Mendon, MA: Popular Food Truck in Mendon may be on the Move Again

Since August, the charismatic purveyor of plump smoked dogs has stationed the roving kitchen in front of Westwood Lumber Co. on Cape Road. The town permitted Joe, 61, to set up shop after he had a falling out with the new owners of Larry’s Package Store in Bellingham, former home of Larry Joe’s New England Fire Pit.

But recently the owners of the 23 Cape Road parcel sold it, putting the Hopedale resident and his food truck — so popular it has spawned a Facebook group called “Fanatic Fans of Larry Joe’s New England Fire Pit” — in limbo once again.

“I have not talked to the new owners,” Joe said last week while preparing to head over to the Westwood Lumber parking lot for another day of slinging his half-pound dogs. “I have not presupposed anything. I will wait for them to talk to me.”

Joe has experienced this predicament before. For years he had been parked beside the Route 126 liquor store, building up a devoted, hungry fan base. But earlier this year, the former owners sold the business.

At first, Joe, an Arkansas native, was uncertain new ownership would allow him to stay. He waited, but never heard from anyone. So he started thinking about other locations, optimally a spot near the store.

Gary Smith, a realtor in Mendon and a self-described Fire Pit “fanatic,” scouted a few places for Joe, including Westwood Lumber. Owner Donald Chase welcomed Joe and his apple juice-and- molasses-marinated morsels.

“We let Larry Joe come in because it made good business sense as a way to just to pull more people in,” Chase said last week.

He refused to give the name of the new owner, saying negotiations were still progressing. “I’m not sure this new guy will deal with Larry or not,” he said.

For his part, Joe remains unfazed by the prospect of another move.

“I understand the new owner is local,” he said. “I’m not going to panic; I’m going to wait and see what the property owners would like to do. We are not as distressed this time as we were before.”

Until he hears otherwise, Joe will continue parking his food truck at Westwood Lumber from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

And if, at some point, he must pick up and leave, he’s confident his faithful will find him: “They are still finding us. I had somebody come by last week and say, ‘Oh, man, I found you!’”