WATERVILLE — Food truck fans could get the chance this year to try the culinary offerings of a variety of food vendors all in one location on Kennedy Memorial Drive, if a Waterville couple’s plans are approved.
Zhanpo “PoPo” Lu, 38, and her husband, Linjie Gu, 32, love to cook and are in the process of seeking city approval to launch PoPo’s Food Truck Court on a vacant lot at 121 Kennedy Memorial Drive. They plan to serve traditional Chinese food and rent up to 10 spaces for other food trucks.
“I’m so excited,” Lu said Friday at the site, where there is a new food truck designed by her husband. “I hope we can be open all year round.”
Lu said she plans to open the court in September, but it could be later, depending on development of the property, which is to include parking; tables and tents; a small fenced play area for children; and landscaping.
About 10 food trucks now have permits to operate in Waterville, City Clerk Patti Dubois said.
“They come and go,” Dubois said Monday. “In recent years it’s been busier. Food trucks have become more popular over the past five to ten years.
Initially, Lu and her husband, who designed kitchen cabinets in China for a large company, will offer traditional Chinese mian, or noodles, with a variety of sauces, and jiaozi, or shrimp-filled dumplings, at pork, beef or chicken. Eventually, they plan to add other traditional Chinese dishes, Lu said.
“I really like this kind of food because it’s different and it tastes so good,” she said.
Zongzi, a special Chinese dessert for the Duanwu holiday, is one of the dishes Zhanpo “PoPo” Lu makes and seeks to serve from his food truck at PoPo’s Food Truck Court in Waterville. Photo courtesy of Zhanpo “PoPo” Lu
Lu earned her master’s degree in business administration in 2018 from Thomas College in Waterville and is now enrolled in the culinary arts program at Kennebec Valley Community College, where she earned an associate’s degree in early childhood education ago two years. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in business English in 2008 in China. She is a substitute education technician III at George J. Mitchell School, where her oldest son is enrolled. She also leads the Discovery Play Group at KVCC.
Growing up in China, where she worked for eight years for a large education company, Lu visited the United States, including Maine, in 2012. She wanted to continue her education, so she and her husband decided in 2017 to return to Maine. They had their first child in 2018, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, preventing their return to China.
“The people are so nice here, especially in Maine,” Lu said. “I’ve been to Pennsylvania and New York, but the big cities are very populated. Here there is clean air, forests and nature.
The couple has two boys, Tianky Gu, 6, and Tiandy Gu, 3, who were on the field Friday with Lu’s mother, Xiurong Wang, visiting from China. Wang purchased the property for his daughter and son-in-law, according to Lu.
The family enjoys traveling to Maine, and last summer when they visited the ocean, Lu saw a food truck offering a variety of culinary options. It was very busy, she said. She spoke with the owners and they said the food truck business was a nice small business to run and didn’t require hiring a lot of people. They told Lu that more food trucks made the court busier.
Lu decided to open a food court in Waterville.
“I love all the schools, I love the people here,” Lu said. “My mom says, ‘People say hello to me here.’ In Waterville, everyone says hello to each other. I want to do something great for others and for the city.
Lu said she and her husband hold ServSafe Food Manager certification for the business.
The property is in the Contract/Commercial-A zoned district, which allows for a variety of uses, including dining establishments that close at 8 p.m.
Zhanpo “PoPo” Lu, center, holds her youngest son, Tiandy Gu, 3, standing with her husband, Linjie Gu, their other son, Tianky Gu, 6, and Lu’s mother, Xiurong Wang, in front of their food truck, from which they plan to serve traditional Chinese food at PoPo’s Food Truck Court, if their proposal is approved by the Waterville Planning Board. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
The food truck proposal is expected to go before the Planning Board on June 25 for informal pre-application review. City planner Ann Beverage said council could review preliminary and final plans for the project in July.
The property on which the food court would be located is approximately half an acre. The family also owns a plot behind it, bordering Merryfield Avenue, but the location is not intended to accommodate food trucks. Together, the parcels measure 1.25 acres, according to Beverage.
Jeff Allen of AE Hodsdon Consulting Engineers in Waterville is working with Lu on the plans. According to his project description, motorists would enter the courthouse from Kennedy Memorial Drive and exit by turning right onto KMD. Fences would be installed along the site to separate it from homes.
“We don’t want to disturb the neighbors,” Lu said.
She said she received a lot of help growing her business from Christina Dodge, her advisor at the Maine Small Business Development Center. Lu asked people interested in renting space for food trucks to email him at Luzhanpo0702@icloud.com.
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