Gramma Lil’s distinctive red food truck parked on the quad of the CT State Community College Manchester campus like a shimmering pond in a dry desert, which is what the campus had become since the vendor running the Cougar’s Cave cafeteria closed for the holidays in December and never reopened for the spring semester. Since then, food options on campus had been limited to what was available in the Food Pantry and vending machines. (See “Cafeteria Closure Crisis” story https://icemediamcc.org/1311/on-campus-event/cafeteria-closure-crisis/.)

Enter Gramma Lil’s, a food truck that grew out of an ice cream truck started last year. The truck, run by owner Meaghan Clark and her family, offers a variety of packaged and fresh items, including fresh egg sandwiches for breakfast and chicken tenders and fries for lunch.

For Clark, the campus was not completely new.

“I went here 40 years ago for my associate’s degree, it’s beautiful now,” she said, adding that the idea to bring her truck to campus was brought to her one day while she was parked near the entrance to highway 84 a few weeks ago. “We met some people that came to our trailer off the 84 ramp and they said ‘We go to MCC, we don’t have a cafeteria, can you guys come there?’ So, I emailed somebody here and got through…and the next thing you know we’re here. And we’ll be here until the end of the semester.”