Detours Travel Tip: Santana’s Mexican Wagon

Kirksville has gained a new restaurant whose specialties are quick service, Mexican goodies and open air dining — in fact, outside is the only place you can eat because it isn’t a building, it’s a food truck.

Santana’s Mexican Wagon, the new and only food truck in Kirksville, opened July 13 and is located behind Geno’s 70s Club next to A.T. Still University.

Owner Marco Santana said the food truck has been open for two months now and he is very thankful for the experience.

“This was actually offered to me — I didn’t have any plans to open any business, but the owner of the trailer and the building offered it to me and basically set it up for me,” Santana says. “They said just go in there, cook, and sell some food and that’s what I did. Basically I just took advantage of the opportunity.”

Geno’s owner Randy Treasure also owns the trailer, but he let Santana use it for free for the first two to three months, Santana said.

Santana says he used to work as a server at one of the Mexican restaurants in Kirksville, but his goal was to open his own place.

“That’s something that I always wanted to do and that’s why when this came along I just couldn’t say no, you know,” Santana says.

He said he tries to keep a personable relationship with customers and does his best to be on a first name basis with them.

Santana said he has been through a few employees during the summer and currently is training a new hire. Anyone interested in a job should stop by and pick up an application, he says. He and his new hire have been working on getting their system down, he says, in order to improve the speed and quality of the food.

It has been more beneficial to not advertise and instead immediately open up, because people started showing up, Santana says. He says, “Better than we expected, to be honest with you.”

Santana said his specialties are the fish tacos and the California burritos, because those are his most requested items. He says his personal favorite is the fish taco.

Santana had his doubts about the location of the food truck at first, he says, but because the food truck is within walking distance of many popular locations and businesses, he says it has drawn a consistent flow of customers.

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