Watch out Mamoun’s, a new food cart is cruising onto campus this semester.

Heretofore, there has been one real non-Usdan food option on campus in the darkest hours of the early morning: Mamoun’s Falafel carts, one on High Street and a second on Pine Street. These purveyors of fried Middle-Eastern cuisine, towering fixtures of the late-night scene, purvey foodstuffs of tremendous and consistent quality. But this year there is a fresh Falafel-less truck on the block. Owned by Connecticut native Lora Sena with help from her husband Eugene, Crusin’ Café now sets up shop every weekend at the corner of Church and High streets.

The lack of overlap with Mamoun’s is purposeful.

“We know what he sells,” Eugene said. “We’re not doing anything that he’s doing. We don’t want to infringe on his business.”

The menu still manages to cover a lot of ground, offering a range of American classics from Philly cheese steaks to chipotle black bean burgers, to brownies and coffee. Prices range from $1.00 to $6.50.

“We came up with a basic menu,” Lori said. “Basic road food. But we realized the kids want something different. There’s a lot of vegetarians. I tweaked my menu to accommodate taste buds here on campus. We asked the kids a lot of questions: ‘What do you like? What do you want to see?’ And we did what was doable.”

Before opening up the food cart, Lori worked as an administrative assistant. She and Eugene purchased their used truck almost a year ago from a man in Florida.

“We drove it up, and we did the whole inside ourselves—everything,” said Eugene, who works as a welder during the week. “We don’t have a deep-fat fryer. We do other kinds of food. So far it’s been a little slow. It will be better when people realize we’re on this street. We’re going to stick it out and see if we can make it work.”

When I stopped by the truck by this weekend, I tried the egg sandwich, the chili cheese nachos, and the brownie, and these items–at the very least—stacked up against the other cart and against any other food available on campus. Of the other students I interviewed, not one had a word to say against Crusin’ Café.

“Falafel cart is like, the classic,” admitted Nathan Shane ’13, who ordered the chili cheese nachos, which seemed to be a standout item for only $3.00. “I would definitely come back here.”

In fact, the location of the new cart may finally unify two distinct houses on campus: fraternity Beta Theta Pi and the Jewish program house, the Bayit.

“This is my first time here, and it’s phenomenal,” said Scott Elias ’14, who plans to pledge Beta. “I’ll be back.”

Mamoun’s is not particularly worried about its new competition.

“Other carts have come and gone,” said Bellal, a Mamoun’s employee who asked to be identified only by his first name. “We are established and people like our food. We have loyal customers. Students are the ones who will decide.”

But perhaps giving students a decision is what Crusin’ Café is all about.

“The guy from the other truck actually came over and introduced himself,” Lori said. “We let him know that we totally respect him. That’s one of the reason that we don’t offer what he offers. We don’t want to tread on his business but just give you guys a lot of different choices. He wished us good luck.”

Doesn’t a warm bowl of homemade chili on a cold winter night sound good to you? I for one predict the new truck is here to stay.

“It took a lot of work getting this off the ground,” Lori said. “We love Wesleyan. We love you guys. You make us feel young again. If people want us around, we’ll be around for a very long time.”

Wesleyan students may be creatures of habit, but let me say this: If you can muster up the energy, the new cart would be a good new habit to form.and High streets.

The lack of overlap with Mamoun’s is purposeful.

“We know what he sells,” Eugene said. “We’re not doing anything that he’s doing. We don’t want to infringe on his business.”

The menu still manages to cover a lot of ground, offering a range of American classics from Philly cheese steaks to chipotle black bean burgers, to brownies and coffee. Prices range from $1.00 to $6.50.

“We came up with a basic menu,” Lori said. “Basic road food. But we realized the kids want something different. There’s a lot of vegetarians. I tweaked my menu to accommodate taste buds here on campus. We asked the kids a lot of questions: ‘What do you like? What do you want to see?’ And we did what was doable.”

Before opening up the food cart, Lori worked as an administrative assistant. She and Eugene purchased their used truck almost a year ago from a man in Florida.

“We drove it up, and we did the whole inside ourselves—everything,” said Eugene, who works as a welder during the week. “We don’t have a deep-fat fryer. We do other kinds of food. So far it’s been a little slow. It will be better when people realize we’re on this street. We’re going to stick it out and see if we can make it work.”

When I stopped by the truck by this weekend, I tried the egg sandwich, the chili cheese nachos, and the brownie, and these items–at the very least—stacked up against the other cart and against any other food available on campus. Of the other students I interviewed, not one had a word to say against Crusin’ Café.

“Falafel cart is like, the classic,” admitted Nathan Shane ’13, who ordered the chili cheese nachos, which seemed to be a standout item for only $3.00. “I would definitely come back here.”

In fact, the location of the new cart may finally unify two distinct houses on campus: fraternity Beta Theta Pi and the Jewish program house, the Bayit.

“This is my first time here, and it’s phenomenal,” said Scott Elias ’14, who plans to pledge Beta. “I’ll be back.”

Mamoun’s is not particularly worried about its new competition.

“Other carts have come and gone,” said Bellal, a Mamoun’s employee who asked to be identified only by his first name. “We are established and people like our food. We have loyal customers. Students are the ones who will decide.”

But perhaps giving students a decision is what Crusin’ Café is all about.

“The guy from the other truck actually came over and introduced himself,” Lori said. “We let him know that we totally respect him. That’s one of the reason that we don’t offer what he offers. We don’t want to tread on his business but just give you guys a lot of different choices. He wished us good luck.”

Doesn’t a warm bowl of homemade chili on a cold winter night sound good to you? I for one predict the new truck is here to stay.

“It took a lot of work getting this off the ground,” Lori said. “We love Wesleyan. We love you guys. You make us feel young again. If people want us around, we’ll be around for a very long time.”

Wesleyan students may be creatures of habit, but let me say this: If you can muster up the energy, the new cart would be a good new habit to form.