It’s A Gouda Time: Static Melt Opens Grilled Cheese Food Truck In Davenport
There are few comfort foods as fulfilling and joyful as grilled cheese.
So if you’re looking for a gouda time, trying to sandwich in a good meal, and want to pick up something that you’re not going to have to have to take a provolone out for that’s going to cost you a lot of cheddar, you’re going to want to check out the new food truck in the Quad-Cities – Static Melt.
Static Melt, run by Dan Bush, 33, and Drake Deregules, 25, of Davenport, debuted Wednesday night to huge response, offering a mouth-watering menu of five grilled cheese sandwiches, and watching as dozens of people lined up to sample them as they parked outside Analog Arcade in downtown Davenport.
“We were thrilled with the response,” Bush said. “We were hopeful it would go over well, but it went way beyond our wildest expectations. It was great.”
Bush and his wife, Megan, had the idea for the grilled cheese truck about three years ago, he said, and once they made the move to do it, things moved quickly, with them picking up a used vehicle on Craigslist and lining up the right menu items to travel.
But ultimately it came down to just picking the perfect comfort foods.
“I’ve always loved grilled cheese, it’s definitely one of everyone’s favorite foods, it’s really one of the few foods that’s appealing to everyone,” Bush said. “Sometimes we’d be downtown, and you’d have to be in the mood for some of the food trucks. But when Megan was at (University of) Iowa, we would go out and get food afterwards, and if grilled cheese was available, I’d always be interested in that. There was a place called Marcos that had it, and it was always good. I figured there were other people who had to feel the same way, and judging by the response, there are a lot of them.
“The response has been unbelievable,” Bush said Thursday early afternoon, less than 24 hours after Static debuted. “We’ve only been open once, last night from 9 to midnight, and we had people coming by constantly, and we just debuted the facebook page and we’ve already got almost 1,000 likes.”
Static Melt, which was just a name that came to Bush and Deregules that sounded cool and reflected their love of the fuzzy sound of punk rock, will return to downtown Davenport Saturday night where it’ll be parked outside Daytrotter.
Beyond that, they’re going to be out and about the Quad-Cities quite a bit over the coming months, already having had calls from over a dozen businesses to park outside during their lunch breaks.
“Yeah, we’re open to travel anywhere people want to host us, and we’ll be doing stops in the downtown and different places in the Quad-Cities,” Bush said. “Every week we’re going to have the same four staple sandwiches, then a fifth one that rotates every week.”
The current menu is as follows:
Static Melt ($4): Our tried and true. Made with provel cheese (a St. Louis staple) and melted American, grilled to a golden brown.
Sabotage ($5): This one is our favorite. Provel cheese and raspberry jalapeno jam, with a slice of pepper jack cooked into the outside of Texas Toast.
Mongo ($5): It’s pepperoni pizza in quesadilla form. So greasy, so good.
S’more Cowbell ($5): What happens when you slather two slices of bread with nutella and marshmallow fluff, then sprinkle it with powdered sugar? Heaven, that’s what.
To add two slices of bacon, add $1 and for gluten free bread it’s also $1.
And now, I must ask the question, that incredibly important question I’m sure is on everyone’s mind: Will they be adding tomato soup to the menu????
“No, we won’t,” Bush said with a laugh. “It’s a great idea, but it’s too messy and too much work. We’re just going to stick with the grilled cheese.”
Well, that’ll make some fans bleu. But you can’t shred a guy for getting up the cheese balls to ask. For now though, the guys behind Static are far from that, on the move and revving up for what looks to be a busy few months as the word spreads like melted mozzarella.
“We’re really excited and overwhelmed at the response right now,” Bush said. “But we’re also happy and really looking forward to seeing where this is going to go. So far, it’s going great!”
For more info on Static Melt, check out https://www.facebook.com/staticmeltqc/?fref=ts.
