Food trucks have become very popular in Louisiana over the past few years. Many of the food trucks have come and gone for many reasons. Mrs. Anita Thomas, Munchies Lunchbox Express has been in operation for about 4 years.
Anita Thomas is the owner and operator of Munchies Lunchbox Express. Anita grew up with her mom and grandmother cooking Creole food in the home. Creole Cooking became her speciality as she learned more and more about cooking.
One of the questions I asked her was why a food truck? She mentioned that the overhead for restaurants was so expensive. A food truck seemed like the better route to take with her starting out. A restaurant is stationary, in one location. Whereas a food truck is mobile and you can change your location as often as you would like.
The biggest challenge with a food truck is that it is more work. You have to shop for the items yourself whereas in a restaurant the items are shipped to you. Timing is key, you have to time out everything; how long to shop, how long does each item take to cook.
Food trucks also have stipulations. A food truck can not run 24/7. They can only open during certain hours. In addition, the food has to be transported back and forth. No food can remain in the food truck overnight.
Their menu offers two new items per week. Munchies top 3 items are the Fried Rib Plate, the Combo plate and Catfish on the Bayou. Below is a list of all the items that were on the menu for that particular week.
My mom accompanied me to this interview. I knew that there was no way I could eat all this good food alone. We tried the Combination Plate first. This plate includes the Fried Ribs over french fries, Fried Ravioli and the Catfish on the Bayou. One word Amazing! A lot of food for one person, but a good portion if you want to share. In addition, it gives you the opportunity to try a few different items.
The Fried Ravioli was stuffed with shrimp and lobster topped with a spinach cream sauce. So good. Nice and hot, fried a golden brown. The sauce on top complimented the Ravioli nicely. The spinach sauce was delicious.
The Fried Ribs were served over French fries and drizzled with a homemade BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce was light and not as thick as a traditional BBQ sauce. The sauce had a good taste to it. I love that the BBQ sauce didn’t overpower the ribs. The ribs were the star. Seasoned well and tender. The fries were just ok. In my opinion, it wasn’t really necessary but I get the concept.
The Catfish on the Bayou was a great dish. Catfish is one of my favorite. The Catfish was season, fried and was served over a bed of angel hair pasta in a creamy sauce. The crust was similar to that of a panko breading. A crunchy batter, the fish was seasoned well. The fish was topped with a cream sauce that included shrimp and sausage. So good.
For dessert, we tried the Fried Strawberry Shortcake. So good. She takes a strawberry shortcake fries it golden brown, topped with powdered sugar and drizzled with vanilla cream sauce. Delicious. I have never tried a fried strawberry shortcake. We ate those as a kid. She took me back to childhood with this dessert. Very good. I would definitely eat this again.
Below is two of her new menu items. To the left is “THE ONE”, which is a Po-boy with a burger patty, bacon, ham, onions, lettuce, tomatoes. We did not try THE ONE, but it looked great.
To the right below is the Fried Caramel Oreo topped with powered sugar and drizzled with Caramel.
Pictured below is Anthony. He is her right hand during the week on the Food Truck. During my time in the food truck with them, I will say they worked efficiently and effectively. Teamwork makes the dream work. That was definitely exemplified during their service times.
She also has the help and support of her husband and family. Her son is a big help in the area of Photography. In addition, her daughter is going to school for Culinary Arts. Which i thought was just awesome, they will continue to be a force to contend with in the Food Truck circle. Having the support of family means everything.
My only two suggestion for Mrs. Anita during her weekly service time would be to possibly to set up a few benches with umbrellas for the customers to have to sit. As well as a sign for where the customers can park. Anyone new coming for the first time would not know where to park.
Mrs. Anita also runs a successful catering business that is not limited to your traditional meals for everyday occasions and even weddings. She strives to give the Bride and Groom whatever they would like when it comes to their meal choices. Her explanation is she’s like Burger King, the bride and groom can have it their way. Over the years she has noticed that the couples are less traditional than they were before. She gave credit during her interview to her help. She has a fully staffed team who helps her out for the big events.
With the Holidays coming up she will be offering many speciality items like Turkey Rolls, Roast, Ham, etc. Be sure to check her out. Visit Anita’s website Munchieslunchboxexpress.com .
During the week, Munchies serves 3 times a week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from
10 am – 4 pm or until they are completely sold out. The location is 1801 N. St. Antoine Street, Lafayette, LA. They do take call in orders. For more information, like Munchies Lunchbox on Facebook or follow on Instagram.
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