A brew-tiful relationship: How food trucks and breweries thrive in Anchorage

Inside his royal blue food truck on a recent Saturday, Randy Bernosky took an order for a sandwich called “The Pig Pen.” It’s massive with smoked pork, bacon, coleslaw, pepper jack cheese, arugula, and chipotle BBQ sauce. It’s not easy to eat and Bernosky said that’s the point.

“It’s a messy sandwich, and you just got to get primal with it,” he said as he pulled the sandwich off the grill. “You just embrace it, eat with your fingers, and don’t feel bad about it.”

Bernosky and his wife Holly own The Hungry Deckhand, an Anchorage-based food truck known for its enormous grilled sandwiches. They started in 2021, and Girdwood Brewing is one of their frequent spots.

Food trucks and breweries have a special bond, Bernosky said.

“It’s kind of a symbiotic kind of relationship there. Everybody works really hard to produce a really good product of whatever it is that they’re doing. And so to help each other out, and create those opportunities for small businesses is pretty awesome. (I’m) pretty fortunate and thankful for that,” he said.

The Hungry Deckhand’s schedule rotates through breweries across the municipality – from Eagle River to Girdwood. You can also find the truck, which is open year-round, at various events.

Breweries often lack full kitchens but can serve beer, while food trucks offer meals but can’t sell alcohol. When you combine the two, both say it creates a brew-tiful relationship. Brewery owners say the food encourages customers to stay longer and order more beer. For the food trucks, breweries are one of the most lucrative spots to park, because they’re sometimes the only food choice and often don’t pay for the space.

The Hungry Deckhand is known for being at Girdwood Brewing on a regular basis, and that consistency has helped cement friendships with the brewery’s customers. Bernosky says he’s built a community through his truck.

“You get to know people through the window and their lives, and you know they come back and whatever the case, you kind of develop those relationships. So really community based, and kind of just feels like one big family,” Bernosky said.

Girdwood Brewing is the only brewery in the ski-town of about 2,500 residents roughly 45 minutes south of Anchorage.

Co-owner and brew engineer Rory Marenco said food trucks like The Hungry Deckhand are key to the success of his business. When the brewery first opened in 2017, there weren’t nearly as many food trucks in Anchorage, he said. But now, they host at least one a day.

Marenco said the relationship is a no-brainer.

“If we bring the food truck in, we’re very family friendly. They show up, they’re going to want some food after they have a beer. That definitely benefits the experience,” Marenco said.

During Girdwood Brewing’s summer season, which runs Memorial Day through Labor Day, they’ll have two trucks daily. In the off season, they have one truck on weekdays, and two on weekends. Trucks are charged a $10 fee which helps cover electricity, and give meals to working employees.

There are dozens of food trucks in the Anchorage area specializing in a diverse variety of foods— like piroshkis, papaya salad, and of course reindeer-sausage hot dogs.

Marenco is in charge of scheduling food trucks and says he aims to bring in a diverse selection.

“In my mind, if you just have the same beers and the same foods day in day out, it gets kind of boring and mundane,” he said. “Diversity is the spice of life.”

Another co-owner, Josh Hegna says the most popular question is: “what food trucks will be there today?”

“It’s a very important part of your selection process when you’re deciding where to go to have a beer or beverage,” he said.

In the brewery’s rotation is Mochileros Street Food, which sells Guatemalan-inspired dishes.

Ana Parker owns the truck with her husband, Whitney. The couple loves to cook together, and operating a food truck gives them the opportunity to do just that.

Ana is from Guatemala, and learned to cook from her grandma, aunt, and mother. Incorporating those flavors into her cooking, she said, makes her feel like she’s back at home.

“I want people to feel it too,” she said. “We put all our effort and all our love, passion. You know, and I feel like every food truck has their own story. But at the end, they want to give you some piece of their heart, or some piece of who they are. And sometimes, through the food, you can win so many hearts.”

Mochileros has a consistent schedule: The truck’s at Onsite Brewing in Midtown each Wednesday, Double Shovel Cider Company in Taku on Thursdays and Fridays, and Girdwood Brewing some weekends.

Sometimes, Mochileros is the only food truck at a brewery or event, while other times, there are multiple. The Parker’s don’t see it as competition. Whitey says it’s good for business if customers have options.

“It creates that diversity, because not everybody is going to want a taco. You know, sometimes somebody’s in the mood for, like, a hot dog or pizza or chicken wings,” he said.

Parking at breweries introduces new customers to their food– and similarly, their regulars to new breweries. Mochileros has been awarded repeatedly for being among the top food trucks in the state.

Several food trucks run Wednesday through Saturday, and the weekdays are some of the busiest for Mountain Pies, a food truck specializing in pizza and wings.

Each Thursday, owner Megan Kauffman parks at Turnagain Brewing off King St. in South Anchorage. She opened Mountain Pies in 2019, she said, after noticing there weren’t any trucks specializing in pizza.

“I was looking around, I said, ‘You know what? It’s really cool, the food and the beer together.’ And I was like, ‘Well, you have to have pizza, pizza and beer,’” Kauffman said.

There are a few reasons Mountain Pies isn’t a brick-and-mortar restaurant, she said. Being on wheels allows her to travel around the state and attend different events, and restaurants have more overhead responsibilities. Kauffman is a one-woman show, with the exception of close friends who occasionally donate their time.

Her workdays are long, she said, but it doesn’t always feel that way.

“Dealing with the cool people, it makes it really not seem like work,” Kauffman said.

Mountain Pies is closed November through March.

Along with breweries, Kauffman often serves at business offices around town, and she doesn’t get charged for parking at any of the locations.

Mary Rosenzweig, owner of Turnagain Brewing, doesn’t charge a fee for food trucks. Like the owners of the brewery in Girdwood, she sees it as mutually beneficial. She said the brewery is a community center, fostered by food trucks.

“There is a lot of disagreement out there, I hear it in here,” Rosenzweig said. “But the nice thing is, they’re still coming back with each other. You can have a disagreement over a beer or a pie, and it’ll all be okay.”