BILLINGS - Wednesday marked the first day of Lent, a time when a lot of Christians forgo eating meat and turn to eating fish. Sounds like a perfect day for the On The Hook Fish and Chips Food Truck to roll into town.
If you are looking for line-caught, beer battered wild Alaskan cod and thick cut French fries, look no further than the big blue truck. On The Hook food truck was developed by Hunter Anderson and Ocean Andrew back in 2016 when they were both students at University of Wyoming. Ocean always wanted to start a food truck using the fish caught by his father in Alaska and once he shared that dream with Hunter, the two went into business together.
What started as two guys and one truck, has now grown into nine trucks operating over ten different states serving exclusively beer batted fish and chips.
Evan Suppes was the captain of this ship here in Billings today and he says that this is a port he always enjoys sailing into.
“We just picked up Billings, or picked up Montana this last year. We've been here probably four or five times, but we're really trying to come back as many times as we possibly can. I love the people. Everyone here is just really kind and very respectful."
And the people came out today in the 25 degree heat wave, forming a line about 15 minutes before the truck officially opened for lunch. Some were returning patrons and some were excited for their first time, like Vickie, who was on her lunch break from work.
"It was highly recommended by my manager at Hobby Lobby. He said you need to get there right away, because they will run out. When they are gone, their gone. And he said it is the best fish you will ever have tried."
It seems that everywhere On The Hook goes, they are a draw, even online. They have almost a quarter-million followers on their Facebook page alone. What keeps people coming back... well the secret is their good food.
“The reason it's so great," Evan says, "is because it's so fresh, you know? We get it flash frozen right off the boat and shipped to us. We just do the one item and it's simple. It's a good little family snack not too heavy. It stands out because not a lot of places just do one thing and do it well.”
One thing is for sure, this truck will leave you On The Hook, wanting more.
On The Hook operates several trucks throughout the West and Mid-West, including Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.
To find out where a truck is going to be, like their page on Facebook atwww.Facebook.com/OnTheHookFishandChips .
