NEW BUSINESS — Jonathan Buzbee and his wife Angela have opened a new mobile eatery called Pips, featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and drinks. The eatery will be located at the Riverfront park this fall and again next spring and summer. It is also available for catering service.
HOULTON — A new mobile eatery has come to the Shiretown as Jonathan Buzbee and his family are taking the plunge by entering the food service business.
Buzbee received his food license from the Houlton Town Council Aug. 31 and has been doing a soft opening of his business the past two weeks by parking his eatery at the Varney Agency on North Street. He hopes to have his booth at the Fair next year and is also open to the concept of bringing his food truck to any location for private catering.
Recently, Buzbee was awarded a permit to set up his food trailer at Riverfront Park for the rest of this season and next year. His menu consists of affordably priced hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and cold beverages for starters. Additional food items may be added in the near future. His french fries will be different than other food trucks in that he uses a shoestring cutter to make the fries crispier.
“I have wanted to start a business for a while now,” he said. “The food truck business is about the easiest one to get into. It takes a fair amount of capital up front, but not as much as other businesses or storefront property.”
Buzbee said he did not have any background in the foodservice industry, but is always cooking at his home. His food often draws rave reviews from friends and family. “I really love to cook,” he said. “Something like this business is easy. I want to sell things that I would want to buy, at a price I would like to pay for it. Hopefully, we can make money this way.”
Buzbee said he cuts his french fries from locally-grown potatoes when the customer places an order to guarantee freshness. The same holds true for his sides of lettuce, tomatoes and onions.
“We will be serving all fresh meat and vegetables, with nothing frozen,” he said.
So how did he come up with the name Pips, LLC.
“It’s sort of a running joke,” Buzbee said. “Pips are the dots on dice, and the big joke with friends is this (business) was my big gamble. It’s a name that is short and easy to remember.”
His wife Angela hopes to start selling baked goods and will have smaller versions of items that she will call “pipsqueaks.”
An employee of Smith and Wesson, Jonathan said he plans to operate Pips on his off days at least to start. “We would like to be more full-time at it, but for the moment we need to hedge our bets,” he said. “With winter coming up, we will use the next month or so as a trial run to smooth things out. We will then have a bigger opening next spring.”
Jonathan Buzbee is originally from Ohio, but has resided in Houlton since 2007. Angela has lived in Houlton her entire life. The couple reside in Houlton with their children, Krystina and Declan.
For more information on Pips, call 521-1373, email pipsllc2013 @gmail.com or visit them on Facebook.
