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Hit the road for some Yum Yum
Lunch trailer offers fresh burgers, slow-cooked pork
By Linda A. Odum food@hippopress.com
The picture of a traditional lunch trailer is often a greasy-spoon image of runny eggs or pre-made sandwiches that sit for hours.
Not so for the Yum Yum Shack in Hillsboro. Owner Daryl Mundy Sr. has a reputation for high-quality, reasonably priced food.
“My strong belief, and why I started this place, is so people can get their money’s worth,” Mundy said.
The Yum Yum Shack is a concession trailer Mundy had custom built in Pennsylvania two years ago. It sits in a parking lot just off the highway as you head into town. Customers can order from a walk-up or drive-through window, or they can call ahead and have their food ready for pick-up when they want it. There are picnic tables for those who want to eat their food right away.
Quality and value are Mundy’s two main goals. The food he serves is a notch above what is often expected at a place like this. The hamburgers are made from fresh ground chuck, not frozen patties. He covers them while they cook to keep them juicy and serves them on a choice of sesame, poppy seed, or plain bulky roll. He also uses Vidalia onions and Roma tomatoes whenever possible.
Part-time employee Jen Mulaire said, “One day a group of motorcycles came by and a guy ordered two cheeseburgers, thinking they would just be small ones. He was a big guy. When he opened the container he said, ‘I can’t eat two of these!’ The other guys he was with said, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll help him.’”
The most popular items are the tacos and taco roll-ups. Last season Mundy used around 4,000 hard taco shells. The taco meat is seasoned with Mundy’s special combination of Old El Paso and Pace spices. The meat is also used to top off a unique menu item — the taco dog, which is a hot dog covered with taco meat, onions and cheese.
The slow-cooked barbecued pulled pork is only made with center-cut pork roast. For the roll-ups, Mundy uses 13-inch, low-carb wheat wraps. The tuna salad is made with an entire can of solid white tuna that is prepared when ordered. And the deep-fried items — seafood, chicken tenders, French fries, onion rings and jalapeño poppers — are cooked in trans fat- and cholesterol-free oil. Mundy and his wife make most of the menu’s items from scratch. He shaves the ham and she prepares the coleslaw from her own recipe. The chili and any soup specials are also homemade.
Though the food quality may be high, the prices aren’t. Most items range from $1.25 (hot dog) to $5 (large roll-ups). Mundy’s popular tacos cost $2, as do the taco dogs, and the quarter-pound cheeseburger costs $4. The most expensive item on the menu is the seafood sampler plate with haddock, cod, scallops, shrimp and chicken tenders for $15.
Ownership of a lunch trailer is quite a leap from Mundy’s previous career. Before this, he spent 20 years as a senior mechanical technician for Osram Sylvania in Hillsboro. As a teenager he worked in the food service industry. He said it was his mother who taught him to love cooking. (He repairs computers when the trailer closes for the winter.)
A lot of Mundy’s former coworkers are now regular customers, as are contractors and town workers. Many stop in for a breakfast sandwich in the mornings. Motorcycle groups come off the highway for a meal, and he also gets a lot of ATV riders from the trail that runs behind the trailer. “I enjoy it,” Mundy said. “I like seeing all these different people enjoy my food.”.
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