FryDay Food Truck Van Nuys Origin Story

Every food truck has a story, and the FryDay food truck Van Nuys story starts the way the best LA stories do: with big flavor, a tight budget, and a neighborhood that showed up. Founded on July 4, 2019 by Theophilos "Theo" Okuribido, FryDay set out to prove that a humble basket of fries could carry the entire cultural range of Los Angeles on its shoulders. Seven years later, we've gone from Valley side streets to NBA All-Star Weekend — and we're still just getting started.

Why Van Nuys? Why Fries?

Van Nuys sits in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, one of the most culturally diverse stretches of Los Angeles. Drive ten minutes in any direction and you'll pass taquerías, Thai kitchens, Armenian bakeries, Caribbean takeout windows, and soul food spots. That mix is the whole point of FryDay.

Fries were the perfect canvas. Everybody loves them — every culture, every age, every neighborhood. But almost nobody was treating them as a main event. We saw an opportunity to build gourmet loaded fries with globally-inspired toppings: Nashville Hot Chicken with real heat and crunch, Caribbean Jerk with island spice that means it, Mango Habanero for sweet-heat believers, and BBQ Bacon for the comfort-food faithful.

The FryDay food truck Van Nuys launch on the Fourth of July wasn't an accident either. A business born on Independence Day, serving America's favorite side dish reimagined through LA's global lens — that's the brand in one sentence.

The Grind: Building a Following One Window Order at a Time

The early days were what every food truck veteran will recognize: long prep mornings, hot afternoons, and the slow, honest work of earning regulars. The Valley embraced us first. Office workers in Burbank and Glendale found us at lunch. Families in Pacoima and North Hollywood found us on weekends. Word spread the way it still spreads fastest in LA — one person telling another, "You have to try this truck."

We learned our neighborhoods block by block. We learned that Pasadena crowds eat differently than Santa Monica crowds, that a Friday night in the Valley has its own rhythm, and that consistency — showing up when you say you will, serving the same quality every single time — is what turns a first-time customer into a regular.

The Big Stages: NBA All-Star Weekend, Dodgers Playoffs, and Beyond

Then the calls got bigger. FryDay has had the honor of serving at NBA All-Star Weekend, feeding fans during the LA Dodgers Divisional Playoffs, rolling into the BET Fan Experience, and serving supporters at LA Galaxy matches. We've catered events at UCLA and worked with LAUSD school communities across the district.

Each one of those events taught us something about scale — how to keep quality high when the line is a hundred deep, how to serve fast without cutting corners, and how to bring food-truck warmth to big-stage productions. When you order FryDay for a backyard party in Sherman Oaks, you're getting the same operation that fed some of the biggest events in Los Angeles.

The Ghost Kitchen Chapter

Along the way, FryDay grew beyond the truck. Our Van Nuys ghost kitchen now serves online orders across the area, which means loaded fries on demand even when the truck is booked at a wedding in Long Beach or a corporate lunch in Burbank. The ghost kitchen also became our catering engine — prep space, capacity, and consistency that let us say yes to more events without ever compromising the food.

That two-lane approach — truck plus ghost kitchen — is how a small Van Nuys business keeps pace with a city as hungry as Los Angeles.

What FryDay Stands For

Strip away the events and the flavors, and FryDay is about three things.

Community first. We're from the Valley and proud of it. We show up for school fundraisers, local block parties, and neighborhood events with the same energy we bring to celebrity-packed weekends.

Culture on a plate. Our menu is a love letter to LA's diversity. Every topping tells a story about the communities that make this city what it is.

Celebration always. Food trucks exist for good moments. Birthdays, weddings, quinceañeras, playoff runs, graduations — we've built our whole business around the days people remember.

The Next Chapter Starts With You

From a single truck in Van Nuys to NBA All-Star Weekend, the FryDay story has always been powered by the people of Los Angeles. Every event we cater writes the next page. If you've been following the FryDay food truck Van Nuys journey — or you're just now discovering it — there's an easy way to become part of the story: put us to work at your next celebration.

Ready to bring FryDay to your next event? Visit frydayeats.com/catering or call us at 818-930-0072. Visit what's new at: https://youtu.be/8XZCiAgLpvM?si=sJjAsYsaFgbuuYwN