James & Colin in December of 2010.

James & Colin in December of 2010.

Justin, Syd, Colin, and Sam dream teaming in 2012

Justin, Syd, Colin, and Sam dream teaming in 2012

Our team taking home the Boston Burger Battle win in 2017

Our team taking home the Boston Burger Battle win in 2017

About Us

 

I'm not going to tell you who Roxy is, but I will tell you the story of how this all happened. Roxy's started out as an accident, really. I was in my last year at Emerson College and spending all of my vacation time touring with my brother Mike's punk band all over the US and Europe. We survived on $5 a day, as well as the ever present spreads of bread and cheese from each country we visited. I joked that I could live off of bread and cheese alone, and a lightbulb went off in my head.

Faced with impending college graduation, I went on my first real job interview with a small market research firm. I showed up to my interview in a suit that was far too small. I was hot and uncomfortable, but somehow managed to get a second interview with the CEO. The morning of the interview, it occurred to me - I didn't own another suit. I wasn't willing to wear that awful suit again, so I called up the company before the interview, told them I accepted another position (I didn't), and started thinking of ways where I could live off bread and cheese. Two weeks later I bought a food truck off of Craigslist. But there was a small problem. Food trucks weren't legal in Boston.

I spent the better part of a year bugging every phone number on the city of Boston website until I convinced the Boston Parks Department to give me a food cart license (those were legal). I paid for the permit in full for the year so it would be harder for them to take it back once they realized I had a truck and not a cart. We passed our health inspection and somehow we ended up becoming the first food truck in Boston to park on a city street. 

Why a food truck? A food truck gave us the opportunity to get up close and personal with our guests. We wanted to meet our guests and our community and get to know them as closely as possible. It was amazing to be able to have a conversation with the person you were cooking for. We knew as we grew that we wanted to preserve that experience. 

When we started, we committed to taking the little money we had and using it to buy the best ingredients possible. We wanted to serve the type of food you would tell your friends about. To this day we're slicing our own cheeses, cutting our potatoes by hand, making our guacamole, brining and dredging our own chicken. 

We've certainly grown beyond just grilled cheese, and beyond just food trucks. But the reason we're here is the same reason why we started - to do something fun, delicious, and innovative, that people can connect with. 

James DiSabatino / Founder & Owner