The 10 Spot opens today, continues to expand. 

The 10 Spot opens today, continues to expand. 

By Kate Krieger-Watkins, contributing writer.

Grown Locally is presented by House of Flavors Restaurant of Ludington and features locally owned businesses and locally produced products.

PERE MARQUETTE TWP – Today is opening day at the 10 Spot food truck court. Ever since Josiah Coates purchased his food truck in 2013, his dream has been to have a successful hot dog business that caters to people of all ages. Needless to say, he, along with a few others, have made those dreams become a very real reality.

The 10 Spot, located at 5750 W. US 10, near the intersection of Nelson Road, has been up and running each season since 2018 and Coates couldn’t be more thrilled for this upcoming year, which kicks off tomorrow, May 5.

“We started the 10 Spot back in ’18,” he said. “It was just us and Kraft at that point. Before this, we just kind of went to parking lots trying to find the best spot. Back before this (10 Spot), we set up mostly in the what was Briggs parking lot. We were there a couple of years and that was pretty much our consistent spot.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, food trucks were one of the only businesses that the health department encouraged to try and stay open because of how they operate, with no close contact and their ability to offer “take-out” style food that didn’t cause a lot of interaction with customers or having to worry about social distancing as much because they could easily spread out their dining area to accommodate those who wanted to eat on the premises.

“We were super nervous about it (COVID),” Coates said. “We all called the health inspector at the start of 2020 (serving season) and asked what we should do and the health department told us to ‘please open, you’re the type of business that can function during COVID.’ We actually got super busy and from looking at 2019 to now, we’ve done very well. We as a group decided we were going to go all in and it really created a great experience for us.”

All the trucks located at the 10 Spot rent space as individual businesses, but the nice thing about where the trucks are at is that in the last few years, they have been given a spot located in the strip mall behind them, where each truck can keep all of their extra food, drinks, and supplies that they might need throughout the day.

“For a truck it’s really hard to keep the amount of things you need in the actual truck,” Coates said. “To have a spot there to put fridges and shelving has been nice and it’s very accessible.”

For the 2022 season, the 10 Spot will be hosting five full-time trucks, Lakeside Weiner Wagon and BBQ, Roast’d, Road Crew Galley, Brunch Babes and Chavela’s Tacos.

“Those are our five full time trucks, but that’s not saying they might not pull out once in a while,” Coates said. “Like last year, Chavela’s only did two days a week, this year they’re going to start out doing four. Krave is not here this year. They decided that they wanted to focus more on doing events.”

Along with the five trucks, Coates said that there will be some visiting trucks throughout the season that pull in to sell their food. 

“We have a website, www.mi10spot.com, that people can go to see who is coming,” Coates said. “We will also have music every weekend and those can also be found on our website. Today we have Benjamin Paetz the ‘Ukulele Guy’ coming to perform from noon to 2 for our opening day.”

Along with the five trucks offering everything from donuts to tacos to burgers to hot dogs, the 10 Spot also offers covered, heated (when needed) outdoor seating and the drink shack that offers a large variety of beverages you can purchase to go with a meal or on its own. Hours will vary depending on the truck, but each truck’s schedule can be found on the website as well.

“I always look to seeing all the customers we have seen every year,” Coates said. “We will have some rotating trucks come in and this weekend we have Pennant Pizza and Wings from Whitehall and I’m super excited about them and we will have some other trucks coming in during the summer on the weekends, which will also be super cool. I just think the whole atmosphere of the 10 Spot excites me. This is like my dream.”

Grown Locally is presented by House of Flavors Restaurant, 402 W. Ludington Ave., owned locally by the Neal family for over 70 years; 231.845.5785; Facebook.  

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