Connections between customers, servers, owners and employees are all a part of what makes the industry special, he said.
Wells took a server job after college but said he never planned on still being in the industry or owning his own restaurant nearly 50 years later.
“I was looking for other work while still working in restaurants,” he said. “And a friend said to me, ‘Why don’t you just accept you’re a part of the restaurant industry?’ So, that’s what I did.”
Growing up in Rowlett when it was still a small town, Wells said he learned to appreciate the relationship between local farmers and the markets they supplied.
He chose the name Red Truck Cafe before opening his restaurant in 2019 as a small tribute to that farm-to-market process.
“The connection between the farmer and the market is the pickup truck,” Wells said. “I started looking for images of trucks and came across a red truck.”••After opening, Wells began asking customers to bring in pictures of them next to a red truck.
Now, a wall filled with those photos is the first thing customers see upon entering the cafe. Wells’ wife, Cindy, painted the red truck mural on the wall behind the photos. She works as an interior designer and helped Wells remodel the space located off Parker Road between Alma Drive and US 75.
Red Truck Cafe offers breakfast, lunch and dinner with a variety of daily specials. Wells said he strives to use fresh ingredients and offer a menu of different affordable options. The traditional two-egg breakfast with hashbrowns and bacon or the chicken-fried steak and eggs topped with gravy are popular breakfast dishes, Wells said.
For dinner, the Saturday night special prime rib or the Hawaiian barbecue pork chop are also customer favorites, Wells said. He hopes to secure a beer and wine license soon to offer more beverages to the dinner crowd, he said.
“We just want to give the best service with quality food,” he said. “That’s our goal.”
Red Truck Cafe
910 W. Parker Road, Plano
972-996-5177
www.redtruckcafe.com
Hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
