Some kids become blood brothers. When they were teenagers, J.J. Frosk and Sam Williams vowed to become bacon business partners.
Frosk and Williams grew up in New Jersey and went to high school together. They were buds who shared common interests, especially when it came to eating bacon. They loved bacon so much that they made a pact to one day start a bacon-themed business together.
Today, the 26-year-olds are owner/operators of The Bacon Truck, one of the most popular food trucks in Boston.
“We grew up loving bacon,” Frosk says. “I think the amount of people who don’t like bacon are in the minority.”
After high school, Frosk and Williams attended different colleges but stayed in touch. Upon graduating and earning degrees, Frosk in political science and Williams in communications, the two renewed their discussion about going into (bacon) business together. So Frosk moved to Boston where Williams went to college and stayed after graduation. The two decided their bacon-themed business plan should be based on an engine and four wheels. The Bacon Truck was born.
“At the time, the food truck scene was very new in Boston,” Frosk says. “There were only a few trucks in the city, and we figured it was a good time to get in.”
Frosk and Williams officially rolled out The Bacon Truck in 2013 with a soft opening. The truck began carving its niche in the local food truck scene in 2013. This year, The Bacon Truck was a sizzling success.
“I anticipate that we will keep growing as a business,” Frosk says.
Bostonians are a health-conscious bunch. Some of the food trucks, with their vegetarian offerings, reflect that, Frosk says. But Bostonians also love bacon.
“It turns out that there’s always going to be a market in Boston for food made with bacon,” Frosk says.
Bacon is a good group unto itself, Frosk contends.
“I think the bacon craze is picking up, but I don’t think it’s a fad,” he says. “It’s going to be a staple of the American diet forever.”
The Bacon Truck’s offerings include The Hangover, a sandwich featuring bacon, bacon scallion hash, cheddar and Havarti cheese, and a fried egg.
“It can cure a hangover, but it can also give you a hangover because it’s a heavy sandwich,” Frosk says. “It’s one of our most popular items.”
The Turkey Avo sandwich, consisting of “truck-roasted” turkey breast, bacon, beefsteak tomatoes, romaine lettuce and chimichurri aioli, is the opposite of The Hangover because it’s light, which makes for the perfect summer sandwich, Frosk says.
The B.L.A.T. sandwich features bacon, romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, beefsteak tomatoes and red Fresno aioli.
The Bacon Truck also serves Deep-Fried Bacon Mac and Cheese Bites (“They are labor-intensive to make, but they are a labor of love,” Frosk says), and Bunch O’Bacon, which is just what is sounds – a bunch of bacon slices. Offerings also include bacon-themed sweets.
The Bacon Truck serves Boston-based Blackstone Street Smokehouse’s thick-cut applewood bacon.
“You can’t just serve the cheapest bacon,” Frosk says. “This is some of the best bacon we have tried.”
Frosk and Williams work six days and well over 40 hours a week. Is Frosk getting sick of bacon?
“People ask me that all of the time and the answer is ‘no,’” he says. “I can’t stop eating it.”
The Bacon Truck is a hit in Boston. In June, Boston Magazine honored it as the best food truck in Boston. For Frosk and Williams, it’s full speed ahead for The Bacon Truck.
“As long as people still like bacon, The Bacon Truck will be there,” Frosk says.
