Meet Landon. At two years old, he is the youngest food truck owner in the city of Wichita. His new food truck coming soon called Landon’s Crossing has something you won’t find from any other truck. Free food that appeals to people of all food allergies. That’s right, not a single penny is charged to customers. The eclectic menu of tacos, burgers, pizzas, cookies and smoothies all has zero cholesterol, is vegan-free and is made with love. Each dish he makes comes from old food scraps returned at the end of the day.

Here’s the menu:

I was fortunate enough to be invited to his VIP soft opening and walked away with many pros and cons.

I sampled a burger, tacos, pizza and smoothies the afternoon I stopped by. Like with many soft openings I’ve been to, there were some kinks that needed to be worked out. For starters, the burger and taco were a little stale and possibly overcooked. They were very hard and tasted like toy parts from Taiwan. The lettuce was ROCK (or should I say plastic) hard. On a positive note, there was absolutely no grease on either item.

The pizza left a little to the imagination. I ordered a supreme pizza which only came with one piece of pepperoni but I suppose one can’t complain when it’s free. As I was getting ready to take a bite, the owner took half of my pizza and threw it across the room. I realized why he did that; it wasn’t edible at all. I wish some other restaurant owners would take note of it. Always protect your customer.

As for the smoothies, they came in three different sizes and flavors. Of course, I had to order them all to support our local food trucks. Each cup was completely empty. I didn’t want to complain to the owner considering it was all free but I eventually said something. I handed Landon the empty cups and he chucked them across the room. Considering it was his first week of operating, I could tell the frustration of being a startup business owner was starting to weigh heavy on him. Between the lack of tips he received and stress of a new truck, it was truly a mentally tough day.

Aside from the service and the food quality, what I really liked about Landon’s Crossing was his commitment to being green. There was ZERO waste. All of my food was repurposed and recycled into new food for future customers. This was likely the key driver in keeping food cost down and being able to offer a completely free menu to customers. His truck also had no energy use which was great for the environment. Even better news considering April is the month of Earth Day…..the world’s best holiday.

As with any new restaurant or food truck, there were some things to improve. For starters, Landon didn’t speak full English sentences which was OK considering there are many places around town where there’s a language barrier. Secondly, my food order was wrong on several occasions. When I asked for a burger, he gave me a pizza. When I asked for a smoothie, he gave me a taco. When I asked for a Crown and Coke, he ran off laughing like a little baby. The service was really spotty and almost non-existent. Lastly, Fisher-Price was a poor choice as a food supplier. Perhaps using better quality food would easily improve the product.

On the bright side, his attitude was charming with a smile. Despite the bad service and inedible food, the visit was really positive. I always say that good people can overcome a poor product and this Landon kid was a good dude. His goal was to have fun and make sure his customers left with a smile. I’ve been to hundreds and hundreds of places to eat in town and that was the first time I’ve ever been blown kisses by the owner. Not only that but he would walk up to the door, cry, and face plant the glass door with tears as I walked to my car. Now in most cases, that’s super creeper status but for this one time it felt like love.

Would I go again? In a heartbeat.

Happy Dining,

Eddy