UKraft food truck launches in downtown St. Louis

UKraft food truck opened for business in downtown St. Louis Tuesday, Oct. 23, offering a wide selection of customizable breakfast bowls, sandwiches, paninis and salads.

Matt Ratz, who owns and operates the truck with brother Mike Ratz, said the idea is to let customers build their own meals from start to finish.

“Customers can pick everything from the toppings to the fruit in our Greek yogurt parfaits to the drizzle on the avocado toast,” Matt Ratz said.

Ratz said UKraft is committed to locally sourced ingredients when possible. The truck also offers a menu of composed salads and sandwiches, appropriately titled We Kraft. Popular premade dishes include shrimp BLT paninis and a honey-apple spinach salad featuring organic spinach, apples, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, cucumbers and antibiotic-free chicken topped with almonds and granola and dressed with honey-apple vinaigrette.

Ratz said the truck is the first of a two-phase project. The second phase will be a restaurant downtown, which the duo plans to announce in the coming weeks.

“We wanted to test out the customers’ choice concept with the truck first,” Ratz said. “We’re seeing what works and what doesn’t so we can have our systems and procedures down pat by the time the storefront opens.”

The truck will travel to St. Louis County for events, but Ratz plans to keep UKraft primarily downtown for breakfast and lunch service.

“It makes sense to operate down there, so we’ll be in the city the majority of the time,” he said.

Jane Thier is an editorial intern at Sauce Magazine.