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The Ball Bus Will Keep Rollin’

The Ball Bus Will Keep Rollin’

Johnny Meatballs DeCarlo (July 21, 2014)

My setup is number one, totally legal, legit and expanding daily!

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Let me start this blog off today with a big announcement….Aug. 1, starting at 6am, you can watch me on the News12NJ morning show on their “Food Truck Friday” series live from their headquarters in Edison! Yes indeed this will be my ninth appearance on television in the past six months, I am definitely going for a “meatia” record this year with all the press. But I am very excited for this one because I will finally be showcasing my entire upgraded setup---the Ball Bus, wagon, my banners and balloons, VIP seating section, plus of course all of my menu selections. Here’s a fun fact…before any of these other vendors went on News12---before such a thing as “Food Truck Friday” even existed, I, Johnny Meatballs was once again pioneering these trends when I served the entire morning crew a meatball breakfast years ago from my original wagon. For anyone that may not have seen me out there you will all get to finally see exactly what it is I do and how I create the #1 traveling popup dinner-theatre setting. It’s gonna be a circus act so save the date and stay tuned!


Now, to change the tone up a little bit, I will now speak directly to some truck peeps out there who consider me a “threat” or competition---which to me is ridiculous because we all do our own thing, but whatever. There are a few vicious rumors floating around about how I run my business which I would like to quickly dispel…I know many of you would say I don’t need to explain myself to anyone or clarify anything but I must address some of the nonsense that a couple of my fellow street food vendors (who were so called friends) are spreading to try to keep me down. Seems whenever I start up media tours or start booking big gigs, the haters come out like clockwork. I’m tired of big event companies and other groups out there trying to intimidate or trying to exclude certain mobile vendors. Just because I have a truck now I know where I started---with one pot under a tent---and I welcome anyone whatever your setup even if you are just starting out and need a boost to join a new group I am forming called NJSVA---New Jersey Street Vendors Association which, unlike other elitist groups, will be all-inclusive where we will cross-promote our food and book events together.


I’m fed up with the strong-arm tactics out there and the extortion and the backstabbing. We are here for the public not for anyone’s grandstanding or special interests. Back in February, everyone said to go home and watch the Super Bowl on TV because unless we were “corporate” or paid a crazy amount of money, the little guy had no shot to set up shop that day. Well myself, Frankie Antipasto, Cupcake Cutie among others proved them wrong and opened for business in the Meadowlands and had an incredible day. This journey will all be showcased soon in my independently released doc-u-meat-ary, “The Johnny Meatballs Experience,” a true underdog story. Maybe one day when I retire I will write a book exposing all the corruption. But for now lemme keep quiet or I will really get blackballed, no pun intended! For now, I will just keep doing what I am doing as the independent contractor that I am in this free market society we live in. Nobody has the right to tell me the deal. I only answer to the big man upstairs. (And my wife of course.)


Just to clarify a few things about my 1994 GMC Vandura---my converted classic mini school bus known as the “Ball Bus” so all the facts are straight---since some folks out there may not know exactly what it is and how I use it….


The Ball Bus (BB) is my first “vehicle,” it is NOT a “kitchen on wheels” by any means, it is modest and frankly held together by duct tape in a lot of areas but I love it and it MEATS all my needs. When I can afford it, I will upgrade to a full fledged food truck, but I do not get loans or handouts or inheritances like some out there so this is what I got right now but I am darn proud of it. It has character and charm and it’s rustic appeal is a direct homage to the peasant food feasts our poor Italian immigrant ancestors put together on a shoestring budget---now just in the streets. Speaking strictly from an operational standpoint, here are a few things to understand in case you may be skeptical:


Although I may call it one, technically BB is actually not classified as a “food truck” so therefore would not be held to certain state requirements and regulations such as a hood system or special equipment. Why? Because no cooking is being done inside. BB actually falls into a bit of a gray area which is why certain rumors get spread and why I am clearing that up. Food trucks literally are trucks or large trailers towed by other trucks where everything is served directly to the customer and it’s all cooked and prepped on the spot in mobile ovens, stoves, fryers, etc. See I fall in between food delivery vehicle (in slang sometimes called a “jobber,” someone who distributes food items to establishments to resell) and a coffee or catering truck that you see peddling the roads, making rounds with commissary purchased pre-packaged sandwiches and other foods (which some disparagingly call a “roach coach”) to sell direct to hungry customers. Delivery trucks just deliver stuff for others to sell---which is actually my second business where I have a bottled beverage, olive oil and jarred sauce route with my Ford E350 van. Coffee trucks do a similar task but on their routes people off the street can get what they are offering direct from them. So now that we clearly defined food trucks (kitchens on wheels), food delivery trucks (independent drivers distributing food products) and food catering/coffee trucks (peddling of pre-packed items with no cooking involved), where does that leave me?


Basically I am the same as what I have always been---a mobile food concession---just like I was with the meatball wagon, except I don’t always bring the wagon along now…but I operate exactly how I did when I used the wagon under all the same guidelines. Confused? It’s really very simple. The propane-powered stove inside the wagon was always used to simply reheat my meatballs to serving temperatures, what I have now is a large electric pot I plug into a generator which does the same thing. This gets set up on a table in front of BB. A thermometer reading of over 160 degrees is always guaranteed and MEATS all guidelines. So really that’s the deal here, I have a very simple operation and follow all procedures and rules. My meatballs are brought to all venues already cooked in my commercial kitchen facility and are always served out of my boiling hot pot!


The primary purpose for BB is it allows me to be much more self-contained and I have all my gear and tables and signs and banners. I can travel farther, work deeper into the cold months and BB now allows me to store many more balls than I ever could before inside a propane powered steam box which also keeps all the required temps. But we serve from the pot which is usually manned by my helpers and I am at the bus window handling the money. I also have a refrigerator in there to keep all my beverages so no longer need coolers with ice. So now hopefully the confusion is cleared up, BB is my self-contained transportation-storage-delivery vehicle! But most importantly, it is my rolling billboard with hand-painted artwork and all my logos, catchphrases, colors and contact info.


Thus far I have put thousands of dollars into BB for the restoration and paint plus new battery, glow plugs, fuel pump, brake job, of course the insurance and registration….I’ve done about a dozen gigs with it thus far and am only now beginning to actually start paying things off and getting ahead. People don’t understand all the costs involved not to mention product and whatever fees to be at an event. So that’s why I look for events with groups who are fair. And I bring a whole other aspect to any venue which is a circus like atmosphere and promotion to thousands online and on TV. No other vendor was on TV as much as I have been thus far this year and I am not trying to brag I am just explaining an intangible quality that should not be taken lightly. Yet I get taken advantage of. Why? Because I am always trying to bring along others but maybe it is true nice guys finish last?


I got a passion for what I do that is burning deeper than ever now with the Ball Bus and I am invigorated and excited to continue this journey. Nobody can stop me or keep me down. I don’t want anyone to think I am ever trying to get any free rides or go rogue. I paid my dues and am not a newbie in the food concession business. My vehicle is legit and up to all codes, it’s safe and sound and making a real impression out there. I’ve passed every inspection with flying colors with the way I run my setup, I got my wash-rinse-sanitize station…Clorex….Purell….rubber gloves. Look, I will say it again, I know the deal, I’ve been in this game six years. I am an LLC with commercial plates on the bus, plus separate additional business insurance of a one million dollar policy. I’m trademarked, ServSafe® trained and certified, and I always have all my permits and licenses and documentation.


Hundreds of events over 5+ years, thousands of meatballs rolled and sold….Never once, never failed a health inspection or got shut down or sued, bothered or even questioned for that matter. I know all that there is to know regarding police….fire….zoning….health. You name it, I got it. What do I got the most of??? Obviously balls of course. Oh and plenty of other foods made in my certified catering facility for any venue---public or private---on the streets or in your driveway. That’s why I am mobile, I go where you my loyal fans and followers request me to go. I went to Corona Queens for the first time recently for an amazing feast, it was worth all the travel time and tolls crossing 2 bridges. I would not be able to do ventures like that with just the wagon.


So in conclusion, it took awhile but I have expanded my stand, my reach, and my following. Yet the haters out there come out of the woodwork but you know what, they can all file this blog as the official proof of all my information which is public knowledge. I am legit and I will not quit. Stay tuned for huge developments over the final five months of 2014, I will continue to be a force to be reckoned with and if people want to keep me down I know it’s because they look at me as a threat which is ridiculous because there is plenty out there for us all. And it’s your loss if you shut me out of a festival, there are plenty of places for me to go. So let’s all do our thing and respect the most important code which is the code of the streets out there. I wasn’t handed anything and I work 24/7 at this and will continue to prove why I am the king.


Peace in the east, see you all in the streets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DISCLAIMER: Posts published in i-Italy are intended to stimulate a debate in the Italian and Italian-American Community and sometimes deal with controversial issues. The Editors are not responsible for, nor necessarily in agreement with the views presented by individual contributors.
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OK SO WHO IS THIS EMPANADA

OK SO WHO IS THIS EMPANADA GUY OR CALLAHAN DAN

Believe it or not I'm walkin on air....

Johnny u are a legend and please do not let the haters bring you down. You and meg are the perfect couple and your balls are deep and tasty with just the right north red jizzem. The food truck biz is hard core with many backstabbers and run arounds. Keep on selling and working the streets of NJ. You got the goods and can deliver the bukkake meatballs experiment and the documentary will rock setting you off to levels of nonesense the world of balls have never seen before. iitaly rocks your blog and balls and commended for the nonesense. The best balls sandwichi is fake gravy, park, and a slice of jizz. So good. So tasty right in front of the fodd truck. I mean I'd take a reverse cow girl right in your sabrett food truck channlekncege. Be ting it back old school yewhhhbhbbhbb maletic goes deep! Come on now you know ill get in doogie, titty it , and then double it with a DP eggplant parm. Yeah you got the biz plan and drive to make it big !!!!! not!