On Monday afternoon, Gaby Long, owner of A Taste of Bim (613 Third St., Eureka) and its auxiliary food truck, is still recovering from a long day and night of selling chicken curry and jerk wings at Cannifest. "I can't feel my feet," she says with a laugh. But even with a leg brace for her injured ACL, she takes the truck out to events when she can on top of running the restaurant in Old Town. "You have to," she says, "because foot traffic isn't the same as it used to be."
Not much about the restaurant business is the same as when she opened nine years ago. "When life changes, when the environment changes, we have to pivot and just keep going forward ... and collaborate," she says. Her latest pivot is Tasty Hub (1935 Fifth St., Eureka), a combination commissary kitchen and food truck court that officially opened Sept. 6.
Here and there, Long says people had been asking if they could use A Taste of Bim's modest kitchen to make products like sauces or beverages, since commercial facilities are scarce and often booked up around the county. Those fledgling businesses, she says, needed "a foot in the door," as did some of the new food trucks jockeying for both kitchens and regular spots on the street.
Roughly a year and a half ago, Long started looking for a space, though she admits the former Chalet House of Omelettes, a bit of an eyesore while empty, wasn't on her radar at all, despite its highway-adjacent location. She was skeptical until her real estate agent took her inside to see the improvements made for the planned Sip Café. The full kitchen, storage, walk-in refrigerator and prep areas would work for trucks and other food businesses, and the updated dining room would offer indoor seating. The couple dozen parking spots would offer room for patrons and trucks alike, too. So, with the help of North Edge Financing (formerly Arcata Economic Development Corp.), Long bought the building.
"It kills two birds with one stone; it provides a commissary kitchen for folks who need it and ... a prominent location," says Long, who likes the idea of a food truck court. A steady spot is always important, she says, but especially in the winter, when lining up in the rain and cold can be daunting and sales drop. At Tasty Hub, "In the winter, slower months, you have the ability to have some inside seating so you're not getting wet." That indoor space also has a full bar in the corner and on Friday, nonprofit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the North Coast was offering cocktails, beer and wine.
Long doesn't look at Tasty Hub as fueling her competition, despite the fact that A Taste of Bim is in the restaurant, truck and sauce businesses, and she owns the Grind Café, soon to move into the Humboldt County Courthouse. "If there's somebody that wants a chance to sell their product ... my drive is economic development," she says. "This is small business development, potential food [business] incubation. ... Everybody doesn't have the resources to just open a restaurant. Some folks can but some folks need a little support." A truck, catering business or prepared food sales — all of which require an approved kitchen — can be a stepping stone toward that goal.
Corralling trucks in a lot, Long feels, is an improvement from having them parked directly in front of one's restaurant. "We're all trying to survive in this together," she says, noting restaurants everywhere have changed the way they do business since the arrival of COVID in 2020 and the subsequent shift to takeout and mobile businesses. "There's still room for girls' night out and date night" at traditional sit-down establishments, she says. "I see both sides but the thing is, food trucks bring more variety ... you're able to bring more variety into the area where people can have things that traditionally they'd have to go out of town to get."
Tasty Hub offers hourly, monthly and long-term kitchen rentals, which come with vending space in the lot, but isn't yet charging for parking spaces alone. "We want to get everybody on board and adjusted," says Long. "We're actively hunting [for trucks] right now."
So far, the roster includes Vaqueros, Happy Taco, Los Giles Taqueria, Easy Squeeze Lemonade, Pupuseria San Miguel, Gios Pizza and Karachi Cuisine.
In the bar corner, Long hopes to have nonprofit groups weekly, and says Pathways of Purpose and Black Humboldt are on the schedule. Sharing the proceeds from the drink sales, she says, "is a win-win."
"If you have the ability to help someone, you should do it, regardless," says Long, who's excited about Tasty Hub's potential to give new businesses a chance to thrive. "The purpose is to help startups to get their foot in the door ... you're creating a start."
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill.