Sara Stadem | Editor
If traveling through the town of Lyons on a Wednesday between the hours of 9 am – 1 pm, you would notice the mobile café that is set up in the parking lot at Rosenbauer South Dakota, LLC (Rosenbauer).
Owner of My Place Mobile Café Maxine Montreal has been traveling to locations and providing food to customers from her truck for about seven years now and Rosenbauer is her location on Wednesdays.
Montreal had been looking for something new. She indicated that she had always been involved in the food service industry and having a food truck was something she wanted to try as there weren’t many food trucks around. So, when her and her husband, Ray, found the truck, they decided to give it a go. “Ray gutted it and rebuilt it into what it is today,” Montreal stated.
After the truck was built, Montreal indicated they started looking for bigger businesses that didn’t have food options. “My husband and I were out driving around one day and happened to stumble upon the building (Rosenbauer). We were thinking, what is this place?” She continued, “And that’s how it started with Rosenbauer. We gave it a try and it has worked out well.”
Montreal stays at Rosenbauer long enough to provide breakfast for their break time and then again for lunch. As for the menu, My Place Mobile Café is not a specialty truck like a taco truck but more of comfort food, according to Montreal. “I would consider mine comfort food; burgers and sometimes fries, potato salad, pasta salad, soups, etc.” She continued, “Homemade goulash is a big favorite and I will do hot beef sandwiches, spaghetti and meatballs. I always try to change it up and keep it different.”
For breakfast, customers can look forward to foods such as loaded burritos, sausage and gravy over biscuits and spicy sausage, egg and cheese sliders and more.
My Mobile Truck Café isn’t there just for Rosenbauer employees. Montreal said they will also get customers from the Lyons elevator and sometimes she will have someone stop by who was just driving by.
They can also be found at Gage Brothers in Sioux Falls on Thursdays. Other than that, the truck’s stops are based on when someone calls and asks. “If we have a bigger business, a job site situation, we would be happy to go to the business,” said Montreal. “We also have done auctions and farm sales although that was slow this year due to COVID.”
The Montreal’s live south of Canistota and keeps My Place Mobile Café in Tea. She said, “I drive from my house to Tea to get the truck and go from there. So, sometimes things can depend on weather.”
She encourages anyone to stop that wants to check out their food while they are at Rosenbauer or Gage Brothers. If weather prevents her from making it to her locations, Montreal said that she posts it on her Facebook page. “If things change, I post it early. I’ll have guys texting me at 5:30-6 am to place “to go” orders for Wednesdays. So, I make sure it’s posted early.”
Montreal concluded, “Go like our Facebook page (MY PLACE mobile café), see where we are at and come see us. And if anyone has a place we should be, give us a call!”