Food truck sets up semi-permanent location in Lower Burrell

You can get a taste of Southern California in the parking lot of a Lower Burrell car dealership, where a city native has been serving beach-style Mexican food out of a food truck four days a week for the past two months.

The Gripz food truck parks at Forza Motorcars on Leechburg Road during the afternoon Tuesdays through Saturdays.

The food truck business is co-owned by John Booth, 31, a Lower Burrell native, and Wilmington, N.C., native Michael Church. Shrimp tacos are the top seller along with fish tacos, quesadillas and pork sandwiches.

Booth, a 2007 Burrell graduate who went on to graduate from the prestigious French Culinary Institute in New York, chose the dealership lot because it’s owned by friends.

Booth said he ran a food truck on the beach in Wilmington, N.C., for seven years.

“This is where I picked up the cuisine,” Booth said of the Mexican food fused with American beach fare, adding that Gripz is SoCal slang meaning fully loaded.

Lower Burrell Councilman Chris Fabry is a fan.

“Everything I’ve had has been incredibly fresh,” he said.

In a time with few new businesses opening in the city, Fabry said he is happy to see a food truck park at a semi-permanent location.

“People from neighboring communities will come to Lower Burrell to visit the taco truck and potentially shop at other area businesses,” Fabry said.

Booth said operating a food truck rather than working in a restaurant is more appealing to him at the moment. The truck offers freedom to work in different environments. Plus, business has been better and safer as a mobile kitchen during the pandemic. The rest of the restaurant industry has been reeling from lockdowns and state-imposed seating restrictions.

“I tried to get in the food truck niche because there isn’t that much Mexican food around here, and my food is completely different,” said Booth, who is based in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.