Soft-spoken barbecue chef Tim Grow celebrates 10 years of barbecue and food trucking

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• Tim Grow, inspired by larger cities, introduced food trucks to Erie, Pennsylvania 10 years ago.
• Grow’s food truck, Que Abides, became a catalyst for the growth of both the food truck and craft beer industries in Erie.
• The lower startup costs and flexibility of food trucks contributed to a diverse culinary scene in the city.

Tim Grow doesn’t look like a revolutionary. He speaks softly, answers questions thoughtfully and simply. To talk to him, you’d never know he launched an industry — maybe even two or three — or at least brought them to Erie.

“I was doing some traveling in 2014,” Grow said. “I was visiting these big cities with huge food truck scenes. When I got back to Erie, I realized we didn’t have any.”

He had studied business and marketing at John Carroll University in Beachwood, Ohio, and he worked as a manager of a Wing Stop in nearby Cleveland Heights. He knew the restaurant industry pretty well by the time he graduated and bought himself a smoker.

“I was playing around with it,” he said, “cooking the food for families and friends and then friends of friends.”

He knew what he wanted to do, but he didn’t have the money to open a traditional restaurant. During his travels, however, he learned one of the great things about food trucks: Their startup costs are a fraction of brick-and-mortar stores.

“It’s easier to get a food truck going,” he said. “I think it’s like 25 percent of the cost.”

There are other benefits, too. You don’t have a dining room to maintain, or servers or bartenders. They allow for any kind of cuisine, so you can have an instantly diverse dining scene in a couple of years, which is pretty much what happened in Erie. In the 10 years since he parked his bright orange truck in Perry Square next to Ernie’s, which sold hamburgers and hot dogs, dozens of trucks have come on the scene. So many that for years there were food truck festivals, which were like food courts on steroids.

Did he know this food truck thing was going to take off?

“I did not,” Grow said. “It’s pretty cool to see how far it’s come. I thought there would be some growth, but I didn’t expect this.”

He said some of his favorite food trucks include Atacolypse (gourmet tacos.); La Chona Movil (authentic Mexican); Ippa Pizza (Neapolitan style, which you can also find at the Flagship City Food Hall, featuring a full bar, gelato stand and live entertainment); Long Island Lunch Lil Wagon (American); and Waffle Miracle (both sweet and savory versions of waffles).

Would you like a beer with that?

Another industry that escaped the term “cottage” to grow into a bona fide entertainment and dining sector — with great thanks to the food truck community — is craft beer. The business models are similar: Start out on a shoestring and keep practicing and serving and establish a following and pretty soon, if your product is good, people will bring their own chairs to your parking lot.

That’s where Erie Ale Works came in. The brewery started by Jeff McCullor and Steve Anthony, a couple of co-workers needed to give people more of a reason to come than just try their beer. So they invited Grow to bring his truck to said parking lot.

“Tim was the first food truck operator in town who really understood the game,” McCullor said. “He makes great food at a proper price, setting up at the right locations.”

Like his brewery for example. Before COVID-19 hit, it wasn’t unusual for Grow to be parked, squeezed rather, into a side lot next to the Ale Works.

“He was the first food truck to appear at our brewery way back in 2015, even before he had branding on his trailer,” McCullor said. “We’ve become fantastic friends since then and he is always our first call for an event or recommendation.”

McCullor went further, acknowledging that the softspoken Grow was a pioneer who changed Erie with an orange truck named in tribute to Jeff Bridges’ character in cult classic “The Big Lebowski.” In the movie, Bridges’ nickname was “The Dude” and an oft-quoted reference to the movie is “the Dude Abides.” Grow just changed “Dude” to “Que” as shorthand for his menu, most of which is barbecue.

“(Grow is) an asset to our community,” McCullor said. “And if you haven’t eaten his food yet you’re definitely missing out.”

Food trucks, barbecue better with beer

As food trucks and breweries and barbecue places started, it was impossible to miss the synergy they brought to each other.

“(All three) became a cool way to bring people together, like food in general,” Grow said. “It’s everyone’s common ground.”

Grow outgrew his food truck and in 2022 decided to give brick-and-mortar a try. He’s now usually found making food for dining, takeout and catering at his restaurant, at 6900 West Lake Road in Fairview. He hasn’t given up the truck, but he usually saves it for private events rather than trolling the Erie streets looking for hungry crowds to feed.

“It’s a unique and fun dining experience,” he said about food trucking. “Everyone does something different.”

Contact Jennie Geisler at [email protected]. Find her weekly newsletter at https://profile.goerie.com/newsletters/erielicious/.