After making a splash in the water recreation business with Rich Port Adventure Co., owners Orlando Rodriguez-Polanco and wife, Jessica have set their sights on bringing the area authentic Puerto Rican dishes.

“We started Rich Port Adventure in 2019 with the kayak rentals, and the river tours and stuff, and last summer, we went full time with it,” Orlando said.

But, summer only lasts so long, unfortunately, and as wintertime started to creep in, the husband-wife duo began looking at ways to expand their business.

“We went to the fair, and I’m asking everyone, what do you get in the wintertime? Everybody said ‘food.,” he added.

“The River Festival last year was our first time. My mom set up and she did chicken on a stick and she sold empanadas out of a tent,” Orlando said. “And then we got invited to the Watsontown Fourth of July, and that was the first time that me and my wife jumped in. It was like a big family affair. Me, my wife, my brother, my mom…everybody was kind of in on it and we ran booths for the Fourth of July car show, and it was just packed. That was that was the day that we were like ‘okay, we have to get a food truck!'”

“So last September, we got the trailer and we went for those two events, and started planning towards, and got it rolling,” Orlando said. “Then September, for the block party, in Montgomery was our first event with the actual trailer.”

From there on, the food side took on a life of its own.

“It’s the food that kind of keeps us going all year. We changed our shop over. Initially it was going to be kayak displays, and now it’s tables and booths, and we’re serving food out of that location too. So we’ve kind of doubled up. We have the on-site location at the Adventure Company, and then we have the food truck that rolls around.”

While family was at the root of the venture, the decision to focus on Puerto Rican food has a deeply personal connection, as well.

“It’s just my favorite food! My wife and I are both from Puerto Rico,” Orlando said. “I was born there, and grew up in the States. My wife was born and raised there. When I was growing up, every couple of years, I’d go back to Puerto Rico. Every time I got to my grandpa’s house, it was ‘what do you want to do?’ And I’m like, ‘take me to the beach, let’s go get some of those empanadas.’ So when my wife and I were looking for ideas for what kind of food we could put together, nobody was doing it, you know?”

“And she (Orlando’s wife) just happens to make some really delicious food,” Orlando said. “So that was our go-to. She’s the one that really cooks everything. She’s the real MVP. She makes all the food I just would go out there and roll it up.”

“I’m also pretty proud of the fact that we’re using locally raised, locally sourced ingredients as much as we can,” Orland said. “We get our beef locally raised from H&B Farms in Muncy, which is super fresh, and they don’t use any antibiotics or anything. You definitely can taste the difference.”

With the expansion of their brick and mortar location, the couple will be busy adding dishes that are more traditional to a sit down atmosphere. They hope to add rice specials, platters and different chicken and pork options.

And, with the change of season, an expansive change up of the menu is right around the corner.

“We’re definitely looking at seasonal dishes like pasteles and different things that you see more around the holidays, drinks like coquito, a traditional Puerto Rican drink,” Orlando said.

Orlando also added that they have been branching out with their empanada flavors. They have a Nutella and marshmallow, buffalo chicken dip, buffalo chicken mac and cheese, cheeseburger and more.

“We’re going to be playing around with some apple pie flavors,” Orlando said, adding that customer suggestions have played a role in some of the upcoming options. “People have been asking us for apple pie and pumpkin pie in the fall. So yeah, it’s gonna be exciting to start playing with some flavors.”

Though The Empanada Shack is a relatively new venture, the couple have found camaraderie among the area’s many food trucks, even hosting many of them at events at their Flagship location.

“For me, it’s community over competition,” Orlando said. “You know, if you’re competing, you’re going get your customers, but when we’re working together, we all do so much better.”

“I just wanna say there’s so many awesome food trucks in the area,” Orlando said. “It’s really cool because we’re kind of like a family. But, we have something different. It’s just about keeping the vibe alive. We’re trying to bring our beach vibe. We’ve missed being on the island, we want to be there too, but at the same time, we want to bring that feeling with us wherever we go. I always say it’s about adapting to the vibe where you are, it’s about bringing the vibe that you want to where you are.”

“I will add that we really take care of our customers,” Jessica added. “We try to make their experience a good one, and just treat them well and we have good customer service.”

For more information on The Empanada Shack, including where they will be popping up next, please visit the Rich Port Adventure Facebook page or @the_empanadashack on Instagram.

The Caribbean Touch may be on the newer side, but owners, Eric and Carrie Christie are determined to bring a taste of their home to the community.

The truck started on April 23, 2022 and was inspired by Eric’s love for cooking.

“I love to cook and my grandparents taught me how to cook when I was young,” he said. “I travel a lot, and I would work in different restaurants, and I always liked to host parties at my house. Everybody liked my food, and they would say ‘you need to open up a restaurant.'”

“My mom came up with the name, because it’s like a touch of the Caribbean. It’s a little bit of Spanish, Jamaican, you know, a little bit of everything,” Eric added.

Eric found the market in the area lacking in diverse, culture-based food, and took it upon himself to fill that void.

“I’m from the Caribbean, basically I’m Spanish and Jamaican, and we have to go out of town to get any food from home. It’s hard to find something around here with that type of flavor,” he said. “So, I thought, why not do it here?”

Providing any unique product comes with difficulties in breaking into the mainstream, and the Christies are no strangers to this.

“We try to switch up the food a little bit. We do jerk chicken cheesesteaks, we’ve got the alla-catch, which is a fish type of hoagie, and we do a shrimp steak,” Eric said. “We’ve been doing different things to try to bring people in, keeping things familiar, but also giving them a little bit of Caribbean flavor in it.”

Blending the familiar with a splash of the exotic has been a winning recipe, as several favorites have emerged from the tactic. Eric said the oxtails, jerk chicken cheesesteaks, jerk chicken wings and jerk chicken platters are just some of the truck’s fan favorite items.

“Everybody loves the cabbage because I don’t put meat in it, but it feels like there is,” Eric said. “We’re trying to boil it down to three or four items now, because our menu is big. On our website, we have our catering menu and our regular menu.”

The making of their menu items has a strong focus on freshness, with both locally and authentically-sourced ingredients.

“We use a lot of fresh fruits, meats, peppers and things like that,” Eric said. “We buy a lot from the Amish in Lock Haven. I get my seasonings from overseas. I stock up on them, because you can’t get the real jerk sauce here, so I make my own sauce once I have the right ingredients from home.”

Eric added that everything he cooks is from his grandmother’s recipes.

“I’m still trying to fight my mom for some of them,” Eric said.

Always looking to be ahead of the curb, The Caribbean Touch offers online ordering as well as delivery, an option not often seen with food trucks.

“If it’s snowing and people don’t want to come out, we will do delivery,” Eric said. “We have somebody that’s really motivated, and even myself, if I have to do it, I will.”

The couple are also kept busy with the catering aspect of their business.

“Normally, at the end of the year, one or two colleges will call us for catering, Bucknell University called us maybe four or five times already, and Penn College called us already four or five times. And, we’ve been doing medium-sized and small parties for people,” Eric added.

Along with catering, this is a busy time for the couple as they look to add new items for the winter season.

“We’re working on getting our homemade soups up and running, we will have chicken and seafood,” Eric said. “We’ll be having a little bit of soul food in it, and we did a jerk turkey that’s really good, and we made a Jamaican-style chicken noodle soup. And, the platters are nice and heavy for this time of the year.”

Though breaking through with new food options has had its bumps, Eric said that his authenticity as a person has helped him continue to make in-roads.

“A lot of people know me from the area and from the things I do for my church, and basically our whole family, because I’m very friendly with everybody,” Eric said. “And a lot of restaurants can be hit or miss, but people know that when Eric is cooking there are no misses, only hits.”

To find out where The Caribbean Touch will be set up next, please visit their Facebook page, their website, caribbeantouch.net, or check out their Instagram at @touch_caribbean.