St. Augustine’s newest edition to the current food-truck craze is Marina Munch, a cozy food park settled on the banks of the San Sebastian River off Ponce De Leon Boulevard.
Marina Munch was created by CeCe Reigle and Commissioner John Valdes in early 2020. Commissioner Valdes asked Nico Recore, his social media manager of his 2018 campaign team, if she would manage this new food-truck park and she accepted without hesitation. Recore already had experience and connections with many local food-trucks after running the Wednesday Pier Farmers Markets in St. Augustine. This gave her a great advantage when contacting trucks to be a part of the new Marina Munch.
Commissioner Valdes is also a well-respected builder in the area, and Recore said he helped construct a beautiful food-truck park that is handicap friendly, family friendly, pet friendly, and even Covid friendly. The tables of Marina Munch are all specifically positioned at least 10-feet apart from one another, making it a safe and comfortable place for guests throughout the duration of the pandemic.
Although Marina Munch opened just before the pandemic began last spring, Recore and both owners decided that closing the park was the safest thing to do.
“The city had mandated that businesses’ downtown close because of [the virus], so we knew it would be important for us to reflect what was being implemented,” Recore said. “Our values first and foremost were to protect our citizens.”
The food-truck park re-opened in May of 2020, and Marina Munch has been a smashing success ever since.
The park has over 20 revolving food-trucks that visit at various points throughout the month. There are always four trucks for guests to choose from, two of which are constant and two of which change weekly. Uptown Scratch Kitchen and Funkadelic are the anchors, while the other two spots are rotated between trucks like African Love Kitchen, German Street Food, The Saucy Pig, and more.
“[We] keep the other two trucks revolving because it provides us with stability and variety,” Recore said.
Marina Munch is in the process of obtaining their beer and wine license, but Recore said that they plan to keep the park family friendly and not turn it into a “hang out” kind of spot.
“For us it is family first, and the beer and wine will merely accent the food,” she said.
Marina Munch and Recore herself are teaming up with their other river district neighbors such as Bluewater Adventure and Sabrage to host a San Sebastion River Cleanup on July 9th to give back to the environment and bring together the community of business owners.
“These businesses are not only there to profit from the river, but they are also contributing to the maintenance of it,” Recore said.
To keep up with Marina Munch’s revolving food trucks, and see what other community events they are hosting, you can find them on Facebook at Marina Munch.
