Macon food truck to serve chili cheese dogs, bratwurst, Italian sausage and more

Hank Howard of Hank’s Food Truck admitted with a laugh that he’s been ribbed quite a bit over not having a vehicle for his small business.

“Hey, where’s your truck? Are you perpetrating a fraud?” the 64-year-old first-time business owner from Macon and civilian program manager at Robins Air Force Base said he’s been asked. “But I think they saw I was really serious about what I was doing.”

Howard started his business by selling hot dogs without a food truck and under two tents at the Mulberry Street Market at Tattnall Square Park as market research in 2019.

In September, he opened a base of operations at the Macon Flea Market at 3670 Eisenhower Parkway.

Thursday, his food truck is expected to arrive — just in time for the Dec. 18 grand opening of Hank’s Food Truck at the flea market.

Howard said he’ll have giveaways for the first 100 patrons to arrive at the 4 p.m. grand opening and he’ll have a game truck set up for children to play games inside.

“It’s very exciting,” Howard said of finally getting his food truck.

There’s a lot more to the venture than buying a truck and hitting the road, Howard said. There’s marketing research, permits, licenses, inspections by the health department and fire department, and the requirement for a base of operations.

He’s been taking “baby steps” to achieve his goal.

And once his food truck arrives, Howard said he’ll want some time to get accustomed to it before he takes it on the road.

Howard chose hot dogs for his food truck because they’re “something basic and everybody enjoys,” he said.

Howard prides himself on offering nearly 20 toppings for his hot dogs, Italian sausages, other sausages and bratwurst. His slogan, which is also part of the business name, is: “Dog Gone It Anyway You Want It Dogs.”

The menu also includes chips, sodas and water. He plans to add nachos and cheese.

His food truck will feature those items plus wings.

His most popular dog is the Hank’s chili cheese dog, followed by smoked sausage with bell peppers and onions.

The slogan for the food truck grew out of conversation around the dining room table with his cousins, Carolyn Willis, Brenda Billingslea and Susan Billingslea.

He was telling them about his desire to start a food truck business and wanted their feedback. As they encouraged him, they all began to toss around names and slogans.

“Can I do a shout out?,” asked Howard, who gave the credit for the slogan to Willis. “We kept talking about different slogans, and we kept saying, ‘Dog gone it,’ and the next thing I knew she had, ‘Anyway you want it.’ “

Hank’s Food Truck operates out of the flea market from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 to 7 p.m. Sundays. That operation is expected to continue once the food truck takes to the road.

“It may sound cliche, but I want to give all the glory to God,” said Howard, who prayed with his pastor and another church leader about starting the venture. “We prayed for the Lord to take the wheel, and I’ll just go along for the ride.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.