Craving an awesome burger? Look no farther than Food Freaks Unique Burger Company.
Formerly a food truck with a cult-like following, Food Freaks now has a restaurant at 720 Wilkesboro Street in Mocksville. The restaurant officially opened on October 2nd and is celebrating its grand opening all week long with food specials and live music.
Owner, Brandon Cassidy, is thrilled with the response so far. “Our family of employees, wife, four kids, and I want to thank you all for the amazing show of love and support. Like many, we have struggled during this weird and challenging time in our country, we have worked hard and had a lot of help along the way. It’s been a seven-year journey from a little 14-foot food truck to this grand opening, and none of it would have been possible without the amazing support of some amazing people,” said Cassidy, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Marie, and four children, Lana, Ian, Eli, and Liam.
Living Their Crazy Dream
Food Freaks, known for its award-winning stuffed burgers, hand-cut fries, and apple rings, began in 2013 as a career change for Cassidy who had spent the previous 18 years in education. “I’ve always had a passion for cooking and creating and often catered parties, weddings, tailgates, etc. I thought food trucks looked like an up and coming thing.”
“Of course everyone told me I was crazy. I quit my job and we spent many nights questioning what we were doing but we lived and we learned and here we are. Now we have two food trucks and a restaurant.”
“When we first started the food truck we didn’t know that burgers were what we would go with,” added Marie.”We started out with a rotating menu of different items. After we attended a food truck rodeo at the Brewer’s Kettle in Kernersville Brandon decided that he wanted to focus on stuffed burgers.”
The Evolution of an Award Winning Menu
Food Freaks started with five core burgers, the “Godfather” (salami, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, basil, garlic mayo pesto); “Food Freak House” (bacon, jam, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce); “Rhythm & Bleu” (bleu cheese, bacon jam, sriracha chili mayo); “Wild Mexi” (andouille sausage, jalapenos, muenster cheese, sriracha chili mayo); and “Elvis” (bourbon-glazed apples, bacon jam, cheddar cheese, and banana peanut butter chutney.
The menu now includes 10 staple burgers and Cassidy has created over 70 specialty combinations that rotate through for about two weeks at a time. Right now it’s the “Ta Killa Peach” and the “Fair Wheel.”
Seven-year-old Liam is quick to tell you that his favorite is the “Mama’s Jammin Fig” with extra jam. He says his siblings’ favorites are “Puff Mento” for Eli, “Ta Killa Peach” for Ian, and “Mama’s Jammin Fig” for Lana.
Ian, who is 12, added that everything is fresh, never frozen, and cooked to order.
“We prep and patty meat daily,” explained Cassidy. “It makes it harder on us but it’s important. Sometimes people have a hard time understanding why our food takes longer than a typical burger place, but we are foodies creating gourmet burgers.”
Cassidy’s burgers are well worth the wait. He has been contacted by the Food Network and the show “Diners, Drive-In, and Dives.
They’ve won numerous awards:
- The Food Truck State Championship two years in a row
- “Fan Favorite” and “Critic’s Choice” at the Cornelius Invitational
- “#1 Top-Rated Food Vendor” at the 2018 Heartbright Invitational
- Awards for creative ingredients and menu
“We’ve been fortunate. Every time we’ve entered a competition we’ve placed or won it which really helped put our food truck on the map.”
Food Freaks has crisscrossed the state from Winston-Salem to Greensboro to Mocksville, Clemmons, Salisbury, Cornelius, Charlotte, Mooresville, Raleigh. “You name it, we’ve been there,” he said.
Still on the Road
With the opening of the restaurant, one food truck will remain on the road as Food Freaks and the other will be repurposed as Roll and Rise Bakeshop featuring an old-fashioned glazed yeast doughnut that Cassidy has spent the last eight months perfecting.
“I never knew that doughnuts would be harder than burgers,” he said with a smile.
Transitioning from food trucks to a restaurant was almost happenstance.
Residents of Mocksville for over 10 years, the family had eaten at the Pizza Barn which was owned by Kip Miller, owner of Miller’s Restaurant. “We spent a lot of time talking to Kip about what the building would become. We have such a good following in this area and the food truck business is so different now. You are pounding the pavement every day. I was traveling every day and getting home at 11 or 12 o’clock at night which is really hard with kids. I didn’t have the energy or time to spend with my family. I decided this was a good time and a good location, next to an iconic restaurant in Mocksville.”
“We signed our lease last November and were hard at work trying to get things going. We were two weeks away from applying for our permit when Covid hit. We backed down to see what would happen. Kip really worked with us. We were lucky he works in the restaurant business too and understands what we were dealing with.”
From (L to R) John Boger, Jen Boger, and Frances Little enjoy lunch
Burgers and Beer Tag
In addition to an award-winning array of burgers, the restaurant has a 24-tap beverage system offering a wide range of craft beers and a few domestics. Currently, there are 12 taps running but Cassidy expects to have all of them going in the next couple of months.
The restaurant will continue to offer periodic entertainment that will be announced on Facebook. “We will have bands, artists, DJs, etc. in the outdoor patio area with wood-burning fire pits during cool nights.”
Cassidy is excited about a “beer tag” promotion in which someone can buy a beer for another person and leave them a beer tag on a designated wall. That person would have 30 days to redeem the gift. The money from any unredeemed tags will be given monthly to a local charity, group, or church.
“We have some big goals here that I’m not ready to disclose yet but we have some big goals for this building and what it can be for Mocksville.”
“We deeply appreciate the kindness, acceptance, and support we’ve received and the continued help spreading the word about our business.”
Hours of Operation and Music for Grand Opening Week October 2-10, 2020
- Friday, October 2nd open from 11-10 pm with The Exit 180 Band from 6:30-9:30 pm
- Saturday, October 3rd open from 11-10 pm with the Zack Brock & Good Intentions band from 6-9 pm
- Sunday, October 4th open from 12-8 pm with The Tyler Millard Band 1-4 pm
- Monday & Tuesday, October 5th & 6th open from 11-9 pm both days with a doubleheader from James Vincent Carroll Music from 6-8 pm
- Wednesday, October 7th open from 11-9 with DJ’d music from their very own employees Keith and Johnny
- Thursday, October 8th open from 11-9 with music from His & Hers Band from 6-8 pm
- Friday, October 9th open from 11-10 with music from SoundKraft from 6:30-9:30 pm
- Saturday, October 10th, 11-5 pm (kitchen will be closing at 5 pm on Saturday for a private staff event from 6-9)
The hours of operation after the grand opening week will be Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 11-9, Friday and Saturday 11-10, and Sunday 12-8. The restaurant will be closed on Tuesdays.
Food Freaks Unique Burger Barn will be closed for a week beginning Sunday, October 11th. Check Facebook for re-opening details and food specials.
Food Freaks Unique Burger Barn offers indoor and outdoor seating as well as take-out. The restaurant can be reached at (336) 936-9267 or foodfreaks.nc@gmail.com.
