A brand new dining experience has arrived on campus at The University of Alabama. Last week, Bama Dining introduced La Lola Loca, a tex-mex food truck that serves up a variety of dishes from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. outside of Bibb Graves Hall on the Quad.
The location of the food truck provides students and faculty another stop for lunch without having to walk to Fresh Food Company in the Ferguson Center or other dining halls that are too far away for students in a hurry.
“The food truck gives us the opportunity to serve parts of campus that currently do not have a dining location nearby,” Kelsey Faust, marketing director for Bama Dining, said. “We also wanted to offer another convenient dining option for students, faculty and staff on the go with little time to stop for lunch.”
This food truck comes less than a year after an independently-operated food truck, Brothers Street Eats, was kicked off campus on April 13 because of complaints about the noise created by the generator that powered the cooking equipment in the truck.
Faust declined to comment on Brothers Street Eats specifically but did state that La Lola Loca is in accordance with the city law regarding noise disruption.
“La Lola Loca’s generator maxes at a 65 decibel level at 10 feet away and therefore is below the max decibel level of 80-75 db,” Faust said.
Brothers Street Eats’ owners could not comment by the time of publication.
Food trucks are an increasingly popular trend in cities and on college campuses across the nation. La Lola Loca is part of a national chain called Mobi Munch, Inc., Faust said. Identical La Lola Loca trucks can be found at other universities, such as the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee.
La Lola Loca offers a variety of entrées, from the traditional taco to a Cuban-style pulled pork sandwich. In addition, the food truck offers a bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dog and, for dessert, churros with chocolate dipping sauce.
The vibrant truck seems to have been drawing sizeable crowds throughout the day, though students say the line moves quickly.
“The service was pretty good; they were moving pretty quickly. There was a big crowd,” Sam Hardy, a freshman majoring in theater, said. “I got the bacon-wrapped hot dog, which was delicious. It tasted like all the ingredients were fresh.”
Another student, Dick Brackner, had not heard of the truck, but was drawn by the truck’s look.
“The bright colors are what caught me,” he said as he waited for his taco’dilla, a menu item that uses a cheese quesadilla as taco shell.
Prices for the entrées range from $2.75 to $6.75, with chips and salsa or guacamole being extra. There is also an option to make any item vegetarian, which subtracts $1.25 from the price.
Fause said the truck may add other menu items on a seasonable basis, such as soup in the winter.
“Yes, the food truck is here to stay as long as the demand is present, and La Lola Loca plans to be open throughout the school year,” Faust said. “We are continuously looking at additional locations on campus and different service times, such as dinner and late night, based on student and faculty/staff needs. Therefore, we highly suggest for students to follow La Lola Loca on Twitter or Facebook to check the daily location and hours of operation in order to know where Lola is each day.”
www.facebook.com/LalolaLocaBama
Twitter: @Lolaloca_Bama
