Can you get lunch at a popular Tri-Cities food truck hub for less than $25?
These days, it feels impossible to budget responsibly and still go out to eat or do something fun every now and then. Everything is so expensive, how is anyone supposed to have fun?
Are there still places you can go have a good time for under $25?
The Tri-City Herald is checking out some places around Tri-Cities that can be visited on a budget of $25. This week, we tried getting lunch at Summer’s Hub of Kennewick, the food truck mecca that sits between Chuck E. Cheese on North Kellogg Street and Sportsman’s Warehouse on West Canal Drive.
Here’s how it went.
Summer’s Hub of Kennewick
Summer’s Hub opened in 2022. The conceptual child of Tri-Cities native Chris Corbin, he named it after his actual child, Summer.
In the center of the hub is the single building, a large indoor dining area with his restaurant, Brady’s Brats and Burgers, named after his son. Sometimes a large garage-style door opens up, connecting the indoor and outdoor seating areas.
Outside are 18 food trucks, offering a variety of tasty cuisine. Whether you’re looking for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks or desserts, there’s a food truck for you.
Breakfast and coffee trucks open at 8 a.m., and the entire site is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Each truck operates on its own schedule, though, including different days they are closed. You can find the days and hours each is open on the Summer’s Hub website. The current trucks in rotation are:
- Angel Brook Farms Ice Cream
- Ann’s Best Creole and Soul Food
- Bobablastic
- Buriram Bites
- Baked and Fried
- Delicious Crepes and Waffles
- El Punto Del Sabor
- Golden Roll Sushi
- Gray’s Wings and Things
- KC’s Biscuits and BBQ
- La Casita
- Lucky Bao
- SoDa Bomb
- Tacos El Giro
- The Pizza Box
- The Local Bite: Tropic Hunger
- The Corndog Company
- Trejos Taco Factory
The Hub also hosts free events from time to time, with weekly bingo and trivia nights, pop-up events and even live music on occasion.
The food truck mecca has had so much success since its opening three years ago that a new location is now in the works. Construction has begun in Pasco for a second Summer’s Hub.
Summer’s Hub on a budget
I went to Summer’s Hub on a Wednesday afternoon, after the lunch rush had passed. With a budget of $25, I was looking for something caffeinated and a decent-sized lunch — nothing too big that I wouldn’t be able to finish. And finally, if possible, something sweet on my way out.
A few dozen cars sat in the parking lot. As I walked in, I noticed the patrons were a range of ages and demographics. A handful of families were gathered in the outdoor dining area, enjoying the warm weather and slight breeze.
When you walk in, there is immediately a row of food trucks to check out. You can head inside or keep walking to check out the other row of trucks on the far side.
If I hadn’t visited in the middle of a work day, I might have gone inside for one of the beer options on tap at Brady’s Brats and Burgers. I was there during Happy Hour, which offers discounts from 2 to 4 p.m.
Instead, I made a round to check out all my options before ordering from anywhere. I saw online that Buriram Bites had a Thai Redbull I wanted to try, but when I got there, it had been removed from the menu. It was probably for the best that I got a Dr. Pepper instead — enough caffeine to get through the day, but not so much I’d be up all night. With tax, the soda cost $2.17.
If SoDa Bomb was still open (it shutters from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays), I might have tried a flavored Dr. Pepper. I’ll have to come back earlier to check out some of the trucks with earlier hours.
I had many options for food.
I considered stopping by Ann’s Best Creole and Soul Food for chicken ($10) and mac and cheese ($5), or choosing one of the options for tacos, or staying at Buriram Bites for some Thai food, like the $10 garden rolls. I thought about the $12 pork soup dumplings at Lucky Bao, and the $9 burger melt at Brady’s.
Gray’s Wings and Things
For my lunch, I ultimately headed over to Gray’s Wings and Things, right near the entrance in a bright red truck. I ordered a spicy chicken sandwich after confirming it did not come with pickles. You can make the sandwich into a combo with fries and a drink, but I just got the sandwich and a side of mozzarella sticks. My total at Gray’s was $15.91.
I was given a pager for my order and took a seat outside. I’ve sat inside before, and enjoyed the atmosphere, but the weather outside was perfect for an outdoor meal.
After about 10 minutes, the pager vibrated, alerting me that my order was ready. I got a small marinara sauce for my mozzarella sticks, and swapped out the pager for my food. As I headed back to my seat, the food containers grew hot in my hands, and I could smell the spicy chicken.
The sandwich had just the right amount of spice, enough to wake up my taste buds but not too much to keep me from continuing to eat. It was just the size I wanted too, nothing huge and daunting, nor too tiny for a meal.
The mozzarella sticks were the right combination of chewy and crunchy, with breading that didn’t crumble all over the place when I took a bite. I put some aside to bring home to my roommate, which was easy since they came in to-go containers to begin with.
Seated in an optimal position for people watching, I could see families order ice cream and sit down for some time together, couples share a bite of each other’s food, people who work nearby grab a quick bite before heading back to work, and a group of friends circle the building together, agreeing they’d look at all the options first. Kids used the open space to run and play.
Easy listening music played over the speakers, but not so loud you couldn’t have a conversation.
One family brought their dog, and another couple had their cat on a leash hanging out as they ate.
Angel Brook Farms Ice Cream
The last thing on my list was a sweet treat. Luckily, Angel Brook Farms sits directly across from Gray’s.
Most of the patrons I had seen throughout my visit had gotten ice cream, and it was hard to resist as the sun beat down.
I got one scoop in a cup — I didn’t need much more than that, as the scoops are a solid size and I was already pretty full. Flavor options rotate, so I was hoping for a fruit-based flavor option. I considered huckleberry and strawberry cheesecake, but ultimately ordered the strawberry sorbet. My total was $4.34.
While my ice cream was being prepared, I overheard a group of other vendors chatting in their downtime. One of them was newer to Summer’s Hub, and the others were describing why they enjoy the space.
They spoke of early Saturday morning prep, when the smell of fresh-made biscuits fills the lot, and how the vendors get to know each other over time.
Overall, I spent $22.42 while at Summer’s Hub, and I used the rest of my budget (plus a little extra) to tip the vendors. I had numerous options for lunch under $25, and could probably go back for a week straight, never doubling up on items and never exceeding my budget.