Soon, Mission’s Center for Education and Economic Development will be home to diverse eating options outside the building — just like it plays host to diverse business tenants inside.
The Mission Food Park is slated to become operational by late April or early May, according to Mission Economic Development Corporation CEO Daniel Silva at the time this article was published.
“Everyone is excited and keeps asking when we are going to open,” he said. “We are going through the final processes with permits and council approval, so we hope to be able to officially open soon.”
To keep the culinary offerings unique, one food truck per food type will be allowed onsite, which is the parking lot on the north side of the CEED building, alongside Business 83. The idea is to have the food trucks open for lunch, and then until 10 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
“We wanted to create an environment that complimented the CEED building in general,” Silva said. “We wanted for tenants of the building to benefit from having a variety of food options in close proximity to the building. We also hope that by having the food trucks on site, our local tenants, such as 5×5 and Jitterz Coffee, will see new customers experience their brew and become regulars.”
5×5 Brewing Company opens its taproom Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to 10 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 10 p.m., and often hosts rotating food trucks. The Jitterz Coffee Bar inside of the CEED building is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
While the fleet of food trucks will give hungry CEED tenants an outlet for lunchtime dining, Silva also sees the park benefiting the Mission community.
“We have a large, well-lit establishment with plenty of outdoor seating and space for multiple venders,” he said. “Our vision is that this becomes an area for families to experience food vendors in a very casual way.”
Silva says he has traveled to many similar areas in cities in and around the state of Texas — food truck parks that cater to families. Seeing the success of those operations and the way they benefited the communities they were located in was another factor that went into establishing the Mission Food Park.
“I am most excited about the potential for a family-friendly environment that you can experience in a lot of the cities up north,” Silva said. “We are also excited to see new startup food vendors hopefully gain enough loyal customers and become profitable enough that they one day open a brick and mortar restaurant in Mission.”
The new food park is just one of many ways Mission EDC is looking to enhance Mission and the Rio Grande Valley through programs and initiatives at the CEED building.
“The CEED building will always evolve to try and serve needs that we see in the community,” Silva said. “We feel that our location is in close proximity to a lot of people and it has a safe environment for these type of establishments. We will continue to offer training and educational programs and having food venders in close proximity, we hope will add to the energy that we are trying to establish.”
Learn more about the Center for Education and Economic Development by visiting missionceed.org.
