PORTLAND — A Peaks Island food truck operator will soon be making her way to Route 100 in West Falmouth.

Milly’s Skillet, a truck that began dishing out breakfast, lunch and dinner at Jones Landing this summer, was granted a victular license by the Falmouth Town Council on July 27 to operate at the former Smith Farm restaurant property.

Owner Molly Ritzo said she hopes to open by Labor Day or sometime in early September. She will operate the Falmouth business as Maine Mountain Trader.

“Falmouth was my original spot that got me going,” Ritzo said, but the truck on Peaks Island became available and she jumped on it. Milly’s Skillet opened in May.

On Peaks Island, Ritzo has a menu geared towards the tourist crowd, and serves out of a former Wicked Good Street Kitchen truck. She sells breakfast items such as cinnamon buns and breakfast sandwiches, and lunch and dinner items like burgers, fish chowder, lobster rolls, fish tacos and steamed lobsters.

Ritzo said the Falmouth truck, which will set up at 226 Gray Road, will offer more of a farm-to-table menu, with breakfast items, soups, salads and sandwiches.

“I want to be the morning stop for people,” Ritzo said, adding she will also have prepared meals for customers to take home.

Additionally, Ritzo said she wants the Falmouth location to be more like a farm stand, and hopes to bring food from the western mountains to Southern Maine. Ritzo said she is from that region, which made her want to bring those items here and serve as a specialty store.

“(The food truck) allows me to tie in the full concept,” Ritzo said.

The Peaks Island truck operates from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. every day, while the Falmouth spot will be Thursday through Saturday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Ritzo said the Peaks location will continue serving until Columbus Day, while she hopes the Falmouth location will be a year-round venture. She said she has a two-year agreement for the Peaks Island location, and plans to be back next year.

The Gray Road property has a building and is zoned for a restaurant. Ritzo, a Cape Elizabeth resident, informed the council that if all goes well with her truck in Falmouth, she may eventually look into a “brick-and-mortar” business.

She also said she has not bought a truck for the Gray Road location, but is searching for one.

Unlike the location on Peaks, the Falmouth outpost might not have outdoor dining because of the lack of plumbing.

At the July 27 meeting, Falmouth Town Manager Nathan Poore said if a restaurant offers seating, it must also have bathrooms. But on Monday Poore said there may be some flexibility on this issue.

“This is now a work in progress and we’re trying to figure out what the town’s position is on regulation of bathrooms and food trucks,” he said.

The town does not have a formal review process for food trucks. Poore said town staff will likely need another week or two to look into town codes and state laws regarding restaurant permits “to find if there is flexibility for outdoor food trucks located in one place.”

“We’re working on it,” Poore said.

Colin Ellis can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or cellis@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @colinoellis.

Sidebar Elements

---

Molly Ritzo, who operates the Milly’s Skillet food truck on Peaks Island, is planning to expand her business to Route 100 in West Falmouth.

Copy the Story Link