Food Truck Fridays Returns To Levittown

LEVITTOWN, NY — Food Truck Fridays organizer Wendy Lantigua could hardly contain herself as she made her video announcement on Monday. After a long winter, the popular event was returning to its home, Good Shepherd Church in Levittown, on Friday.

“I am so excited, I can’t even tell you,” said Lantigua, a Merrick resident, as she toured the Hempstead Turnpike property, updating her 7,200 followers in the Food Truck Fridays Facebook group.

Lantigua, who owns The Happy Pig food truck, organizes the weekly event drawing about eight food trucks that are rotated out as they become available, but long-time regulars include her own signature bubble gum pink truck, Mama’s Cuban Kitchen and Big Black Food Truck. The Levittown-based vegan food truck Green Street, which just won Best Food Truck in Bethpage Federal Credit Union’s Best of Long Island in the Long Island Press, will be back in the line-up, and new to the fold is a truck featuring Greek food.

The event runs from 4 to 8 p.m. each Friday.

Lantigua, a cook who went to culinary school and previously worked in the restaurant business, started the event in 2018 after she lost her job and was trying to figure out her next move in life. She decided to go back to cooking and purchased her truck, which serves vegan comfort food like fried chicken and empanadas, and one day she posed a simple question in a Facebook group for other moms, and the rest was history.

She had seen the success of other events in New York City, and wondered — on the screen — if something similar would be well-received on Long Island. It was not on long before nearly 150 people responded in favor of the idea.

“I said, ‘Oh, this is going to be great,’” Lantigua recalled in an interview with Patch on Friday.
From there, Lantigua approached the church, and she was able to arrange the event so that the vendors make a donation to rent space on the property. The money collected is used to fund different church programs such as its food pantry, Lantigua said.

Her instinct proved correct and the event has ended up becoming very popular with both foodies and people looking for a night out on the town. The first ever Food Truck Fridays in 2018 drew about 800 people.

"There were people in every inch of the church parking lot," she said. "It was insane."

Food Truck Friday’s Facebook group page also took off quickly, gathering 3,000 followers in one week alone. On the page, Lantigua makes regular video updates teasing the events and the goods of participating food vendors. She now has the luxury of refusing membership to the group. For her, it’s not just about gaining numbers, she wants the page to be relevant to people who are able to participate.

And, Food Truck Fridays is not just about food. It also features local small business vendors, which will be set up inside a tent outdoors. Each week organizers also choose a different charity to receive a donation; with the monies or donated items collected at The Happy Pig.

On Friday, it will be Hanna’s Hunger Warriors, which is run by a local Girl Scout of America who is working on her next achievement badge by helping out Island Harvest.

Bouncing off the success of Food Truck Fridays in Levittown, Lantigua branched out by organizing other events like Brunch in Bellmore, which will continue at the train station on Sundays until March 21. And, starting on March 28, there will be Lunch in Levittown from 1 to 5 p.m.

Lantigua said Food Truck Fridays always closes down for the winter, but this year the vendors expressed interest in coming back a little earlier.

She did note that there will be some challenges to Food Truck Fridays this spring as Good Shepherd Church, which experienced a devastating fire on Christmas Day, is still closed, so patrons will not be able to use the bathrooms, but she is working to arrange temporary bathrooms for the property outside.

Lantigua advised anyone thinking about stopping by for a bite Friday to be mindful that there are limited parking spaces, so carpooling is a better travel option. Also, she said that masks or facial coverings are a must and social distancing will be enforced, with anyone not complying being asked to leave.

The event has become a hang-out for people to come with their lawn chairs and TV tables, so that they have a place to sit and eat their meals, but Lantigua said she realizes it might not be as inviting until it warms up.

“I know, it’s too cold; I get it,” she said, “But in the summer, and in the spring, this place will be so great.”

Keeping up with her regular video updates on Friday, Lantigua tipped off her fellow “Food Truck Friday people” to dress warm due to the cold weather.

“Please be aware that it is cold, but we are still going to open up and we are going to have tons of food wonderful food for you,” she said.