BUFFALO, N.Y. — As chilly winter weather begins to descend on Buffalo, it's becoming more apparent that operating a food truck is a losing proposition.

What You Need To Know

  • The Flaming Fish held a soft opening Wednesday for its new brick-and-mortar location on Main Street
  • The restaurant has been a popular food truck around Buffalo for six years
  • Co-owners Deanna and Shonell Johnson, say it's been a dream to open a restaurant
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"We normally put the truck down mid-December through the beginning of March," says Deanna Johnson, co-owner of the Flaming Fish food truck. "We said this would be the perfect time to transition."

That transition is The Flaming Fish going from food truck to fully-equipped restaurant. The Johnson family opened its doors Wednesday for a soft opening on Main Street. The Flaming Fish has been a successful food truck for six years, but a good location was too much to pass up.

"Another person was interested," says Deanna. "We were like ‘no. We’ll take it. Tell that person they’re going to have to keep on on their journey.’ We loved the feel, we loved the look, we loved the vibe that we were getting from the beginning."

"We always wanted a place downtown," says Shonell Johnson, Deanna's husband and co-owner of the restaurant. "When we saw this, we felt like it was an opportunity for us."

Deanna says the restaurant's approach will be the same as that of the food truck - serve family recipes that have been perfected in her home.

"In our family, we have a pescetarian and we have a vegetarian," she says. "Cooking at home, it was literally like ‘okay.’ One version for the carnivores in the house, one version for the seafood-eater, and one version for the really picky eater who doesn’t really like anything."