One thing that makes The Smoke & Swine Company food truck stand out over others is that its entire menu is gluten-free.
Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for the business at the pavilion across from Stonehenge Golf Course on East Pierceton Road, Winona Lake.
Ashley McGinnis, wife of Smoke & Swine co-owner Brandon McGinnis, said, “It’s really cool because the Pudge muffins – which are the cornbread muffins with pork and sweet barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese in them – the cornbread mix is gluten-free. And the mac and cheese, the noodles, are gluten-free. All of the rubs are gluten-free. And we brine the chicken and we use gluten-free soy sauce for brining the chicken. So every aspect of it has been thought of and it’s all gluten-free, which is rare, because usually you can get something gluten-free but maybe not like the full menu.”
Ashley said it was easy for her to help come up with the menu because it’s her lifestyle as she has Celiac disease. Celiac is an immune disease in which people can’t eat gluten because it damages their small intestine, according to beyondceliac.org. The National Institute of Health says Celiac disease is one of the most common genetic disorders, affecting about 1% of individuals worldwide. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
“Brandon and I have been thinking about this for a very long time, and one of the things is, we would try a lot of things at home, and so it has to be gluten-free for me to eat it, so it just kind of happened that way,” Ashley said.
She said with a gluten-free menu, “It just opens up more people that can come in and enjoy the food as well.”
Brandon McGinnis, Winona Lake, formerly of Fort Wayne, owns Smoke & Swine with Luis Alvarez, Fort Wayne, formerly of Indianapolis.
Luis said the food truck will be at the pavilion Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. or until sold out. If they’re at other locations, he said people can find them through Kosciusko To Go online or on the Smoke & Swine Facebook or Instagram pages.
Brandon and Ashley McGinnis and Luis and his wife Brandy Alvarez are the sole employees of Smoke & Swine.
Luis said in February 2020, he helped Brandon finish his house in Winona Lake and they got to talking about starting their own business. Brandon didn’t realize until then that Luis had about 20 years of experience working in restaurants. Brandon presented him with his food truck idea and they put their plans together. That same month, they bought and retrofitted a trailer until March or May, opening for business Memorial Day weekend 2020. The food truck came out in July 2020, and they’ve worked on making it “better and better” since then, Luis said.
As far as the menu they offer, Luis said that includes briskets, burnt ends, pulled pork, chicken thighs, macaroni and cheese and coney dogs. Everything is smoked. They introduced tacos and nachos in 2020 and Luis said “everyone went crazy for those.”
Luis said he and Brandon both want to give back and be a part of the community. At the end of the year, they will take about 5% of their earnings and give it to the Wounded Warrior Project. Luis and Brandon have friends and family who have served in the military, though they didn’t themselves.
“We actually bought the smoker like this (with the Wounded Warrior Project) on it. It’s a good organization so we’re just going to roll with it,” Brandon said.
Occasionally, like Tuesday night, there might be live bands. “I think we’re going to do it more often though, if we can get good weather,” Brandon said, adding the bands more likely will be on Fridays.
There’s also corn hole boards and picnic tables for people.
Their food truck season lasted until Thanksgiving in 2020, and Brandon said the season this year will depend on the weather as well.
“We look forward to making good food for people because that’s the main thing. It’s all about having quality, consistent food,” Luis said.
Brandon said, “We just want to help out the local community as much as possible – nonprofits, fundraisers. I live here now. I kind of want to do what I can to give back. Winona Lake and Warsaw have done a lot for us already.”
For more information, message Brandon and Luis through the Smoke & Swine Facebook page, call 574-316-0266 or email Brandon@smokeandswine.com.
