Maya Ophelia’s to Close Next Month
The vegan concept, currently stationed at The Mothership, will serve its final customers on June 30.
Maya Ophelia’s food truck. Photo taken July 21, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Maya Ophelia’s, known for its globally-inspired comfort dishes, is preparing to close after service on June 30. In its absence, the business’s plant-based recipes could live on in customers’ home kitchens.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to close the Maya Ophelia’s food truck, owners Jack and Chase Roldan wrote in a social media post Wednesday morning.
Originally launched in 2018 as pay-what-you-can, donation-based pop-up in Milwaukee, the concept later evolved into a food truck, which operated at Boone & Crockett.
Maya Ophelia’s took a three-year hiatus from 2020 until mid-2023 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned to business last July, this time taking up a semi-permanent residence at The Mothership.
Throughout the past year, the food truck has operated regularly outside the Bay View cocktail bar, 2301 S. Logan Ave., offering a menu of scratch-made vegan dishes such as esquites (Mexican-style street corn in a cup), Cubano sandwiches and a rotating selection of desserts from Moon Cherry Sweets, a sibling concept to Maya Ophelia’s.
Despite the new arrangement, however, the business struggled to thrive.
“Unfortunately the immense support we’ve received from the community has not reflected in our sales since our reopen last year,” the post continued. “It has been an incredible experience to learn and grow with you all.”
In the same post, the couple hinted at the possibility of an upcoming cookbook featuring recipes from Maya Ophelia’s. In addition to its equites and fan-favorite Cubanos, Maya Ophelia’s is known for its tacos, mushroom birria, empanadas, vegan queso and mami, a brothy noodle soup with roots in the Philippines.
The food truck will be open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 29 and Friday, May 30, with plans to share a detailed schedule for June via social media in the coming days.
The dessert-focused Moon Cherry Sweets is expected to continue after Maya Ophelia’s closure and is a regular vendor at the West Allis Farmers Market, where it sells seasonally-inspired baked goods and pastries.
Recent offerings have included strawberry rhubarb tres leches cake, mango peach hand pies, gluten-free brownies, almond cake, chocolate chip cookies, gluten-free peanut butter cookies and a selection of savory pastries.
The market is held Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Moon Cherry Sweets typically announces its upcoming appearances via social media.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
Not surprising, the prices at this food truck were nuts… at least 2x what they should be.
Hopefully The Mothership finds a replacement food vendor as the area needs it.