“We’ve been open a month. I started six months ago, but started planning something like this at least three years ago,” said Mercer. “I think Waco is totally in the middle of a food truck craze. People are realizing food trucks are great incubators for new food concepts.

“You could spend $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 on a food truck or half a million on a physical location.”

Mercer, who calls himself a “serial entrepreneur,” also owns Unlimited Self-Storage on La Salle Avenue, where he continues to buy properties.

He said his ultimate goal was to make sites along La Salle Avenue “unique destinations in their own right”. The road already has a lot to do with it, as it connects downtown and Baylor University to Valley Mills Drive and a traffic circle, he said.

“I would like to see a bank branch in La Salle, a department store, entertainment, maybe a regional grocery store to fill the void left when HEB closes its shop near the Baylor campus,” he said. “I want to get to the point where people ask, ‘What are we doing today? And the answer is,’ Let’s go to La Salle Avenue. ‘”

Mercer said he applied two criteria to fill the food park.

“I don’t want two trucks to be similar, in terms of menus, and I want each to have an existing social media following. I don’t want someone who is fresh and environmentally friendly,” Mercer said. “When it comes time to narrow down the choices, I’ll have the entire office staff visit the finalists, and everyone will order something different from the menu.