Good Truckin’ parks at long-awaited REO Town location

After months of anticipation, the once-empty storefront at 1107 S. Washington Ave. in REO Town is serving up the eclectic menu locals missed – Good Truckin’ is back.

Good Truckin’ REO Bites is a smaller, grab-and-go version of the Good Truckin’ Diner in Old Town. It is located in the same space the diner occupied until almost two years ago.

When the diner moved into a bigger location at the end of 2024, REO Bites was intended to open shortly after. “We were doing our best to get it open,” Nora Gorman said. “We would work on it for two weeks solid, and then stuff would come up with other restaurants.”

Gorman runs Good Truckin’ REO Bites with business partner Nick Sinicropi. While getting the restaurant open took longer than expected, Gorman said the response from locals “has been amazing.”

The set-up and menu are “completely different” from the diner in Old Town, Gorman said. Designed as a to-go eatery, menu items are mostly served in baskets with minimal silverware. “It’s a lot of handheld items,” Gorman said. 

As far as seating goes, inside the shop are four tabletops and three bar stools. Outdoor patio seating is also available.

Offering a grab-and-go menu was not the original idea. According to Gorman, the plan was to open a pastry and ice cream shop. “Pastries are tough if they don’t sell,” she said. “You have to throw them away.”

The owners pivoted and developed a new menu, still sticking close to the initial vision.

“We had the sandwich and ice cream idea in our heads, and then we said, ‘Well, we probably shouldn’t only do sandwiches because it doesn’t leave a lot of room for people to have different options,” Gorman said.

So, naturally, they added tacos and hot dogs to the list. 

Customers can order a “pasketti” taco, which includes spaghetti, meatballs with marinara, topped with mozzarella cheese. The taco also has a vegan option. From the sandwich list, the “meatball hero” jumps out. The hoagie comes with meatballs, marinara and mozzarella. Like its taco sister, the sandwich can be veganized. Customers can also order a “low country” hot dog, topped with bacon jam, pimento cheese and candied jalapeño.

Inspiration for the inventive offerings comes from the very first menu the owners offered over a decade ago. “[It] was already kind of wacky to begin with,” Gorman said. “It’s just gotten more creative over the years.”

“So now you can get a meatball taco.”

Besides the notable creativity, the menu includes options for those with dietary restrictions. As it stands, the shop has vegan meatballs, bacon, turkey, cheese and hot dogs. Almost all of the sauces are vegan too. 

“We look around Lansing, and options are very limited,” Gorman said. She and business partner Sinicropi are both vegan.  “We want to be inclusive to all diets and all price ranges as much as we can.”

Other menu items include soft serve ice cream, cold brew, hot coffee, breakfast sandwiches and a rotating list of pastries. 

Good Truckin’ REO Bites is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday.