Long before ground was broken for the brick-and-mortar location, founder Khang Nguyen decided to take a risk, leave his job in construction and open a food truck. Parked at the location where the Curbside building stands today, the food truck opened on Nov. 19, 2013, serving banh mi, pho and other Vietnamese dishes.
“I started this 14 years ago, food was so expensive even back then. I felt like the Vietnamese cuisine wasn’t very well represented in this area and it was 15 bucks for lunch, plus tax and tip. So I was like, hey, I think I can get people fed for a better price,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen saved up, ordered a custom trailer from Florida and had people lined up and ready to work. The road to opening day was not smooth, and before the trailer even made it to Seattle, everything ground to a halt.
“We had people lined up to work and everything and it was just hey guys, believe it or not, but the trailer’s totaled,” Nguyen said. “This was, like, a year long custom order from Florida. So some guy had to go and pull it all the way to Washington state and on the way here it was hit by a semi truck.”
The first trailer was totaled, and after a six-month-long legal battle, a second trailer was on its way from Florida. With the food truck in Seattle, Nguyen could finally begin the process of inspections and permitting to get Curbside ready to open. It was during this process Nguyen was met with the next hurdle he had to overcome.
Having ordered all the necessary equipment to operate out of the trailer, Nguyen learned that all food trucks in King County must operate out of a commissary, or kitchen space, to prepare their food before they go to their location for service.
“I didn’t know that you weren’t allowed to cook inside a food truck. Every food truck needed a brick and mortar, now we gotta go find and rent a commissary,” Nguyen said. “We ordered everything inside that trailer, all the equipment we could possibly need to cook in it. So we got a whole bunch of equipment for no reason.”
Parked next to the Shell gas station on Nickerson, Curbside served its first customers on March 19, 2013. In late October 2015, Nguyen opened his second food truck, Curbside Burgers and Brats. With its main location right next to the Seattle Pacific University campus, Curbside became a mainstay for both students and university employees.
In the summer of 2021, the process began on the construction of a permanent location.
“We broke ground in this spot. This is our first spot and the community has always welcomed us, they were just devastated when we closed down,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen had to sell the two food trucks to help fund this new project, and while the new kitchen has provided much more freedom, he has not ruled out a return to the food truck scene.
“Storage and space, that’s the biggest thing. You don’t get as much space when it comes to commissary and having your own space and being able to put things where you want it. It just makes your life easier,” Nguyen said. “I would love to get another truck down the road. I mean, I can’t tell you how friendly and how amazing the community is.”
Curbside is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You can order ahead and view the menu here.
