Food trucks venture to Garage

With more than 200 kinds of canned beer and more on tap, Garage aims to cater to its customers’ diversified tastes.

However, a bar can only go so far without food to serve. Garage, which opened in July, is now remedying that by having a different local food truck or chef come in every day to cook in an indoor food truck.

Owner Jason Evenchik intends to have a rotating schedule of local chefs and food trucks serving food to go along with the selection of alcohol available.

The restaurant and bar had its soft opening of the indoor food truck on Jan. 28 with Mackenzie Hilton, chef at The Tavern and Mercato. Serving sliders with pork belly or beef and vegan mushroom edamame, the night marked Garage’s debut into the restaurant scene.

Justin Coen, general manager of Garage, said the opening was a “smashing success” that garnered attention from local media outlets.

“We were all surprised by how much media attention it actually got,” Coen said.

Matt Summers, a bartender at Garage, said he has high hopes of what Garage will be able to accomplish in the near future after seeing how the first night with Hilton went.

“That was, what I feel like, a good indication of the success we can have here,” Summers said.

Having a rotating schedule of food trucks is meant to provide variety. Last week the bar got a visit from Poi Dog on Friday, Whirly Pig on Saturday and Trevor Budny from Avance on Sunday.

“We really like the idea of having them rotate because it’s always something different,” Coen said.

The chemistry between the food and beer works in favor of both Garage and the trucks and chefs, Coen said.

“It’s an opportunity for them to gain exposure, and it provides us with the food service that we need,” Coen said.

Leading up to the event with Hilton, Coen had been serving his homemade chili, available with or without meat, for customers who needed a bite to eat.

“We thought with the weather, chili would be a nice, easy thing for everybody,” Coen said.

The fact that Garage was what its name implies before its transformation makes it an ideal space to park an indoor food truck and have beer menus resemble owner’s manuals for vehicles. The space is advantageous for other aspects, too.

For one, the space has allowed for installations of games such skee ball, pinball machines and a pool table.

Garage also has five high-definition TVs. Coen said they were useful during playoff games for the Eagles when the place was full.

“When you have a lot of people in a room, the room might get humid whereas this large, open area has a nice climate,” Coen said. “Everybody can breathe and you can move around.”

Cohen said the unpredictable aspect of who the restaurant will feature next works in Garage’s favor

“I like that we here have something for everybody,” Summers said. “If you want to drink cheap beer and hang out for a while and watch the Flyers game, you can. If you want to come in and try some stuff you’ve never had before, you can also do that.”

Albert Hong can be reached at albert.hong@temple.edu.