Grease Trucks - History

History

Starting in the early 1980s, food trucks licensed by the city of New Brunswick parked along College Avenue, most clustered near Voorhees Mall, where there is a high concentration of classroom buildings on the campus. A few were as far north as Brower Commons, about a quarter mile away (thus competing with eateries in the student center and dining hall). Students and visitors could obtain a quick, hot, inexpensive meal during events and between classes. The trucks became known as "grease trucks" due to the popularity of the fried foods they served. A nearby Somerset Street greasy spoon restaurant, "Greasy Tony's", closed by eminent domain in the early 1990s to build University Center at Easton Ave, was part of the local popularity of food-related "grease"-based names of the time.

Since fresh food was prepared on the trucks, they required power for refrigeration, and therefore either idled or ran gasoline generators. In the early 1990s, in an effort to reduce the noise, pollution and visual blight along College Avenue, as the trucks obstructed the view of Voorhees Mall, the trucks were prohibited from parking along the thoroughfare, and Rutgers provided a corner of a faculty parking lot (#8) across the street. The vendors were put under contract with the university, which provided the trucks with space and electricity. Some trucks were open during the day, and others in the evening, with a couple of hours of overlap around dinner time. The trucks would rotate positions within the lot monthly, so that no one vendor would receive a competitive advantage based on location.

At the time of the move, the university planned for a courtyard setting in the lot with benches and tables to create a friendly, aesthetic environment, but these plans did not come to fruition for nearly twenty years. The Grease Trucks, coincidentally located next to Union Street, the home of the majority of Rutgers' fraternity and sorority houses, were originally open 24 hours a day at this location, and shortly after the local bars closed would become a site for many hungry customers and a sort of after party. The parking lot became strewn with garbage, and there were complaints of frequent fighting, noise and public urination. A closing time of 3 A.M. was mandated in 1996 to coincide with the bar closings, and two years later was changed to 2 A.M., when the bar closing time was altered by the city.

In the early 2000s, several trucks were bought out and consolidated to a single fixed food trailer called "The Scarlet Shack" at the center of the remaining trucks, as seen in the photograph above. Phone and internet orders, acceptance of credit cards and the Rutgers University food card (Knight Express) are features which have been added over the years, as well as an ATM.