For the most part, the guest food trucks that 3 Daughters Brewing would have for consumers held up to their standards of quality and consistency. But a few times they didn’t and that sparked an idea for owner Leigh Harting.
With her husband Mike and head brewer Ty Weaver both having extensive background in food service and hospitality, 3 Daughters recently unveiled their 3D Eats food truck.
“When we first came out five years ago, we wanted to be clear we were doing beer and not being a restaurant,” Leigh Harting said. But as the brewery evolved — first with adding a cidery in their third year and adding hard seltzer in 2017, the company has had an evolution of becoming a beverage company.
“Once we got established as that here in Florida, we decided food was a logical choice,” she said.
But this isn’t your typical brewpub set-up either, she noted.
“Are we a brewpub? Not really, but we aren’t a typical food truck either,” she said, pointing out that patrons can order from the bar and then go out to get their food. She added that Weaver has written menus for Outback and other restaurants, and this new menu that 3 Daughters debuted in December is his culmination of complimenting the brewery’s beer, cider and seltzer.
“A brewpub perception is that there is a booth and someone comes by with a tray and this is more of a fast casual food option, so it’s not an official brewpub.”
The idea sprung from when the brewery bought a custom-made smoker and grill to take to their wholesale partners to make them a thank you lunch or dinner. With that equipment on hand, plus Weaver and Mike Harting’s background with food, they debuted their own truck instead of relying on others to service the food side for consumers.
“The problem was if someone canceled or if a food truck didn’t have enough food on hand to get them through the dinner rush hour, for us, we want quality and consistency and now we can do that ourselves,” Leigh Harting said. “Most of the time it was exceptional, but it drove us nuts when it wasn’t.”
Calling it one of their ‘easiest endeavors,” with many on staff having either hospitality or culinary school experience Harting said, “food makes sense for us now and it’s a cool thing to do.”
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