Sara Sirard has worked in corporate America since she was 20 years old. While still continuing to do so, Sirard though wanted to try something new.
“I like to have people come over and I cook,” Sirard said, mentioning her family’s tradition for Sunday football games when she’d cook for them and friends.
So, she combined her passion for cooking and entertaining with her knowledge of business, and Potato Potato was born.
Sirard said she got the idea for the food truck with the help of her sister-in-law, who runs Say Cheese.
“It’s a lot of work, but she has so much fun doing it,” Sirard said. “I said I wanted to try something different. She said ‘Why don’t you do a french fry and tater tot truck?’”
And it stuck.
Potato Potato, which launched this past June, serves a variety of toppings for both french fries and tater tots. The typical options include garlic parm, poutine, chili, and loaded, which is bacon, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and scallions. Every topping can go on either tater tots or fries. Sirard makes all of it herself too.
Sirard said her favorite to eat are the loaded tater tots. Her biggest sellers are those same loaded tater tots and the garlic parm fries.
“I had friends over to taste it,” Sirard said. “It was just a little electric fryer that I have in my kitchen.”
For upcoming flavors, Sirard said that she wants to try more things out, to include specials. She has tested a s’mores flavor, with chocolate syrup, graham crackers, and marshmallows.
“It sounds kind of weird, but I’m a huge fan of salty and sweet,” Sirard said. “I dip my french fries in chocolate frosty.”
In the fall, Sirard is looking to do pulled pork, shepherd’s pie, buffalo chicken, and possibly an apple-flavored dessert flavor.
Potato Potato now has a full-on food truck to go to different fairs and events. Sirard said that the truck is new and that she found it on Marketplace in Florida. It is stocked with two chest freezers, one for fries and one for tots; two friers; a topping station; and storage areas.
The logo for Potato Potato actually came from Sirard’s sister-in-law’s tattoo artist. Sirard said she wanted “really cool looking guys.” The two potato studs on the truck came into fruition, and Sirard named them Pat and Otto.
While Sirard still works her corporate job full-time, the food truck has become a family affair sometimes. She said her husband and son will both sometimes cook and her daughter will take orders.
“It’s everybody together,” Sirard said.
Sirard mentioned that her 8-to-5 job is in sales, so it easily helps her with running the food truck business as well.
“I love dealing with people. I’m a total people person,” Sirard said. “Whether it’s a customer at my full-time job or a customer at the trailer, it’s still a customer to me, so I treat them the same. It’s kind of the same but just different backgrounds.”
Sirard said that her favorite moment so far has been her first Thursday night in Shrewsbury when she served 267 customers in three hours.
“That was such a crazy moment, but it was awesome,” Sirard said. “It was so great.”
To see where Potato Potato will be next, check out its Facebook or Instagram pages.
Leave A Comment