The conversation started on a drive home from a wedding.
Chris Bostick and Collin Spradley began discussing their dream of owning a food truck that not only would bring a different cuisine to Tuscaloosa, but also make a difference in people’s lives.
They’re now the owners of Say Cheese, a food truck that serves gourmet grilled cheeses.
“I’m from Houston, and there’s so much diversity there, and with the school here that’s so diverse, we thought, ‘Why isn’t the food diverse?’ ” Bostick said.
Say Cheese is a ministry-based truck that puts a different spin on the average grilled cheese. The truck’s menu is inspired by different parts of the country, from L.A. to Chicago.
Menu items include the Mac and Cheesus, the Aloha, the Professor, the Rolling Tide and the Proof, among others. Bostick describes their entrees as beefed up grilled cheeses.
“We got the Mac and Cheesus and the Professor, and they are so good,” said Bailey Spivey, a junior majoring in public health and a customer at the truck. “The Mac and Cheesus is just one of those soul, comfort, hearty foods. When you just need something just to make you feel good about life, you need the Mac and Cheesus.”
However, behind the unique menu, there is a deeper purpose found in the creation of this business.
“We want it to be a full-blown ministry,” Bostick said. “We just want to be a place where people can come and feel loved and be encouraged.”
The truck has a pay it forward system which begins with an average kiosk. However, instead of asking customers if they would like to tip, it asks customers if they would like to “pay it forward.” Customers can invest any amount they would like to, from $0.50 to $2 or more.
The money the customers donate through the pay it forward system is banked until there is enough money gathered to pay for a customer’s meal. At that point, the next customer receives a free meal.
“15 Meals” is also a system that Say Cheese uses to minister to others.
“Every 15 meals, on our truck we have a freedom bell,” Bostick said. “Every 15 meals, we ring that bell and that means a meal has been saved.”
Every saved meal is recorded and one day out of the month, Say Cheese will make the amount of saved meals recorded, and they take them to people and businesses in the community and provide them with lunch.
On April 17, the employees of Say Cheese traveled all around the Tuscaloosa community and distributed their first 15 meals to people they encountered during their travels.
“To us, everybody should feel loved, so that’s what we are going to do,” Bostick said.
The Say Cheese launch took place on March 30, and in the first two hours the truck brought in around 120 customers and received over 400 likes on their Facebook page.
“My favorite part is, just, their vision behind it and the goal behind it,” Spivey said. “You can never go wrong feeding people before you try to minister to them.”
