother Dylan all lend a hand.

The family also lends a taste bud. When Madison comes up with new flavors, she tries them out at home.

“She’ll make things at home and we’ll tell her whether we like

them or not,” Nicol said. “There was one day we all kind of stuck our noses up in the air and were like, ‘Eww,’ and that made her find a couple of more that were pretty good. I can be really honest with her, and she knows that.”

“They’re always there when I need them,” Madison said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without all of their help, from taking midnight trips to go get ice and water, and driving out of town to get bags of sugar. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that many people don’t know, and it’s a very heavy job, too. With sugar, you may not think about how heavy it is, or even the lemons or the five-gallon jugs of water. It can be labor intensive.”

But with family to help her and satisfied customers to support her, the hard work is paying off.

“The last couple of weeks of school was pretty stressful with finals and everything,” Wescott said. “Now that school is kind of out of the way [this summer], it’s a lot easier. My manager at Candlelight is awesome and gives me whatever time off I need, and focusing on this is the big thing right now.”

As for the next big thing in her life, time will tell. But whatever the challenge, Wescott will be on the case. n

hen Rhett Roethe saw an opportunity to spread his culinary creativeness to more than just his familiar confines of Carroll County, he came up with a way to put his plans in motion — and all he needed was a set of wheels and the open road.

Having cooked myriad meats and garnering accolades from food competitions for nearly 20 years with family and friends, Roethe took on a delivery method that was rarely seen in northern Illinois a decade ago: a food truck. Now, he’ and his business, 3-Headed Monster BBQ, are deans of sorts of the food truck business model that’s growing throughout the area.

BY CODY CUTTER SAUK VALLEY MEDIA MONSTER cont’d to page 11

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Roethe’s food truck — decked out in a log-cabin wrap — makes the rounds at regular stops and at events throughout the area, serving barbecue beef, chicken and pork, and sandwiches, brisket, ribs and other dishes.

Among the stops on his route is the Behrz-Bloomz flower shop at the corner of Locust Street and Lynn Boulevard in Sterling, as well as CVS Pharmacy near the busy intersection of state Route 26 and South Street in Freeport. That may sound like a few miles between stops, but the two locations are about the same driving distance from Roethe’s pits and kitchen in Shannon.

Roethe has appeared regularly in Freeport since 2010 and Sterling since 2015, and has seen a lot during his time in the food truck business — “been there and done that,” he said.

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Rhett Roethe owns 3-Headed Monster BBQ, a Shannon-based food truck and catering business that make the rounds at events, parties and established stops in Freeport, Sterling (seen below) and Fulton. Roethe’s meals on wheels is one of the longest operating food trucks in the area.

CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COM

Derek Schubert of 3-Headed Monster BBQ serves a cup of pork Monster Bites to Stephanie Dusing, owner of BehrzBloomz flower shop in Sterling, one of the truck’s regular stops.

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“When we started in 2010, in northwest Illinois there were no food trucks,” Roethe said. “You had festival trucks, you had carnival trucks, but you did not see daily runners.”

Roethe started 3-Headed Monster in 2009 as a catering business born from his passion for barbecue meat. After about a year, he started to become interested in the idea of a food truck, having learned about them from a fellow barbecuer. There was just one problem: There were no rules of the road. At the time, few counties had codes on the books for food trucks.

“The Carroll County Health Department and us kind of learned together,” Roethe said, and other counties would eventually follow suit. “It’s a lot more regulated today than it was when we first started because they didn’t have food trucks around.”

Pork, brisket and chicken are the main meats on the menu, with pulled pork sandwiches, brisket sandwiches, and Monster Bites (pork chunks) among the most popular items. Roethe piles on nearly a pound of pulled pork and brisket on the buns, while the Monster Bites weigh in about the same. The trio of heaping helpings are menu staples at each of the food truck stops, with the rest of the menu rounded out by about 25 other items offered on a rotating basis, some of which include a pork loin, BBQ chicken thigh sandwich, smoked Italian beef sandwiches, smoked beer brats, and even a combination of Italian

beef on top of a beer brat. Salads, including potato, pea and cole slaw, are offered as sides along with potato chips and Pepsi products; meal deals also are available.

The meat is cooked in Shannon and kept ready to serve on the truck. Stops are posted each week on the 3-Headed Monster Facebook page.

“The quality of the food is our main goal,” Roethe said. “Everyone wants to come knowing that when they order, say, a brisket sandwich that it’s going to taste like the brisket sandwich they had the last time. That’s our No. 1 goal, to make people happy and let them know that they can come back for a third time or a fourth time.”

Payment is cash or Venmo (an online payment app for smartphones that uses a QR-code at the window).

“Our food truck menu, in my eyes, is the coolest food truck menu that you’re going to find,” Roethe said. “We change it every day. We have about 25 to 28 different items that we rotate, so when you come to our truck you’re always going to find something different.”

On top of making the usual rounds in Freeport and Sterling, Roethe recently has established a semi-regular stop at The Dispensary in Fulton, on the corner of state Routes 84 and 136. His calendar is full of special events, birthday and corporate parties, weddings and the occasional fair, so if you want his food truck to swing by, it’s best to book as early as possible, he said.

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CODY CUTTER/ CCUTTER@ SAUKVALLEY. COM

Left: Cup of pork, anyone? These pork Monster Bites are one of 3-Headed BBQ’s most popular menu items. Why choose between Italian beef and a beer brat when you can have both? The Smoky Combo is a rotating menu item.

Bottom: Brisket on a bun anyone? 3-Headed Monster BBQ piles on the meat for its brisket sandwich.

CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COM

Roethe has seen customers stop by for pickups from as far as Dixon, Dubuque and Rockford as well, and has even seen people come by either the truck or the kitchen after hearing from out-of-towners about his food. He also plans to establish an outdoor seating area at his place in Shannon this summer where people can stop by for a meal, listen to music on the stereo and plug into free WiFi.

“We grow by word of mouth and by referrals by the quality of our food,” Roethe said. Words aren’t the only thing on people’s lips that give the business a plug — there are the smiles, too. That’s something Roethe has been used to with his past experience as a youth counselor.

“Serving and cooking food has some of the same effects as counseling, because we’re making people feel good,” Roethe said. “When people enjoy our food, you see the smiles on their faces and the ‘thank you’s for what we do for them, whether it’s to me or the person in the truck serving them, it

brings a smile to our face to see how they enjoy what we are offering.”

As with any business, there’s always competition, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Competition can be healthy for businesses, Roethe said, as long as ven dors are respectful of properties and other businesses. With 13 years experience under his apron, he’s been able to become a mentor of sorts for others who look at a food truck and think, “That’s a neat way to make a buck.” Indeed, more food trucks have popped up in recent years, manned by aspiring entrepreneurs who want to bring their own blend of cuisine to more people, either to make a living or just earn some money on the side.

“The food truck is not going anywhere,” Roethe said — except to more destinations. “It’s only going to grow, what with the overhead costs of brick-and-mortar and changing times. The food truck industry is a way for some to get into the business, and for others to be more mobile and accessible for others to get to places.”

Find 3-Headed Monster BBQ on Facebook to check out where its food truck will be. Carryout also is available at its kitchen at 118 N. Stanton St. in Shannon. Email 3hmbbq@ gmail.com or send a message through Facebook Messenger to place a custom order, arrange for an event, or for more information.