You'll have to wait a little longer to try it though. After a slight delay, Karen and Danny Webb of Eaton plan to roll out Menehune Tiki Bus on May 24.
Food will be prepared and sold on the lower half of the 1981 Bristol Double Decker Bus that Danny Webb bought a year ago in Spirit Lake, Iowa, where it had been used as a party bus.
"The upper level is going to have seating for 26 and be decorated in a tiki motif," he said. "It is going to be air-conditioned for summer."
This means no hunting for a trashcan or other surface to use as a table.
"Now, you have an armload of food. Where do you go?" he said.
The menu
The food sounds killer.
Options include King Kamehameha Coconut Shrimp, the Big Kahuna Burger, Huli-Huli Chicken Plate, Spam fries (Spam is a big, tasty deal in many parts of Asia), Island Poutine, deep fried mahi-mahi and chips, mahi fish tacos, pineapple salsa, Spam Musubi and Kalua Pork.
Webb said the pork will be baked in banana leaves with Hawaiian spices. It will be sold on its own and in the Kalua Pork Grilled Cheese sandwich. There will be a special passion fruit-based BBQ sauce.
The theme
Rendering of what Menehune Tiki Bus will look like once wrapped in the business' logo. (Source: Danny Webb)
Webb, a Air Force retiree, and his wife were the people behind the small, UFO-themed gourmet hot dog and frozen drink trailer Alien Infusions.
Mr. Webb plans to retire soon from Atlas Air where he is based in Cincinnati.
"We are looking for something we can have for a retirement gig," he said.
The food business seems a good fit. Family members will help, and the couple plan to make a few hires.
Having traveled extensively in Asia and to Hawaii, Webb said the theme also fits. He and his wife love the paranormal.
"We follow UFOs, Bigfoot and ghosts, all the weird things you see on satellite TV," Webb said.
The business is named after Hawaii's mythical Menehune (Men-ee-hoo-nee) people. The dwarf-sized craftspeople are said to have lived on the island state before the Polynesians arrived.
How to find the truck
If things go as planned, Germantown's Paradise Graphix is set to finish wrapping the bus in its logo next week. Interior work will then be tackled.
It will be a quick turnaround to the food truck's debut.
"We going to have three or four days to learn how to cook in it," Webb said.
Based in Huber Heights, the bus is set to appear at Kettering Unplugged at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15 at Delco Park, 1700 Delco Park Drive, Kettering.
It also plans to be at the Yellow Cab Food Truck Rally from 5-10 p.m. on May 20 at The Old Yellow Cab Building, 700 E. Fourth St., as well as the Food Truck Boulevard Bash - Celebrating Fraze's 25 Year Anniversary , from 3 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 11.
Follow the food truck:
WHAT: Menehune Tiki Bus
SOCIAL: Click here to find the truck on Facebook.
WEBSITE: menehunetikibus.com
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