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After years of dreaming of owning her own restaurant, industry veteran Chris O’Donnell made the decision to start a food truck in 2019. She’d recently recovered from a major car accident, after which she found herself without a job. With encouragement from her brother, she decided to pursue her dream by launching her own mobile food business in June of 2020.
O’Donnell says the truck was made possible with help from a range of family and friends, but particularly her 78-year old mother, who helped her drive the food truck back to Wisconsin from Colorado.
“She spent the entire ride back sitting on a tiny little jump seat,” O’Donnell says. “And we had quite the adventure on the drive; but she was such a trooper. She’s only 5’1” tall, so her legs just sort of hung off of the seat. She’s been one of my biggest supporters, and she still works on the truck with me every now and again.”
O’Donnell says that, since launching the truck two years ago, she’s really found a niche in serving her food at events, where she’s enjoyed interacting with both customers and the larger food truck community.
“I’ve really enjoyed it so much,” she says. “It’s great to be cooking up really good food and meeting so many wonderful people.”
Type of food: Scratch-made fare made with health and ingredient qualtiy in mind; the Clean Cruisine menu ranges from salads and wraps to burgers, sides and a (Friday) fish fry.
Vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free options: All items are gluten-free (or available gluten-free). Clean Cruisine also serves a vegan veggie burger as well as at least one vegetarian option at each event.
Most popular item(s): Cajun chicken (cajun seasoned chicken served in a wrap or pulled on a bun); avocado fries (avocado wedges dipped in an egg wash and almond flour blend and fried served with Sriracha mayo); Friday fish fry (center cut cod loin, fries, broccoli slaw, tarter and lemon)
Where can people find your truck this summer? O’Donnell says she’ll be serving at a wide variety of events, all of which are listed on the Clean Cruisine Facebook page. Customers can also find the truck (and its delicious avocado fries) at the MKE Food Truck Fest on July 22.
If you could park your truck anywhere for one day where would it be? “I’d really love for there to be a way for me to have a presence at Summerfest,” O'Donnell says.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “Milwaukee Food.” Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or recording the FoodCrush podcast, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
