January 18, 2022 – West Bend, WI – Nate Schultz is a bit more grounded these days as he parks his popular food truck to open a brick-and-mortar establishment, the Nosh Nook, 1179 N. Main Street, in West Bend, WI.
Cooking in the kitchen since he was 17, Schultz took his experiences from local restaurants and in 2019 made the leap to a food truck.
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“My mom helped me; we found it online in Florida,” he said. “It wasn’t in the best condition. It was an old camper trailer converted into a food truck.”
Schultz spent a couple months reworking the interior and trying to jazz up the exterior. When a vinyl wrap wouldn’t work, he shifted plans and painted the exterior to look like red bricks.
The familiar red-and-white Nosh Nook trailer became a fixture at the local farmers’ market.
That theme has now carried through to the interior of his new establishment.
“You could see the brick theme has kind of followed me,” he said.
The north and east walls of the interior of the Nosh Nook have been created by local artist and friend Allen Moehr LLC.
The pair worked together in their teens at Toucan Custard and years later, after their careers evolved, they find themselves working alongside each other in familiar surroundings.
Allen, Schultz’s fiancé Nicole, and Schultz are finding their groove in their new space.
“We had a lot of family and friends that showed up on our opening day,” said Schultz. “We had a lot of food truck regulars too.
“I was trying to be personable and introduce myself and see how everyone liked it. Overall, you know, it seemed to be a good experience for everybody.”
Schultz describes the Nosh Nook as “quick, fresh goodness.”
“That’s basically what it comes down to just is you want to get the food up quick. You don’t want people to wait, everything’s fresh, everything’s made from scratch and got a good taste,” he said.
The menu at the Nosh Nook has a touch of Mexican flare.
“Mexican American fusion,” said Schultz. “None of it is by any means authentic Mexican, but, when you add tortillas, it kind of gets that reputation.”
Schultz said he likes to pair things. “You know, salt, sweet, sour, just kind of a good blend of all the flavors in each dish; stuff you’re not going to find really anywhere around this area.”
During the soft opening, Schultz said the California breakfast burger was popular. “I got a really good compliment from a guy who must have been, say about 60. He told me it was the best burger he’s ever had and that was quite a compliment.”
Other hot-ticket menu items included the chicken breakfast burrito, chicken bacon breakfast burrito or breakfast tacos. The salmon toast also went over very well and the O.G. burrito is a favorite among regulars.
Fans of the food truck are already grilling Schultz on whether he’ll be on the road again come summer.
“I just want to kind of take it step by step,” said Schultz. “If I can keep both of them going, sure, that’d be amazing. Right now… I’m just going to kind of go with the flow, I guess.”
Nosh Nook is open 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.