Food truck hopes to be a big dog in Elko County, and that's not a corny goal

ELY — The Corndog Co. is a family-operated food truck that stops across Elko County — pretty much events looking for crispy, hand-dipped, handheld treats.

"We've expanded as far as the different areas we go to, as recently as getting a city license for Elko," said Christopher Garcia, a native of Ely, where his franchise is based.

"Before, we would go up to Elko County, no problem. Now we can attend events inside the city, and we were recently invited to Winnemucca. And we can go to Wendover, so kind of all over northeastern Nevada," said Garcia. "I think our favorite event in the past year would be Fourth of July in Spring Creek."

The Corndog Cois a national string of franchises, with numerous locations in Utah and Idaho. It has locations in almost two dozen states, including Hawaii. Garcia's truck is one of two Nevada locations; the other one is in Mesquite.

"We had been to a friend's wedding and they had actually brought in one of the Corndog Co. trucks from out of the area. That's where we tried it, and we fell in love with it. Later on, we were talking and we ultimately decided we wanted to try the franchise on our own," Garcia said.

"Thankfully, due to the increase in population in the area, we quickly built a great customer base that watches our social media." Also, word of mouth is a major help, he added.

"Every event is kind of unknown, at least for the first time," Garcia said. "So many different variables go into it, like how many other trucks are going to be there, the turnout of the event, was it publicized enough leading up to the event — that kind of thing." In addition, he said he has to keep track of "things as simple as power, where we can park overnight when we're not open, because our truck has to be powered constantly."

"If we're staying in the motel, in theory, we'd have to run a generator in the parking lot all night. So usually we opt for an Airbnb, where we can just go down to our refrigerators and just plug those in," he said.

Garcia said his upcoming goals are to "continue the growth we're on and have another great event season next year." Also, "maybe in the future, adding an additional truck, maybe specific for events — or maybe a second location."

"We appreciate all the support we get throughout the state, but especially up in Elko County and the city of Elko. We look forward to our continued growth there," Garcia said.

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