Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Dennis.
Hi Vanessa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our food truck “The Dennis’ Grill” is a husband-and-wife endeavor, and neither one of us has a culinary background. We are both self-taught cooks passionate about food and serving people. My background is in social services and my husband is in construction. The idea of a food truck came about from my love for cooking; I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that culinary is the one art form that uses all five senses. My strong desire to build freedom and flexibility for my family coupled with my passion for food lead me to take the leap and go all in on an entrepreneurial journey. After much research and planning, we hit the road in March of 2022. We began with the traditional setting up and parking at various locations but found this to be quite challenging due to all the uncertainties and inconsistent profits. Also, at this time we were still new to the DFW area, therefore, we did not have much of a support network or connections, so building a following was challenging. We had no family members or community to help promote our small business, which was difficult, but we kept showing up and working hard to get as many people as possible to try our food. The first year in business was the most challenging, and I almost threw in the towel many times. The number of challenges and failures you’ll encounter in building something from scratch will certainly make you question your ability to continue on. Thankfully, our efforts began to compound and in year two, we shifted our focus on catering and saw much more growth and opportunity. Now here we are in our third year and continuing to grow our business. Our commitment to provide quality food has served us well, as we receive a lot of referrals and see the effects of word-of-mouth marketing in action.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our journey has been quite a bumpy road. I believe building a business feels like false start after false start and challenges become the norm. I’d say the biggest challenge for a start-up is cashflow to keep the business alive. At the beginning stages, or what some may call the treadmill phase of business, you are doing everything on your own, marketing, lead generation, finances, scheduling, the service, and there is no rulebook or blueprint to follow like when you work for a company. It can feel like it becomes a game of trial and error which can be overwhelming and lead to burnout and ultimately giving up. Operating a mobile kitchen is not only physically demanding it can also be emotionally taxing with all of the uncertainties that you will come up against. Everything from staffing, vehicle breakdowns/repairs, equipment failure, permitting, taxes, the weather, these are just a few of the challenges food truckers will run up against. A mobile kitchen is truly a labor of love. You must have a profound belief in yourself and what you’re building to turn your struggles into strengths.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Dennis’ Grill?
We are a family owned and operated food truck, and we specialize in catering. I’d say we are most often remembered for our burgers, and our premium meats. Our burgers are hand rolled and seasoned with our own scratch made seasoning. Secondly, I’m certain we are the only food truck in DFW where you will find Tri-Tip steak. We use our Tri-tip for our tacos, bowls, and BBQ sandwich. This fine cut of meat is certainly not in abundance in the DFW area. I think in the food truck industry that is key to staying afloat is being unique and offering flavors that you won’t find elsewhere, and this is the experience we seek to provide to our customers.
We are proud of our brand for the quality and reliability we provide. Our menu options may be simple, but one aspect we strive for is the consistency of quality that our customers can count on. In the food and beverage industry, I believe it is vital to strive to ensure that you do not dilute your service and quality over time.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Our ultimate goal is to open a brick and mortar location, and the long-term vision is to have muliple locations throughout DFW to share our flavors with residents all throughout the metroplex.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thegrillllc.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegrill469
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegrill469
