Chow Truck Menu Finds a Permanent Home at Station Park

When your last name is “Chow,” you’ve got a great name for a food-related business. SuAn Chow, who grew up in Salt Lake, brought the gourmet food truck trend to Utah. Now her Chow Truck has a sister location — a walk-up Chow eatery in Farmington’s Station Park, in the food pavilion west of the fountain plaza.

I did a story about SuAn for my Standard-Examiner column after visiting her new Farmington digs with my Ladies Who Lunch group.

(In fact, our group was ordering lunch just about the time that the health inspector showed up to make sure the new restaurant was up to par. Luckily, SuAn passed with flying colors.)

When I worked in downtown Salt Lake City, there were a few times that I bought lunch from her Chow Truck when it was parked near the Gallivan Center. I developed a fondness for the Asian Spiced Root Chips, which are chips made of lotus root, Yukon Gold potatoes, purple potatoes, carrots, yams and beets. They a bit like the bagged Terra Chips found in grocery stores. Unfortunately, the chips aren’t serve at the Farmington location. But most of the other Chow Truck menu is there.

You’ll find items such as coconut-lemon grass chicken tacos, spicy beef sliders with cilantro-chile pesto, or flash-fried calamari.

Chow grew up in the restaurant industry. Her parents, who immigrated from mainland China, owned “The New China” on on 2100 S. State Street in Salt Lake during the 1960s, and then The Polynesian on 900 S. Main Street in the 1970s.

“I worked at the Polynesian in my early teens and also danced with the Polynesian floor show on the weekends,” she said.

In 1985, she opened a contemporary Asian restaurant, Charlie Chow, and owned it until 1993, when she moved to New York City to work in the fashion industry.

“I lived there for 16 years, but my family is here in Salt Lake City, so I was spending my time split between the two cities, and I was looking for a new challenge,” she said.

She noticed that gourmet food trucks, such as the Kogi BBQ Truck in Los Angeles, were gaining momentum in big cities. So why not be the first in Salt Lake City?

She came up with an Asian-inspired menu, “served in a format that everyone understands, such as tacos, sliders, salad, rice or noodle bowls. It is a great alternative as restaurant quality, delicious healthy food in a quick grab-and-go-fast concept.”

In the five years she’s been in business, she’s seen a huge number of entrepreneurs jump on the bandwagon, or chuckwagon, so to speak. The trend has spawned such TV shows as “The Great Food Truck Race,” and “Food Truck Face-Off.”

But she’s also seen a lot of trucks open and go out of business within a few months, because they underestimate the commitment required.

“I feel that too many folks think that a truck will be an easy business to operate,” Chow said. “The food truck business is all-consuming and if you think you can do it part-time for fun, it is a rude awakening. Trucks are a small moving restaurant, and you have to be equally committed as you would a brick and mortar place, or you won’t survive.”

Utah is not the easiest place for food trucks, which rely on walk-up customers. The winters are cold, and there’s not as much pedestrian traffic as found in some other major cities.

Also some trucks don’t realize they need to offer an extraordinary menu to build a customer base.

“If you just have something that can be attained anywhere — such as a sandwich — what is amazing and so special that someone would want to seek you out for your sandwich or item?” Chow said.

Chow’s menu is definitely not your typical fast food. Where else could you find Jalapeño Rabbit & Rattlesnake sausage, with lime chili aioli, Asian slaw, feta, and sweet teardrop peppers? (The sausage is made locally by Colosimo’s.)

Or a slider of Utah elk, with smoked gouda, chipotle aioli, and chimichurri?

Chow said she was approached by Station Park to do a Chow walk-up.

“And I decided to support that location, as it is a rapidly growing area that could use some urban influence. It is nice that at Station Park there are tables and chairs available so that you can grab a bite on the way to the movies or while shopping, when you don’t want or have the time to sit down in a restaurant.”

The walk-up window area mimics the look of the Chow truck, with stainless steel and yellow accents. But because it’s tucked away inside the pavilion, fans should look closely for the red-and-yellow Chow sign in order not to miss it.

But she’s not planning to close down her truck any time soon.

“The truck is established,” she said. “And I love it, but it will also be a treat to have air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter at Station Park! It’s also been interesting to hear how many of our Salt Lake customers live in and around Farmington. We can’t wait to see them here.”