If you’ve driven Paris Street past Bell Park this spring/summer season or last, you’ve spotted the colourful MiJo’s Grill food truck in the York Street parking lot.
This location is a busy spot for beach-goers, boardwalk pedestrians and seasonal guests of the inflatable splash park at Ramsey Lake.
Joanne Grimard is the cook who is often serving up burgers, fries and other snacks at MiJo’s Grill and is the face featured on the food truck, too.
Grimard was enticed to front the business by her boss at the Paw Barn, Mike Lafreniere.
“Mike knew I spent 23 years in the catering business cooking for the mines and working the front lines of the school cafeteria at L’Horizon school,” she said.
“When my husband died, I stopped catering. When the time was right, Mike approached me about a food truck venture. He was certainly persistent. He poked and poked,” she said with a laugh.
Born in Elliot Lake, Joanne was raised in Hanmer and moved to Montreal for work. There she trained under chefs from France and Montreal.
She said lots of the customers at MiJo’s are repeat customers who love the poutines, the meaty burgers and the specials.
The Jo burger, named in honour of Joanne herself, features cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and homemade garlic sauce.
The Mi burger, named after owner Mike Lafreniere, features a fried egg and crispy onions, along with hot peppers and sweet hot sauce with lettuce and tomato.
Every week, Grimard offers walk-by customer specials that include fan favourites like the dill pickled grill cheese, Italian poutine, bacon eater poutine and pulled pork poutine.
Other “to go” items like the platter and nacho supreme are made for customers to take to the beach.
While last year was the first year for the grill truck, there were lots of logistical issues that surfaced in the spring given the off-grid location that required troubleshooting.
“From dealing with propane, electricity, water batteries for the fridge and freezer, there were a lot of preliminary headaches,” Grimard said.
It’s now on refill rotations for water and propane delivery, but it won’t be going anywhere this summer for other events.
“It’s too hard to move around with so many attachments and requirements,” Grimard said.
The truck employs a staff of five, and will remain open until the end of October, weather permitting.
Grimard said she should be retired by now but she’s a workaholic that enjoys time spent working with her hands. As long as the customers keep coming and sharing their feedback, she isn’t going anywhere.
MiJo’s is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. It’s usually open later on festival weekends.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.