Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Collins
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Chef Jesse Rossbach and I (Erica Collins), met 11 years ago working together in the same restaurant in Austin, TX. I was a bartender and he was a chef. It was the beginning of a true industry love story. Long hours of getting slammed at work, then going out afterwards to decompress. That’s where the real conversations happen. We started talking about sharing our own vision one day. We wanted to be our own bosses, and feed people amazing restaurant quality food from a food truck.
Well, talk is talk, and that went on for years. We were always a little apprehensive to just jump right into it. It was much safer to continue working at restaurants and sustain our steady income. Enter Covid. We lost a total of 4 jobs between us almost immediately. It was quite a reality check. What do we do now? Well, no better time than the present to take that leap and do what we’ve been talking about. Luckily we had some money saved, and my brother “knew a guy in Jersey that sold school buses”. So we took a one way flight to Jersey, bought a short bus, and drove it back to Knoxville. Jesse did pretty much all of the renovations. It was truly a labor of love….then hate….then love again. It took about 6 months from start to finish, and there she was. Our beautiful bus. We were in love.
Next, the menu. We started with the idea to just do brunch. We hadn’t heard of anyone else solely serving brunch from a food truck. And who would be crazy enough to poach eggs out of a truck? Us of course! We were stoked, and more importantly we were getting incredible feedback from our guests. But as creative as Chef Jesse is, brunch just wasn’t enough. He was constantly coming up with fun, new ideas. So we branched out to 4 menus: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch and Dinner. We now have over 50 menu items total, and counting. And don’t be bummed if something you love disappears, there’s a good chance we’ll rotate it back onto the menu down the road.
So here we are, living our dream, and it is awesome. We couldn’t be more excited with how it’s going, and we know it’s just going to continue to grow……
It’s now been 4 years since we opened our little bus, and we’ve leveled up! We found some investors and we’ve opened a second truck! This one’s an 18 foot trailer in a permanent location at 1014 Sevier Ave at Southside Garage. The partnership is incredible. We’re open 7 days a week! The hustle is real, and we’re here for it! Sky’s the limit!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Renovating a school bus into a food truck by yourself is incredibly challenging. I can’t tell you how many trips to Ace Hardware and Home Depot we’d have to make in one day. But Chef Jesse worked on it every day for 6 months straight and made it happen!
After 4 years, the biggest challenges now are the winter months. Fortunately we have a permanent location with our second truck at Southside Garage in South Knoxville. So guests can get their food and go eat inside or in the heated igloos outside!
We’ve been impressed with Dia De Foods (Food Truck), but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We’ve both been in the industry our entire lives, so we have a lot of respect and understanding of what it takes. We’re open 7 days a week with various menus to ensure the guests have options. Brunch on Sundays, Dinner Monday through Saturday, and Grab N Go Breakfast Burritos Wednesday through Friday mornings.
We’re most proud of the level of product we serve. Our goal is restaurant quality food from a food truck. Chef Jesse is from New Mexico, so he definitely hones in on the Southwestern style of our food. We have fun with the menu and do more of a Southwestern twist with our dishes.
Our number one seller on our Dinner Menu is the Baja Burrito: A 14” Tortilla with Shrimp, Rice, Chipotle Aioli, Basil, Pickled Cabbage, Pico de Gallo and Avocado.
A close second are the Birria Tacos: 3 Corn Tortillas, Smoked Brisket, Cheddar, Onion, Cilantro, NM Red Chile Sauce and a Side of Dipping Broth.
Honestly though, we have 5 staple dinner entrees and they’re all heavy hitters. We also get creative and have specials throughout the week. It really just depends on what you’re in the mood for, because you can’t go wrong!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Well, we’re not afraid to take risks, but in this situation we kinda didn’t have a choice. Since Covid had hit, and we both were suddenly unemployed, it was pretty much a do or die moment. We finally had the opportunity to fulfill something we’d talked about for years, so we went for it.
Looking back, I don’t think we’d change our approach to this venture. It was a huge learning experience, and we continue to learn every day.
When you take a risk, the reward is that much sweeter.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Diadefoods.com
- Instagram: @dia_de_foods
- Facebook: @dia_de_foods
