FoodTruckr had the pleasure of talking to The Mobile Pub, which isn’t your ordinary food truck. The Mobile Pub is owned and operated out of Connecticut by Thomas Keane (left) and Marco Marcelo (right). What makes it so unique is the fact that Keane and Marcelo restored and rebuilt a 1962 Shasta Caravan into an operational bar.
As you can imagine, The Mobile Pub has been a big hit.
“We’re catching quite a bit of buzz in Connecticut”, Marcelo said.
As Marcelo pointed out about the food truck industry, with The Mobile Pub, “you have that lost element of the liquor industry. You know, the bartending industry. So we came up with this concept.”
“We really felt like something was missing”, Keane stated about the food truck industry. “Let’s get together and create this amazing bar.”
And that is exactly what the two did.
They saw that the industry was lacking something, and then they went out, came up with a new concept and brought what the industry was lacking into play, which was literally a bar on wheels.
Thanks to the uniqueness of The Mobile Pub, the concept is doing wonders in this industry.
“It’s mutual enough where I think everyone buys into the product”, Keane said. “It’s special and unique. It has a lot of character.”
Some people might be wondering what The Mobile Pub features. Let’s just put it this way: It is more than just a bar, it is an experience as well, yet it has everything you could ask for in a typical bar. As Marcelo pointed out, it is functional and practical.
“You’re coming up to a fully functional bar where there’s a TV in the back, there are four keg lines — it’s like walking up to a bar stationary at a restaurant”, Keane stated. “That becomes that wow factor.”
In hopes of the customers feeling like they are part of something special, which they are when it comes to The Mobile Pub, Keane and Marcelo incorporated a sign that allows customers to sign it (along with give out their best wishes).
On top of serving a cold one on a hot summer day, The Mobile Pub is featured at many events.
“We’ve done weddings. We’ve actually done a 2-year-old’s birthday party. We’ve done a baptism”, Marcelo stated in reference to the types of events they tackle. “We’ve done a Jack and Jill, which is like a bachelor party and a bachelorette party at the same time.”
On top of catering for multiple events, The Mobile Pub is very customizable.
“We’re giving people the green light on what they want”, Keane said. “We are booking multiple events because I think we are so flexible. The concept itself is really growing rapidly and we’re very fortunate that all this hard work is paying off.”
The Mobile Pub has taught Keane and Marcelo countless lessons about the food truck industry, and the two have just been enjoying the ride and all of the success.
“What’s fun and neat about this whole ride that we’re taking is we’re meeting a lot of different types of people”, Marcelo added. “It’s very exciting in our eyes. We have this thing that we built from the ground up, so now it’s our baby, and it’s also sharing our happiness.”
Thanks to The Mobile Pub’s success so far, Keane and Marcelo are planning on expanding the business by purchasing a second camper, and franchising opportunities will be available next spring on top of that.
“It’s been a really fun ride so far.”
About the Author
A Colorado native, Trevor started off his college career at the University of Colorado, but decided to switch teams after two years. He graduated with a degree in journalism at Colorado State University in 2014. Trevor started his professional writing career in sports, and has since expanded to many different genres. He is currently an MFA in creative writing student, and is also the Managing Editor at FoodTruckr.
