Triciclo Peru Owner To Open Food Truck Park
Called Minka, it would offer community gathering space, food vendors and entertainment.
Rendering by ShultzWerk Architecture.
A new food truck park proposed for the Near West Side would bring up to eight mobile food vendors, an indoor bar and family-friendly entertainment to the neighborhood.
Minka, as the park would be named, is slated to open this summer, and would center on community, serving as a space to gather, connect and eat while supporting local businesses.
When completed, the park will represent a full-circle moment for Mario Diaz Herrera, the project leader and force behind Triciclo Peru.
Six years ago, Diaz Herrera launched Triciclo in a small trailer as a “tribute to the working class, specifically to those that work in the streets of Peru.”
The business has since grown to include a brick-and-mortar restaurant on the Near West Side, a stall at Crossroads Collective and a side company offering take-and-bake empanadas called Pachamama.
As Triciclo continues to grow, Diaz Herrera hopes to help other small businesses do the same. In creating Minka, he aims to offer a mutually supportive community for food truck owners, while also enhancing the neighborhood.
“I am a small business owner,” Diaz Herrera said. “And every time that I do something with another small business, it becomes something greater.”
The food park is planned for a plot of green space at the corner of 38th and Vliet Street, just across the street from Triciclo’s Empanada Pisco Bar, 3801 W. Vliet St. The property is home to two structures: a retail building and a house. Since 2020, the western portion of the site, 3743 W. Vliet St., has been home to the Vliet Street Oasis market.
Diaz Herrera, along with project partners Keith Schultz of SchultzWerk Architecture and property owner Tom Straub, will reimagine the property, transforming the retail building facing W. Vliet Street into an indoor bar and building an outdoor stage for performances and community programming.
Straub, a partner in the project, has been involved in a number of Near West Side development projects. He also previously owned the building that now houses Triciclo’s Vliet Street restaurant.
The dining area will host up to eight mobile food vendors — including Triciclo Peru and Pete’s Pops — as well as outdoor seating.
Additional vendors have not yet been announced, though Diaz Herrera said he is working with several well-known area food trucks and plans to feature a diversity of options including barbeque, burgers, Asian food and other concepts.
The park will be open year-round. Similar to Zocalo Food Park in Walker’s Point, Diaz Herrera shared plans to offer heated outdoor huts throughout the winter months.
The on-site bar will also feature indoor seating options, as well as rentable space for events.
Minka translates to “market” in Quechua, an indigenous language spoken primarily in the highland areas of Peru and its neighboring countries. Beyond the project’s name, elements of Peruvian culture will show up in look and feel of the park, including in two colorful murals.
“It will show a little bit of my roots,” said Diaz Herrera, who is Peruvian. “My culture is so related with music and happy times, so I think this is the perfect project that I want to share with the people of Milwaukee.”
Minka is expected to open in June or July of 2023, pending approval from the City of Milwaukee, as well as a liquor license.
Food truck owners who are interested in a spot at the park can inquire at info@tricicloperumke.com.
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Probably stating the obvious, here, but I guess this is part of what the future of site-specific “retail” looks like (or can look like): experiential and offering a variety. I mean, part park, part restaurant(s), part entertainment venue, part indoor, part outdoor, always changing even with the seasons. Definitely not static, practically breathing… I love it!