Eatz on the Streetz food truck missed by UMW students

By MEAGHAN MCINTYRE 

Not long after making its first appearance this semester on Campus Walk, the university food truck Eatz on the Street experienced technical difficulties and has since then been out of commission.

“We regret that the truck is now out of service until repairs are completed. We will have it back out and running as soon as possible,” a blurb on the Sodexo website read.

According to Campus Dining Marketing Manager, Rose Benedict, the situation started when one problem was noticed and the issues only expanded from there.  

“We identified one problem initially, then it got fixed,” Benedict said. “During this time, we then identified other problems.”

The length of time that the repairs would take and the amount of time the truck would be unable to operate, increased as more problems were discovered.

“With this whole process, it takes time,” Benedict said. “They have had to go back and rework some of the major systems in the truck. It took a long time just to get the problems evaluated by the service company. Now we are only waiting on the company to do the work.”

The company that is completing the work on the truck is located in Manassas, Virginia and has given the university dining staff an estimate that the repairs should take approximately four to five weeks. Both underclassmen and upperclassmen alike have noticed the missing presence of the food truck on campus.

“So I first ate at it the second week of school, which was the first week of classes,” said freshman Nicholas Jamison. “Then during the third week of school, I never saw it. I assumed it was gone. The fifth week of class I noticed the sign about it on the fourth floor of the University Center that officially confirmed its disappearance.”

To some students, the disappearance of the truck was assumed to just be a change in the dining options.

“I realized I hadn’t seen it in a while and just figured, what with all the other dining option changes, that it wouldn’t be around this semester,” junior English major Emma Cahoon said.

While it is understood that nothing can be done to repair the truck sooner, as the mechanical problems clearly needed to be addressed, the Eatz on the Street truck is missed by students.

There are a variety of reasons, ranging from the dining choices that the truck offered to the convenience that its location on Campus Walk provided members of the Mary Washington community.

“When I ate at the truck it had fantastic chicken tenders and waffle fries,” Jamison said. “I noticed the Underground has chicken tenders with waffles and the U.C. sometimes has waffle fries. Neither of which was as good as to what the truck served. So yes, there are substitutes but they aren’t at the same quality.”  

“I kind of miss the food truck, yeah – I never relied on it as a regular food option, but I liked being able to get fries or whatever right there on campus walk,” said Cahoon. “You can get roughly the same stuff in the UC but it’s not as easy or convenient.”