I know it may seem like two stories in a year is an unusual number of pieces about Bojangles, the national fried chicken chain, but they have been paying a lot of attention to our local market. In addition to testing out several new products in the Middle Tennessee market, Bojangles is now rolling out its first-ever food truck in the Nashville area. In an additional local focus, they have tapped noted food truck and restaurant veteran B.J. Lofback to run the truck’s operations.
You may know Lofback from his previous culinary ventures like Riffs Fine Foods, Funk Seoul Brother and Pinchy’s, but he’s spent the last week driving his new truck to Manhattan to hand out samples of Bojangles' new hand-breaded Bo’s Chicken Sandwich to New Yorkers. Now he’s ready to bring the show home with a special event on Saturday, Aug. 14, at Centennial Park.
The truck will be offering that crispy new buttermilk chicken sandwich along with Bo’s Chicken Tenders (from a three-piece to a family meal), Bo Fries, pimento cheese and Bo’s Legendary Iced Tea. The first 200 visitors will receive free Bo’s Chicken Sandwiches, with the first 10 visitors also receiving $100 Bojangles gift cards, and everyone can enjoy yard games and meet Lofback and chef Marshall Scarborough, vice president of menu and culinary innovation for Bojangles. The window of the truck goes up at 12:30 p.m. [edited to reflect time change. Sorry for the error] and will stay open until they run out of food.
“Bojangles has been looking for innovative ways to break into different markets and reintroduce its bold, culinary take on Southern favorites to the masses,” says Lofback. “What better way to do this than meet local customers where they’re at by tapping into Nashville’s thriving food truck scene?” Lofback shares that Funk Seoul Brother has been on a bit of a pandemic pause and Pinchy's has been operated by staff during his absence. He intends to stay involved with both his babies while spending the next year working with Bojangles on their food truck program. He'll be operating the local truck for at least the next nine months while looking for new employees and consulting with the company.
When I asked Lofback how he first hooked up with Bojangles, he told me, "When you Google 'Nashville food trucks,' my name's gonna come up a few times. It started out as a consulting gig, but as I got to know the people running the company, I really wanted to work with them." The security of joining up with a major corporation with some strong culinary minds in charge was also comforting during these uncertain times for restaurant operators like Lofback.
You can look for B.J. and the Bo at the park and across Nashville in the coming weeks, including at this weekend's Music City Grand Prix, and for customers who want to locate the new Bo’s Food Truck as it travels across Music City, they can follow along on Instagram or through the Best Food Trucks app.
