Cameron Davies and Ricky Ortiz, the founders of Cruising Kitchens and El Camino, are cooking up one thing new for the neighborhood — the 300,000-square-foot Cruising Kitchens Commissary at 702 San Fernando St. The challenge goals to function a enterprise incubator for meals truck operators and different native entrepreneurs.
Davies and Ortiz count on to open their new West Aspect commissary challenge inside 3-4 months. The pair rose to prominence with their respective enterprise initiatives. Davies runs Cruising Kitchens, a meals truck manufacturing idea. Ortiz is most identified for his a number of meals truck park ideas, together with El Camino and Besame, the latter of which he bought in 2024. Ortiz additionally owns Excellent Tender on Babcock Street.
The house can have shared kitchens, chilly and dry storage, dishwashing, and trailer parking, however the house will not simply cater to day-to-day wants. The group additionally plans to supply model consulting and advertising assist.
Likening their new enterprise incubator as a “Geekdom for the meals neighborhood,” Davies and Ortiz famous that they observed a development of restaurateurs steering away from storefronts in favor of meals vans.
Given the disheartening onslaught of brick-and-mortar restaurant closures (greater than 30 shuttered in 2024, not to mention the latest 2025 restaurant fatalities), Ortiz and Davies purpose to supply enterprise session providers for locals wanting to strive their hand with a meals idea, along with offering an area for current meals truck operators to park their vans, improve their enterprise fashions and provide industrial house for meals prep.
Meals vans are sometimes a manner for aspiring meals entrepreneurs to check a brand new idea earlier than taking over the overhead of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Fashionable eateries like Pumpers, Benjie’s Munch, and Field St. All Day began as trailers earlier than opening everlasting areas.
“Our purpose is to create a complete ecosystem for meals vans,” says Davies. “It is like meals vans for dummies.”
The enterprise companions added that they’re going to assist homeowners by means of the tedious inspection course of essential to open and function new meals vans. The sport plan? The pair will function a “consulting arm” for locals wanting to get their foot within the door, offering assist one step at a time.
