Food Truck Festival at Apartments at Maddie offers family fun and diverse weekly tastes

The food truck park at The Boone has space for three trucks. Follow Downtown Greeley on Social Media to find the schedule. Photo by Emily Kemme.

By Emily Kemme

When picking a dinner spot, people often have different tastes. Even if dining out with family, it can be tough to give your flock a choice. Birds of a feather may hang together, but they don’t necessarily eat the same things. 

One of the best places to satisfy diverse tastes is at a food truck rally. Not familiar with what that means? Think of it as a food festival or gathering, a type of potluck where instead of everyone bringing special dishes, the food is cooked by professionals. And it’s served from the window of a large truck.

Richmark owns the Apartments at Maddie, a collection of three buildings — The Boone, The Walker and The Eliot — totaling 221 upscale units dotting 8th Avenue in downtown Greeley. Amenities at the modern apartments offer a 24-hour gym, pool, dog park, rooftop patio and on-site retail.

When developing the project, the vision entailed finding something to enhance and revitalize 8th Avenue while also bringing something the wider community could enjoy, Asset Manager Christine Ostrowski said.

The first taste of summer. Photo by Emily Kemme.

“We designed it originally to be an additional amenity for our tenants and it became something for the community to support food trucks, a way to develop 8th Avenue, and help create downtown activities.” 

That idea evolved into Food Truck Fridays on one of the complex’s grounds. As the building closest to the University of Northern Colorado, The Boone was the ideal choice.

The Apartments at Maddie are so named because 8th Avenue was originally platted as Madison Avenue. Soon after chartering Union Colony, the young town allocated tree names to its streets; avenues were named after famous men, historic preservation advocate Linde Thompson explained. 

Adjacent to UNC and Apartments at Maddie is 16th Street, one of Greeley’s main east-west arteries. It was originally named Normal Way — the school’s origins date to its beginnings as a State Normal School where students learned to become teachers.

Street names were changed to the numbering system in 1884, Elizabeth Kellums, a Greeley city planner focusing on historic preservation, said. 

A basket of fries topped with pulled pork from Smoking’ Bros BBQ. Photo Emily Kemme.

Initially, the idea had been to plant trees corresponding to street names — Linden, Magnolia, Chestnut, to name a few.

The story goes that the numerical system replaced the more poetic arboreal designations after early settlers discovered that some of the named species wouldn’t survive in Greeley’s arid environment. However, the real reason was a national city planning trend highlighting the grid plan, Kellums explained. 

According to a report prepared by the late Peggy Ford Waldo, on September 15, 1884, the Board of Trustees passed special ordinance #39, changing the proper names of the streets to a numerical system. . ..” (Historical Background, Greeley Historic Preservation Plan, 1995). 

“The only vestige of the system is a brick house that’s part of the Meeker Commons development on 5th Street and 10th Avenue,” Thompson said. The erstwhile home of William R. Ross “featured two corner bricks incised with the original street names, Oak and Adams,” Waldo’s report stated.

Driving down this urban corridor today, shade trees over one hundred years old grace the university, before giving way to a stretch of road where longtime businesses have thrived, which, in the manner of time, has seen others coming in to take their place. 

On Friday evenings, children romp and play corn hole at The Boone, while their parents relax at week’s end, sitting on umbrella-covered picnic tables and enjoying diverse food truck cuisine. It’s a community mix, predominantly those who want to live in the downtown area, one that includes both UNC students, young professionals and families.

On a recent Friday evening at The Boone, children romped and played corn hole while Patrick Hesse entertained patrons on guitar. Photo by Emily Kemme.

Last Friday’s event kicked off the summer season with Patrick Hesse performing on guitar, and a raffle with giveaways for local restaurants. 

Ostrowski said they would like to expand the event to more days of the week.

The food truck park has space for three trucks, who often bring their following. Regulars include Smokin’ Bros BBQ, Ay Dios Mio Burritos, The Taco Man, Cheese Love Grill, E & R’s Tasty Tacos, Mile High Lobster Shack, and Berry Blendz, which operates a fresh fruit and veggie smoothie shop in one of the leased retail locations on site at The Boone. 

What you need to know

Where: The Boone, between 16th and 17th Streets on 8th Avenue.

When: Most Fridays, weather permitting. Events generally run from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

What to expect: music on some Fridays; non-alcoholic beverages available for purchase from food trucks; public restrooms.

To find otu if your favorite truck is featured: Follow Downtown Greeley on Social Media.