What's Next: Harry Arsi of Greekin' Out Food Truck Charleston

Photo Courtesy of  Greekin' Out

WHAT'S NEXT:
Harry Arsi of Greekin' Out

​By Allie Bynum

Small business owners nationwide have been faced with the difficult decision to either close doors indefinitely or adapt their services to the world's current state of affairs.

Pre-Pandemic Video of Greekin' Out Food Truck

Harry Arsi and Casey Parrish, owners of Greekin' Out Food Truck in Charleston, South Carolina, have created a unique way to keep their business delivering- literally. Usually in the food truck business, they set up their 25 foot trailer in brewery parking lots and business parks and customers come to them. This is where they acquire 80% of their business. With the strike of COVID-19 bringing a halt to their usual routine, Mr. Arsi is now bringing the food to their customers.

Mr. Arsi has been working with community HOA authorities to create times and locations for the Greekin' Out Food Truck to set up and make fresh bag lunches. "Whereas we had 5-6 communities (before COVID-19), now we have over 25. Because the festivals died, the communities are stepping up to fill in a little bit of that void," he said. 

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Mr. Arsi has been in the food business for several years and is on his 3rd year with Greekin' Out.

"We started social distancing before it was cool," he said.

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Mr. Arsi works diligently to keep their small counter spaces spotless, including additional sanitization efforts under the circumstances. "That's the positive message in all of this- people are coming together to support the food truck business," he said. ​The HOA books the food truck. Then through the Street Food Finder App, people can view the schedule online and place their order and payment. The order immediately notifies Mr. Arsi who then preps all the fresh ingredients in a timely manner. Once complete, he puts the food in a bag with the customer's name and leaves it on the community's designated table for pick-up. There is not any person-to-person contact this way. "This app has been very helpful in adapting to this pandemic-way of food truck ordering and eating," he said.

Photo Courtesy of  Greekin' Out

Mr. Arsi was living day to day, like many small business owners in our nation. "You can't really prep for a pandemic. You don't know when it starts, how long it lasts, or anything. I am thankful for at least being able to pay my bills," he said.

There are no employees working for the food truck at this time, other than Ms. Parrish's mother who helps out occasionally. "I have a friend who owns restaurants in multiple states who recently had to lay off 2,800 employees company-wide," Mr. Arsi said. 

Support this family owned and operated Greek Food Truck!
​Greekin' Out's full schedule can be found here.