The Truck Stop

As a food truck owner, Willie Finley has always been less interested in hitting the road than some of his counterparts. For a couple years, he parked in front of the same southside church — until someone stole his truck.

Now Finley, the owner of Willie’s Wings, has started a food truck park where he and other operators can be as permanent as they want. The Truck Stop opened in March at 6315 Kellogg, near the busy intersection of Kellogg and Woodlawn.

“Even though I have a food truck, I see myself — and people kind of treat me — like a brick and mortar (restaurant),” Finley said. “I don’t really go around and chase the money. It’s more, ‘you feel like wings, you guys can come see me wherever I’m parked.’ ”

The Truck Stop is located in a large parking lot that Finley leased from the owner of an adjacent motel. Finley and two or three other trucks are there weekdays — Bongo Fruit Smoothies and Face Stuffers Food Wagon are regulars — while up to nine trucks have set up shop there on weekends. There’s room for as many as 16, with electricity provided. To see the daily lineup, find The Truck Stop: Food Truck Park on Facebook.

Tables and chairs are available for customers and umbrellas are ordered for the summer months. “We’ve been going strong for a month and a half,” Finley said. “The reception has been wonderful.”

Finley found his way into the food business gradually, working a side hustle at a couple restaurants owned by his sister. A youth football coach for over a decade, he also started selling his specialties — wings, fries and fried okra — at games. After being laid off from his regular job and winning the Wingapalooza cookoff two years running, he decided to give the food business a shot full time. His two cookoff winners — apple cider wings and chili cheese wings — are on his menu along with 11 other flavors.

Finley noted that many food truck operators venture into the business with little professional experience in the industry, although they may be great cooks. Now that he’s navigated that path himself, he’s ready to serve as “wing man” for others, so to speak.

“There’s a lot of tribal knowledge that no one really knows in the food truck community,” he said.

The Truck Stop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday–Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Finley may add later hours this summer.

An avowed foodie, Finley has visited large food truck parks in bigger cities and loved the way the trucks seem to contribute to each other’s sales rather than compete for the same customers. “Having other top local trucks in one spot, having the options available of whatever type of food you’re hankering for, it drives up business.”

Finley has also heard about two other food truck parks slated to open in the area, one in the Delano neighborhood and one at McConnell Air Force Base. He’s not worried about the competition either, figuring they’ll just bring more attention to the food truck scene.

“The limelight is really on local, which is a great and amazing thing.”