By: Matt Stock
Last month, the South End got the best surprise gift ever. As is often the case in these situations, it came in the form of a shiny red box. With wheels. And pork sliders and nachos and fresh smoked chicken salad served three ways, and CHILI DOGS. We finally had a daily local food truck, and we had two of the coolest dudes in town to thank for it.
The story of Papa Wheelies Smoked Meats and Eats is about two pals with a dream, and 20 years of time spent together working in restaurants and tearing up the many trails of Hilton Head Island on their bikes. There was also a bit of tearing up the town. Bryan Bobinchuck and Tim Moore have some serious miles on their tires.
Speaking of the early days, Moore says of Bobinchuck, “At first I was his party protege, but once we got that sorted out I became his work protege and I learned a bunch from him in the kitchen at Catch 22, not just about cooking, but about working on stuff, fixing things, talking to people, just being awesome in general, I learned from this guy.”
The seeds were planted over a year ago, with the boys ready for a change and cooking up a fun, free-wheeling concept. Good food, good friends, good rides, good times, all the time. In addition to serving up fresh, tasty food on the fly at great prices, they regularly promote the biking life through their business, be it through promoting trail rides with friends on their social media, popping some tricks in front of the truck for customers, or even rewarding riders with free cookies. “It’s pretty cool isn’t it?,” asks Moore. “It all really came together, raising awareness of the good times that are out there and it doesn’t feel forced.”
Locals seem to agree, as they began showing support and singing praises immediately following the surprise opening. “It was cool to see so many Southenders come out and support us, so many friends,” says Bobinchuck. “It really blew up on Facebook and took off. But we wouldn’t have gotten into this if we didn’t feel we had a good product, and if it wasn’t kick-ass we wouldn’t even have tried it.”
It does indeed kick ass, and while Moore and Bobinchuck have some exciting plans for the future, right now they’re just enjoying the ride, dare we say living the dream. “I used to say I’m living the nightmare,” says Bobinchuck, “but hey, nightmares are dreams too. Today I actually said ‘living the dream’ and I felt it, for real. We literally high five at the end of every day, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”