Up The Crick launches ‘Good Eats’ food truck
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Up The Crick kicked off the Memorial Day weekend with their first annual Jammin' Up The Crick, featuring music from Bubby and Swales, the Y-Trap String Band and the Clark McLane Band, and serving as a debut for the Waterville business' new food truck, Good Eats Up The Crick.
"We've been open for five years as a small business, and we've done our Makers Markets every summer, which is the second Sunday of June through October," owner Erika Morgan said.
"We do five of them a year, and they consist of tons of artists, a food truck, a brewery, and live music, all from the local area," she continued.
But, always looking to keep things fresh, Morgan wanted to add some new elements.
"I acquired the food trailer in 2023, so I wanted to start implementing it this year," she said.
"We're still having other food trucks come in for the Makers Market, but for this event, I worked with Clark McLane to organize the three bands that performed," Morgan continued.
Though the truck consists of what she calls a "simple" menu, Morgan touts the fact that all offerings are made with a local product also featured in the store.
"Our fresh cut fries are cooked with Susquehanna Mills sunflower oil, and we sell his bottles of oil inside of our store on a daily basis," she said.
The menu Saturday included tacos made with locally raised grass fed beef, which is also sold in the store.
"The crunchy slaw on top of the taco features our marvelous poppy seed dressing that we sell in a bottle, and then on top of the taco, has a spicy mayo sauce, which has our Jesse's Kickin' wing sauce in it, so everything on the menu features products that are inside of our store," she said.
Morgan plans to keep the menu ever evolving, with each new addition using ingredients from within the store.
"There's approximately 100 different small businesses that sell things here, and people come in and ask, what would be a good way to use this mustard or this poppy seed dressing," she explained.
"I love food, so we thought, why not get a food truck and we'll make pasta salad that features the cheese and the smoky and sultry dressing and the vinegars that we sell," Morgan continued.
The truck will be based at Up The Crick and will be open for special events and holidays, such as the Fourth of July, Labor Day weekend and the opening of fish and hunting seasons, according to Morgan.
"We've partnered with Grovedale Winery, and inside of the store, we have the wine tasting bar, so we're going to start hosting ticketed events that will be a food and wine pairing," she said.
"We'll have a bonfire going, some music and you'd be sitting out in the grass and we would serve you five different wine tastings paired with different food options," Morgan explained.
"So kind of like a farm to table style of an outdoor dinner, but you're getting the wine paired in there as well. It's something unique we can bring to the area because of what we feature in our store," she said.
The winery also features wine slushies, with a lemonade flavor making its debut this summer.
"We're just glad that this is a place where families can come hang out and grab a bite to eat, and we're dog pet friendly," Morgan added.
Morgan stressed that Up The Crick is well situated for anyone enjoying all the outdoor options in Waterville.
"We leave this tent up all summer long, so if you get done riding the rail trail, then you can sit here and drink your slushy or open some cheese or whatever you wish to do, and just enjoy this beautiful view," she said.