A Richmond food truck run by 3 teens takes off

On a the latest, sunny June afternoon, tables of vendors lined a grassy park at the Richmond Farmers Current market, marketing nearby develop, artisanal crafts and home made foods. 

Amid them: Glory Burger, a Richmond-based mostly food truck that dishes selfmade burgers and fries at weekly farmers marketplaces and exclusive events about Chittenden County. 

But compared with most foodstuff vehicles, Glory Burger is managed and operated totally by a few teens.

Ryan O’Neil, Shea Smith and Adam Weinstein, all 17 years outdated, will be seniors at Mount Mansfield Union Superior Faculty this fall. O’Neil and Weinstein are from Richmond, when Smith hails from Huntington. 

The a few friends all have prior working experience in the food items industry. Smith and Weinstein worked at the now-closed Kitchen Table Bistro, and O’Neil and Smith perform at Stone Corral Brewery in Richmond. The trio said they figured out most of their cooking skills from their mothers and fathers and from performing in their kitchens at dwelling.

They commenced their food stuff truck organization very last summer time, using the Richmond Farmers Marketplace as their dwelling foundation. 

“It was just a tent and a several fold-up tables,” Weinstein claimed of previous year’s set up. “We commenced with no dollars, and we just kind of constructed it from the floor up.” 

Glory Burger is now a fully equipped cafe on wheels. Though not technically a truck, the kitchen can be hitched to a single and towed where ever required.  It’s finish with running h2o and sufficient cooking house. 

The new moveable kitchen area has manufactured them far more arranged and effective, Weinstein claimed.

In Glory Burger’s early times, most of the consumers were being mates from school, Weinstein mentioned. This summer season, they are cooking up food stuff for a considerably wider buyer foundation.

“Being in this article at the farmers marketplace, you produce men and women who just arrive again,” O’Neil reported. “And once you develop that purchaser foundation, you can begin to develop it.”

For the duration of a recent interview at Glory Burger, the public’s enthusiasm for the foodstuff was evident. A passerby yelled, “Your food items is awesome!” O’Neil, Smith and Weinstein responded with a “thanks” and a wave.

Glory Burger’s menu is made up of four different burgers and a few variants of fries, advertised on colorful chalkboard menus. They use neighborhood Vermont beef and highlight the farm of origin on their menu. 

Past summer, producing a revenue was not a massive precedence, in accordance to the trio. This yr, they are generating enough to maintain the procedure. 

“Initially, we have been seriously doing it for the enjoyment of cooking, which was continue to element of the purpose why we do it,” Smith explained. “Not expressing that our earnings is one thing insane, but now we’re at a issue the place we can make plenty of dollars to make it actually well worth it.”

The teenagers also acknowledged that their parents’ assist has a large amount to do with their results. The mom and dad helped encourage the organization when it was just finding off the floor, Smith said. 

The truck’s identify was partially motivated by a loved ones recipe. Smith said his mother tends to make a food she calls the “Glory Bowl,” and when the three good friends were being batting all-around names for their organization, “glory” appeared to stick. “It kinda just grew on us,” Weinstein claimed.

Earlier this month, the Glory Burger group uncovered out that they are finalists for three 7 Daysies awards, presented by the Burlington-based mostly weekly, Seven Times: Best Meals Truck, Greatest Burger (within Chittenden County) and Greatest French Fries.

Given that the teens have only a single a lot more yr of large school, the query looms as to what they will do with the truck appear graduation. 

“That’s a great dilemma,” Smith reported. 

“We’ve place a good deal of time into it and a lot of adore,” Weinstein mentioned. 

“We never want it to sit,” Smith explained. 

They really do not see on their own remaining in the foods sector following substantial university but hope to open their personal companies later in daily life. Even so, they are thankful for the possibility Glory Burger has presented them so much. 

“This is a terrific way to understand how to start out a business enterprise and it’s just enjoyable,” Smith reported. 

O’Neil reported the a few pals have acquired a essential lesson: “There’s no worth in waiting to do a little something we want to do if we can just do it now.”

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