It was a warm, summerlike week in York County this week, and right on time, food trucks are returning in what has become a hallmark of the summer season.
At least two communities in the county – Wells and Kittery – are bringing the popular mobile eateries back again, with a similar effort in Biddeford looking to get in on the action for the first time this summer.
In Wells, Congdon’s After Dark opened for the season Thursday evening, in the parking lot outside Congdon’s Doughnuts on Route 1.
This is the popular local doughnut shop’s eighth season of hosting food trucks in its parking lot after closing for the day. Officially, the hours are from 4-8 p.m., but a website dedicated to the lot and its trucks promises at least one truck will stay on the lot as late as 9 or 10 p.m.
Adam Leech, who now coordinates the effort every year, said his family has owned the shop since the 1950s. In 2017, his father, Gary Leech, started the concept with only three trucks, including one of his own.
“He thought it would be a good use of the parking lot,” Adam Leech said.
Since then, the concept has taken off. On Thursday, there were 11 food vendors in the lot, with plans for 27 different trucks rotating through the lot in the evenings throughout the summer.
Right now, the trucks will be in the lot every week from Thursday through Sunday until July, when the lot will open daily until Labor Day.
On Thursday, the trucks offered all manner of cuisine, from Vietnamese sandwiches to gourmet grilled cheese to pizza to local craft beers.
Some food trucks came in from out of state, while others came from Portland, Sanford and other local communities.
The crowds were responding. Even between 4 and 5 p.m., described by some vendors as “the early time,” several dozen people, including families, were enjoying the trucks’ wares.
Leech said he’s never tried to get an accurate count of how many diners have come to patronize the trucks, but noted there are about 75 picnic tables to accommodate customers.
“They’re usually well full,” he said.
Food trucks are big business. According to an analysis by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the concept of food trucks gathering en masse in any community was all but nonexistent as recently as 2008.
The change, according to the foundation, started that year with Korean barbeque vendors in Los Angeles selling Mexican-style tacos with Korean-style meat. The popularity of food trucks selling the fusion treats led to entrepreneurs creating food trucks selling other foods.
By 2017, food trucks had mushroomed into an industry with revenues totaling $2.7 billion. The foundation estimated that in that same year, food trucks were active in more than 300 cities nationwide. That includes Portland, which the foundation ranked highly for the number of active trucks or trucks seeking permits.
In York County, Wells is not the only town that is showing signs of interest in mobile cuisine. In Kittery, an annual one-time food truck event is scheduled for June 29, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Old Navy parking lot in the retail outlets.
Great New England Food Truck Festivals is coordinating the event, along with a similar festival in New Hampshire. A website announcing the Kittery event promises more than 40 different vendors, along with music and kid-friendly activities.
And in Biddeford, a permanent food truck park is about to open in an empty lot on Alfred Street within walking distance of downtown. Steve Liautaud, a real estate broker and former restaurateur, has been working on the concept since 2021.
The initial idea was to build the park in the lot, leasing out spaces to food trucks that wanted to set up shop. The concept had a few hurdles, such as the need for new local regulations and establishing permanent utilities for the space, but Liautaud said he now has approval from the city’s planning board, and just needs to finish getting permits.
“We’re looking at a mid-July opening date,” he said.
The park will host as many as four trucks, Liautaud said. He did not indicate whether anyone had rented any spaces yet, but said, “We’ve had a lot of interest.”