DeKALB – Normal Road’s closure has eliminated its traffic since August; but since then, students and trucks have been lining up on that street for a different reason.

Wednesday’s Food Truck event had consistently brought students to Normal Road to sample all sorts of cuisines on campus and on wheels.

The regular event has brought tacos, frozen custard and even wood fire pizza to the university. Since Food Truck Wednesday’s final day on Oct. 25, Jennifer Groce, director of community promotion and creator of the event, said students are begging to bring it back.

“For us, we hear students all the time like, ‘oh my gosh, don’t stop, keep going, this is great,’” Groce said. “And staff, I’ve gotten so many emails that say, ‘I absolutely love this event. I really look forward to it,’ and it’s just simple; it’s fun, right?”

While the colder weather has turned down the heat on the event’s continuation for the rest of the semester, local food truck owners and hungry students have reaped its benefits from the start.

Dave Lerner and Sophia Kempe, the married owners of Wild Fries Food Truck, said the turnout each week provided them with over $1,000 in weekly profits just at NIU, as well as needed exposure.

“We just started this business this year, so exposure is obviously No. 1, but we’re big into community, and it’s not just here. It can be a block party,” Lerner said. “You know, we like to see families together. We like to see people come together. We’ve kept our prices at a reasonable amount, that way it’s not over the top for anybody – it’s just fun. We’re having a good time.”

Kempe is a NIU alum, and her father was a former NIU sociology professor for 32 years. She said coming back to NIU came naturally.

“There’s an attachment to Northern,” Kempe said. “We’re very grateful.” 

The food truck has scored popularity for its on-the-go funky french fry creations that come in Chinese take-out containers.

“One, it was a novelty to do something different; but second of all, if people paid attention by the time they got to the bottom of the fries, all the toppings go from top to bottom, so it covers all the fries,” Lerner said.

Lerner said the truck’s most popular item was the “Holy Cow Fries,” french fries covered in brisket and smothered in caramelized onions and barbecue sauce. But in close second place, NIU’s favorite was the “Hot Cheetos Fries,” cheesy fries topped with red fiery Flamin’ Hot Cheetos balls.

Melissa Butts, owner of Sweet Butts Cotton Candy, said she wasn’t as focused on turning a profit by the end of the event, but said Food Truck Wednesday was her opportunity to get the word out about her sweet selection.

“We’re a little bit different,” Butts said. “For us, we did not make a ton of money every week, but we got a ton of connections because we also do fundraisers, we do cakes, we do party favors. We do that until the cookies picked up, and then everybody started trying the cookies.”

Butts’ truck was a front-runner for the confectionery side of Food Truck Wednesdays’ roster, selling homemade cotton candy, freeze dried candy and cookies.

Local restaurants joined the fray later on in the weeks.  DeKalb’s Burritoville food truck, a mobile Burritoville, and Little O’s Frozen Custard truck, the mobile version of Ollie’s Frozen Custard in Sycamore, became regular vendors.

While some businesses made a buck, others were funding larger dreams.

Madison Wescott, a junior psychology major and owner of Main Squeeze, used Food Truck Wednesdays to make a name for herself turning lemons into lemonade and funding her goal of getting into NIU’s College of Law.

“Law school is obviously expensive, and it’s pricey, and I’m paying my way through college,” Wescott said.

Wescott has gotten firsthand experience as a student entrepreneur out of Rock Island. She balances school while collecting the funds she pays for classes with her drinks. Besides just paying for school, every drink goes toward her bigger dream of applying to NIU’s law school. She said Food Truck Wednesday has allowed her to reach her classmates and boost her business’ following.

“Our drinks are bigger, and we’re not like Starbucks, shove it full of ice and a little bit of drink. So that’s one of the things that I try to pride myself on is that you’re getting, like, the most out of what you’re spending,” Wescott said. “And we’ve had people coming back week after week, so obviously they’re OK with the price.”

Businesses have had no fear of competition, but she said the university can expect a new and returning line-up of trucks next fall.

“We probably have a waiting list right now of at least a dozen other food truck companies that have heard about our event that have wanted to get involved,” Groce said. “So that’s fun that we have that interest, but our students have talked to us about things they want to see, so more vegetarian options or vegan options.”

Senior psychology majors Jade King and Lianna Kuo stopped by for the final Food Truck Wednesday and said it did not disappoint. 

“This is my first time,” King said. “Yeah, it was right during my classes, so I wasn’t able to come see it, but I’m not going to class today, so I figured I might as well.”

While they had little time and not enough money to sample every truck, both students were interested in seeing the trucks fill up the street again and hope the event can accommodate more times without making them miss class.

“It’s not like you can get them all the time,” Kuo said. “So maybe just a little bit of a longer time span as well for students who are coming out of their classes a little later in the day.”

Groce intends to make Food Truck Wednesday an annual event, and said a possible return in spring may not be far off.

“We’ll keep an eye on the spring to see if we could possibly do a month end,” Groce said. “But, definitely we’ll be back for the fall, and we’ll do that by the time students arrive at least to the end of October.”