Meet Tony Redman of Detroit

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Redman

Hi Tony, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started the my food truck out due to burnout with upscale restaurants. I wanted to provide delicious food at an affordable price where other cooks could eat at without breaking the bank. Covid was a rough time for everybody, but if you happened to work in the food industry you know that it was by far the strangest, most stressful, and extremely understaffed times… covid kind of motivated me to move from the restaurant scene and do something a little different. With the food truck there is less staff I have to rely on and I figured if I was going to work 15+ hour days for someone else’s restaurant and for their success I should do it for myself. Now that I’ve found a flow of how the food truck business works, have systems in place, and the world has “returned to normal-ish” I’m ready to turn the food truck concept into a brick and mortar.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been smooth at all. Everyday there’s a new challenge and opportunity to learn and grow from. My first week owning the truck I had electrical issues where I store the truck; so I had to illegally park my food truck outside of my house and run an extension cord from my house to the truck just so I could have refrigeration and not lose product. That was just week one and truly not that bad compared to other issues.

The first year of owning and running a business is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. The logistics of the food truck business is one of the most difficult things to grasp in my opinion. Constantly moving my business around different cities (which also means learning each cities laws with food trucks.). Working in a brick and mortar kitchen means the chef/owner is always repairing equipment, fixing plumbing, electrical repairs, building repairs and so on… It’s no different with a food truck, but with the food truck sometimes its the traveling around that causes the need for repairs. Logistically speaking on a different level, there’s the schedule… We move our food truck everyday, so we have to plan a schedule and fill our days with where we will be, sometimes its festivals, sometimes its private events, bars, breweries, random block parties and so on… making sure our customers know where to find us isn’t the easiest thing, it requires more than a social media post…

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Make creative spins on common sandwiches. Most proud of my family. What sets us apart from others is that we are a food truck that uses fresh ingredients, herbs, and techniques that are found in high end kitchens.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Times with my brothers… playing outside, playing sports, jumping on our trampoline, building forts in the snow, adventuring on vacations, and just being kids together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bellyitdetroit.com
• Instagram: @bellyitdetroit