We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrew Hewett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

I started my food truck business where I served in the same spot everyday on the intersection of Sheridan and Colfax. It was a very difficult side of town to operate in due to it is a high crime rate area. I ended up knowing everyone in that area. All of the hard workers, the police, the homeless, and the others making their money in maybe a not so honest way. It was a constant to challenge to manage everything going on in the area, from people constantly begging my customers for money, to people passed out on drugs 30 feet away from where I was trying to sell food and grow a business, to people steeling my tip jar and throwing it across Sheridan Blvd or threatening me with baseball bats and homemade machetes. I eventually learned that catering only for me was the way to go, and now I serve in a new spot almost every time I operate. I love making my customers catering visions become a success with high quality, authentic food, served quickly with great customer service in almost any kind of event you can think of.

Another story, I was Inside my food truck. I get a phone call from the barber shop across the street that some lady was steeling my stools from the seating area. I looked across the street and saw her running away. I ran across the street and grabbed them back, and she proceeded to take her shoes off and start throwing them at me. She followed me all the way back over to the taco truck and started chucking them at my head. I get back to the truck and she throws another one and it goes over my head and into the truck. Of course, a customer was walking up at the same time and said “looks like you are having a good day” I responded, “you know what it is a great day, I’m my own boss and sales are good today. ” That is the drive that has kept me going the whole time… being my own boss. 20 minutes after this “event”, I see the same lady with a tire in each arm that she stole from a local tire shop , walking across the street, no shoes on anymore.

One time, I was serving at a dive bar near Sloane’s Lake called the Lakeview Lounge. I saw two girls get in a fight in the parking lot at 2 am. One of them jumps in her car and tries to run the other girl over. She misses, and takes out the whole fence in front of the lounge and takes off down the road. Apparently it popped both of her tires because police caught up to her on Sheridan.

Another time I saw a guy rear end someone going North on Sheridan right in front of the truck. There was smoke everywhere and the guy slowly gets out , grabs a few things, and takes off running. I jumped in my car and followed him and helped the police identify and catch him. It was a stolen car.

One time someone stole my car when it was warming up on a cold day. I saw them take off with my car. I ran to the intersection where they were forced to stop at a light. I ripped the door open, gave them a few punches, and commandeered back my vehicle.

I had beer bottles thrown at me, while trying to protect my turf. Every day was a new journey, but it made me stronger because I learned to tackle so many different problems that everything else seems easier now that I am catering only.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

True Love Tacos is a hassle free-catering service. We use authentic recipes, and all of our product is locally sourced. When you hire us for your graduation party, wedding, corporate/ any type of event, you don’t need to provide anything. Just let us take care of everything so you can enjoy the event with your friends, family, or co – workers. We serve authentic, fresh, Mexican food quickly with great customer service. We have served up to 200 people in one hour.

I am most proud of Never Giving Up ! We started in March 2020 right before Covid broke out. We have been open for over three years now, and after three years you really start to get your processes down. I am looking in to franchising soon, so you may see many more True Love Taco trucks out there, and maybe a brick and mortar location !

Our food is always consistent. We keep a simpler menu which allows us to not only serve our guests quickly, but also to create a consistent product every single time. Its all about putting yourself in front of the right audience. The simpler menu will also help me scale and to create a cookie cutter system where future franchisees will be able to mimic and create the same quality of food.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Starting 23 days before the Covid shutdown was very difficult. It was hard to get all the materials and food needed to feed my customers. The rules and regulations changed every couple of weeks. I was a brand-new business and I had to learn everything about operating while in the middle of a pandemic. While everyone was hunkered down in their house, I was out there every day all day long trying to keep everything working. Sales started off pretty well , because we were one of the only places to eat in that area which helped keep the ball rolling through the pandemic. I wanted to quit so many times. The thing that kept me going was I wanted to be my own boss so extremely that I refused to give up.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started off with a location that I parked at every day on the corner of Sheridan and Colfax. I was in that spot for two years. Then I had an experience where I got hired for one of my first catering events and made the amount of money I made in one week in just two days. It opened my mind that I wasn’t using the full potential of my assets. I decided to switch to catering only. I worked super hard all summer of 2022 , and got my systems down for catering down to a science. Now I get to choose the schedule I want, and which gigs I want to participate in. I’ve increased my marketing through my website, google, yelp, social media platforms, and now my phone is blowing up all the time with people who want tacos. It was a hard transition with lots of tough lessons, but now I am having so much more fun catering fun events all over Denver, compared to being parked in the same spot everyday.

I also have combined my skills of teaching yoga with my tacos. I teach Yoga, Tacos, and Beer at Public Offering Brewing. We host this event one Saturday per month, and its free ! Follow True Love Tacos on Social Media to find out the next dates. I love teaming up with local businesses and creating new things. I’ve also hosted a famous food eating competitor called Raina is Crazy and she tried to eat 40 tacos in 40 minutes. See the you-tube video below to see if she finishes all 40 tacos….

Contact Info:

• Website: www.truelovetacos.com
• Instagram: True_Love_Tacos
• Facebook: facebook.com/truelovetacos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AebEUkmBmzU
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/true-love-tacos-edgewater
• Other: https://kdvr.com/news/food-truck-friday-with-true-love-tacos/

Image Credits
Makayla Ervin Grant Barta Brandon Temple