Tucked away in Alden is a warehouse cooking up the first course to Western New York’s favorite meals.

"We actually just opened for business February 1," said PJ Azzarella, president of JP Food Trucks.

Since then, JP Food Trucks has been ultimately filling stomachs across Western New York.

  • JP Food Trucks is cooking up WNY’s newest food trucks
  • Alden based company opened February
  • Process can take up to two months,  depending on size

But what goes into making a food truck?

"It's really a six-step process,” Azzarella said.

It all starts with them getting the specs for the six-wheeled restaurant. Then they build a simulator.

"We have built life-sized replicas of the primary equipment that's in a food truck, from refrigerators and freezers to prep tables, and prep steamers and water tanks," Azzarella said.

That's because, much like a recipe, sometimes the measurements don't quite add up.

"What we want to do is avoid any unwanted surprises," Azzarella said.

Once the ingredients are just right, the eatery really starts cooking. Windows are cut, electrical, plumbing are measured out; the entire infrastructure begins to take shape.Eventually the appliances are added.

The total build can take about two months depending on the size. Then it's off to serve the masses at Food Truck Tuesday and other locations across the area.

"It's great to see the number of people who go to Larkinville, we know a lot of operators personally,” Azzarella said. “They know my partner very well because he built a lot of their trucks."

And that man is Jamie Gutek, aka Mr. Food Truck.

"That's fine, I'm cool with that,” Gutek smiled.

Gutek is vice president of JP Food Trucks. He’s new to the company but his resume could be viewed as a buffet.  

"Well over 100 by now," Gutek said of the trucks he’s built.

Besides getting his hands dirty, Gutek loves making dreams a reality.

"Pretty much the joy you see in people's faces when they see their truck for the first time,” Gutek said. “Then, you see them at Larkinville and talk to them and they are having such a good time."

Gutek and Azzarella continue to take on the tasks of designing and building restaurants on wheels, reshaping the take-out food culture one truck at a time.