Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Walsh.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We are Rollies, a family owned egg roll/spring roll food truck based in Pittsburgh, PA. I was born and raised in Vietnam. I traveled to the US for college and met my husband Mark. My Vietnamese background deeply influences our daily cooking. Fried Spring Roll (“Nem” or “Cha Gio”) is one of the most beloved dishes in my culture, often served at special ocasions or respectfully offered to the ancestors in crucial ceremonies. It brings people together for the rolling and strengthens connections. I would bring trays of rolls to parties to share and everyone loved it so much they started asking for it. We realized that the Vietnamese Spring Roll is an universal favorite so we decided to open our food truck in 2022 to introduce such amazing dish to the people in Pittsburgh.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Opening a food truck business was a lot more work than we expected, especially when you have never been in the food industry. We needed a trailer, needed it equipped and inspected. We spent our entire savings at the time on it. Then we needed a commissary, a reliable source of wholesale produce and a spot for us to park and open. We researched through countless pages of regulations, visited many kitchens, met many amazing people who gave us practical advice. Some paperwork took longer to process and some phone calls and emails were never answered. For months we did not make a penny off of this business. Our family and friends thought we were insane, and to be honest we doubted ourselves many times. But we kept shooting for our goals and hard work surely paid off. We started getting positive feedback from customers and emails from event coordinators asking if we could serve at their events. We are very thankful for our loyal customers who keep the passion in us going strong.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Rollies Fried Spring Rolls?
We travel through Pittsburgh and serve crispy spring roll/egg roll on the go. Every single roll proudly served on the truck is 100% hand-rolled by us. Our rolls are originated from the Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls, with my deep cultural root and strong fundamentals in making the rolls my grandma taught me, we applied such concept and created a menu of 8 flavors. We serve our rolls with complimentary sauce of your choice on the side.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Facebook and Instagram is our store front and we take our social medias very seriously. It is our tool to communicate with our customers, introduce them to our products and letting them know where we are going next.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rolliespgh.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rollies.pittsburgh?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rollies.pittsburgh
