Campus was flooded Wednesday, but it wasn’t because of a typical misery-inducing April shower. Instead, a cascading gush of ooey-gooey Wisconsin cheddar, gouda and gruyere enveloped the 16th Street parking lot and surrounding area. It was far from a tragedy. In fact, the mood was pure elation. Students, faculty and community members happily divulged in the delicious delicacies of the famed Gouda Girls food truck, which arrived for Marquette University Student Government’s second incarnation of Food Truck Wednesday.
Two months ago, YellowBellies, another local food truck, visited for the inaugural event. MUSG and new coordinator Madison Hicks were committed to bringing it back before semester’s end, despite being bogged down with student government transition and elections.
“We wanted to get another one in to establish Food Truck Wednesday,” Hicks said. “Next year, and moving forward, we want to add more, and our plan is to do it at least a once a month, if not twice a month or more.”
Hicks’s goal is to make Food Truck Wednesday a consistent, expected ritual that students will flock to without need of heavy advertising. She also mentioned bringing food trucks on for special events on campus or weekends when the weather is nice.
“I’m really excited about what we can do with this,” Hicks said. “A lot of people were asking for it again, and it’s a nice break from all the busyness.”
Further, Hicks said she hopes the event will include usage of Marquette Cash on the trucks’ products, possible meal swipe exchange and plenty more specials and early bird deals next year.
“There’s nothing affirmed, but there are lots of details under development involving possible Marquette Cash,” she said. “If we get more things involved, Marquette Cash or meal swipes, that will help to get the advertising out.”
Advertising was a difficult aspect of coordinating the second Food Truck Wednesday. It hurt that a small, harsh rainstorm struck minutes before the event was scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. Coupled with Gouda Girls’ lack of side dishes, it was hard to conjure up a deal similar to YellowBellies’ “free fries to the first fifty” early bird special, so the crowd wasn’t as large as last time.
Overall, it’s something Hicks plans to have perfected by the fall.
She said she wants sandwich boards inside or outside the AMU. Sidewalk stickers, posters in residence halls and word of mouth are other forms of advertising Hicks said she wants to promote the event.
One of the students to brave the soggy conditions was A.J. Magoon, a senior in the College of Communication and nephew of the Gouda Girls, Katherine and Tina Tonn.
“I was not aware they would be coming,” Magoon said. “I saw them put it out on Facebook, but I didn’t know they’d be here at all.”
Katherine left an X, O and heart on his personalized box filled with the secret menu item on sale for Marquette students, the Mac. Like the name suggests, it’s their standard triple-cheese grilled cheese imbued with a heaping scoop of creamy homemade mac and cheese. But words simply don’t do that symphonic sandwich justice.
“Everything on the menu has had the same home-style feel,” Magoon said. “From watching them open up the restaurant and seeing them on TV cooking shows, it’s been kind of cool to see them gain fame.”
Magoon was excited both to see his aunts and about the idea of Food Truck Wednesday.
“I hope they keep it going. I’d even be down if it were a weekly thing,” he said.
Brad Degarmo, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, agreed. He went to YellowBellies when they were on campus. He said he was excited to try a fun, new culinary treat that broke up the monotony of on-campus dining. It was his simple and straightforward attitude that really drove him to the truck.
“I wanted lunch, and I knew they were coming,” Degarmo said.
That’s the attitude Hicks said she hopes students will adopt next year and that food trucks will become a normal part of Marquette’s culture.
