Food Truck Friday May 13 in Lake Wylie

Lake Wylie area diners will have new options May 13.

Good Samaritan United Methodist Church is hosting its first Food Truck Friday 5-8 p.m. About five trucks will park on the church grounds grass area visible from Three Points intersection – Charlotte Highway and highways 274 and 557.

“We wanted to do a community event, hopefully ongoing depending on how it goes,” said pastor Jason Everson. “It’s an opportunity for the Lake Wylie community to get together and we have the space to do it.”

Food trucks will include Sal’s Roadside Eatery, Spoon’s BBQ, Roman’s Treats & Dogs, The Plated Palette and Lake Wylie’s own Christopher’s. The family-oriented event will also have live music, some games like corn hole and plenty of space for seating with a pavilion and picnic tables.

“Come hang out and meet some other people in the community,” Everson said.

Everson said German “Sal” Saldarriaga of Fort Mill was instrumental in bringing the event to this side of the river.

“I’m the guy that when I set up rally logistics are in place,” Saldarriaga said. ‘This has a lot of potential to become the most popular rally in the area attracting people from Clover, York, Rock Hill, Charlotte. The area and location is perfect.”

Saldarriaga said he and wife Milja started their food truck business in 2012 and it’s been “more successful than imagined.” He said the industry has boomed as the appetite for rallies has grown. He was the 12th truck out of Charlotte. Now there are 100.

It’s a tight-knit community, Saldarriaga said, with more drawn to food truck rallies. The city of Rock Hill announced April 26 its second run with a monthly Food Truck Friday will be held 6-10 p.m. the third Friday of each month through September starting May 20. It will feature 30 food trucks along with beer and wine sellers, as well as children’s activities. The event proved so popular, an extra Friday was added last October.

Saldarriaga says the food truck event will bring something new and exciting to Lake Wylie.

“There area a lot of chain restaurants in Lake Wylie and not enough individual mom and pop restaurants,” he said. “Rallies build anticipation and people come try something new and builds up a sense of community.”

While Sal’s is known for its Philly cheesesteak with sliced up ribeye steak, he said the key is to mix things up and keep it exciting to draw people back.

“The whole point is to try stuff you normally would not get and the atmosphere it provides,” he said. “There’s something for everybody.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Food Truck Friday May 13 in Lake Wylie."