Munchbox with late night eats in Cape Girardeau

The Munchbox, a food truck catering to those wanting late night delicacies in the heart of Cape Girardeau, will launch this week, according to proprietor Patrick Buck Jr.

Patrick Buck Jr., a lifelong Cape Girardeau resident, will own and operate The Munchbox, a food truck catering to the Cape Girardeau's late night crowd downtown. It will begin service this week.Submitted

"There isn't a lot open after 10 p.m. downtown, and people complain about that," said Buck, 23, a Cape Girardeau Central graduate who has studied mass communication and marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.

Hours for the mobile unit are not "set in stone," Buck said, but initially will be 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and added he has an agreement with Hypnotic Bar, 632 Broadway, to set up outside the establishment.

Buck is the son of Southeast professor Tamara Zellars Buck, the chairwoman of SEMO's Department of Mass Media.

"We'll have a proliferation of American street food — nachos, tacos, hot dogs, sausages, those sorts of things — but I'm creative and want that creativity to flow through what I do, so expect an ever-changing menu," the younger Buck added. "American street food is the core of The Munchbox because it's so good when you're drunk and I'm fine with you putting that directly into the paper."

Indeed, Buck describes his fare as "Intoxicating food for intoxicating people."

The entrepreneur sees his core clientele as the SEMO community and the downtown culture, and has no interest, at this point, in a bricks-and-mortar location.

"Bricks and mortar involves a lot of money and a lot of risk. The freedom and mobility of a food truck allows you to build a concept, build a brand around that concept and then scale it," Buck said. "I don't want to go to a fixed point store ever, but I would like in the future to have multiple trucks going to multiple places with multiple offerings. Right now, it's one truck."

Menu selections will be on the truck each night and those interested may get more information at Munchbox 573 on Facebook and @mumchbox573 on Instagram.

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