Williamson's Best: Food Trucks See Post-Pandemic Success Despite Familiar Challenges

Years after the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the food service industry, Williamson County food trucks are finding success while navigating familiar challenges.

Dallas Shaw first opened Hoss’ Loaded Burgers food truck in Nashville in 2011, expanding to two trucks and then opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Nolensville from 2019-2023 before reverting the business to a single food truck operating across Middle Tennessee.

“After the pandemic, sales just never got back up to where they were before,” Shaw said. “Now I'm just doing the food truck, and it's great. I'm working less and making more, so it's ideal.”

Shaw, who served as the president of the Nashville Food Truck Association from 2015-2017, said that food and fuel costs remain the biggest challenges to operating food trucks, especially with those costs rising in recent months.

In 2026, operating costs go beyond cooking supplies and equipment, as seen with Shaw’s investment in technology like SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service to ensure that point-of-sale systems are functioning and reliable in an increasingly digital world.

Shaw estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the loss of about 30 percent of the food trucks that were operating at the time, but said that those that survived, or restaurants that successfully adapted to a food truck model, are in high demand as festivals, parties and general business and tourism have returned post-pandemic.

Franklin’s oldest operating food truck, Soul Smooth Soul Food, began in 1980, with owners Frederick and Mary Curll first cooking with skillets before installing deep fryers.

What started as a weekend job for Curll, who drives big rig trucks, has grown into a long-lasting business and part of a culinary trend and growing industry.

“I thought it'd be over in about five years,” Frederick Curll said.

“Every year started getting better, and you see more people like going to festivals, and they were buying trucks, and people started selling out of them, and it just got big — bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Now business has expanded to include block parties and family reunions.

“It was kind of surprising because usually the family all bring a dish out. Now they don't want to cook no more, so they just invite a food truck out to cook and have fun.”

The North Arrow Cafe has served coffee in downtown Franklin for about three years, with its origin as an e-commerce coffee brand, North Arrow Coffee Company.

Co-founder Rob Mitterando, a U.S.  Marine Corps veteran who centers the business around his Christian faith, said that the food truck model made sense due to its lower barrier of entry into what can be a challenging industry and market.

“I had assumed that we would hit a break even out the gate, thought that it was going to be the coolest thing since sliced bread, and we'd have a line within a week and stuff like that, and that just never happened,” Mitterando said. 

Despite the challenges, Mitterando said that he’s optimistic about the opportunities for food trucks as Williamson County continues to grow and evolve.

“Franklin's going to continue to grow and that it's going to become more of a city and less of a town as time marches on. I think that for those of us who are operating food trucks now that paints a really good picture in the future, even if we're in that squeeze today,” he said.

While there’s undoubtedly competition, community is also present among food truck vendors. 

Shaw said that community support can be seen in recommending other food trucks for events, trucks offering to let someone borrow a piece of equipment when a fryer breaks.

Mitterando said that building relationships with other food trucks and businesses have been beneficial, even sharing a parking lot with another food truck, Made From The Land.

“When one of us benefits, we all benefit because it helps the community as a whole,” Shaw said. “The customers see that we get along. I think customers can see that and appreciate it. They want to be a part of that, and they want to help see a community like that succeed.”