Wanderlunch, new food truck, now open in parking lot of former Bangor Kmart

The Wanderlunch food truck, parked at a musical festival in New York in the summer of 2016. Photo courtesy Wanderlunch.

Motorists around the Bangor Mall area last week may have noticed a new addition to Hogan Road — a new food truck has set up shop in the parking lot of the recently closed Kmart.

Wanderlunch, owned and operated by Old Town resident Tim Taylor, began serving up lobster rolls, hand cut French fries, tempura avocado and breakfast sandwiches last week. Taylor, a Connecticut native who has lived in the Bangor area since moving here to attend the University of Maine in 2002, began serving up on-the-go food in 2013, while spending the summer going to music festivals across the Northeast with friends who were selling crafts at those festivals.

“I set up a little grill next to their booth and started making burgers and selling them. We very quickly sold out of everything,” said Taylor, who also previously ran Kingman’s, a now-closed bar in Old Town, and the Rage Bus, a party bus in the Orono-Old Town area. “Eventually we expanded and got proper equipment and needed to up our game from just an easy-up tent… we found this food truck on Craigslist in 2015, remodeled it and customized it, and here we are.”

Wanderlunch, staffed by Taylor and several others sold food at summer music festivals in 2015 and 2016, and over this past winter, Taylor took the truck to New Orleans — though he found the food truck climate there less than hospitable. He returned to Maine with the intention of setting up in the Kmart parking lot, where other food trucks, including the now-defunct Cielos and Schnitzel’s, have set up during previously summer and fall seasons.

“It has a history as a place where there are food trucks, and it’s highly visible from the road, so we knew that was the spot,” said Taylor.

Wanderlunch’s avocado fries. Photo courtesy Wanderlunch.

Wanderlunch’s menu of simple, handheld food features several signature dishes: their avocado fries (sliced avocado, dipped in tempura batter and fried, served with sriracha mayo) and their sourdough patty melts (grilled ground beef patties, topped with melted cheese and served on fresh sourdough bread). Hand-cut French fries, tempura asparagus, an array of breakfast sandwiches, and a lobster roll stuffed with fresh Maine lobster round out the menu.

Wanderlunch will serve food from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays in the parking lot of Kmart and Hands of Hope, off Hogan Road in Bangor. Operating hours are subject to inclement weather (such as today, Monday, March 27); check the Wanderlunch Facebook page for updates.

 

 

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.