For many students, staying up into the early hours of the morning to study isn’t uncommon, and a new local business wants to make that experience a little less unpleasant.
John Hodges has been a supervisor in the dining services at Texas A&M for over five years and used to work at The Pavilion Grill on campus. He and his wife Whitney met in 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia and moved to Texas soon after. The couple has recently opened up a food truck called Study Grub that delivers to the Bryan-College Station area from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
“We introduced ourselves the last week of classes just to test it out,” John said. “We wanted to see how the turn out would be. We didn’t expect it to go so well.”
Whitney came up with the items listed in the “Moms’ Recipes” section of their menu based off the quick meals that her mom made for her as a child. Since their opening, the fan favorite dish is Mom’s double cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg on top. Whitney’s mom and cousin also help the couple run the truck.
The Hodges run Study Grub entirely through their social media and take orders via text and email. The virtual menu was created by visualization junior, Bianca Ramos, after she offered her skills to the couple over Twitter.
“Texas A&M’s own Ms. Bianca Ramos created our one-of-a-kind menu. As of now we have a team of four and we proudly serve the you all seven days [of the] week,” John said.
John said his customers are requesting they open earlier in the evening and they have been serving anywhere from six to 15 customers per night.
“We’ve only been open for about a month and a half and business is going great. We wanted to test it out in the evening hours to see the turn out and it’s been good,” John said.
As far as starting a business from scratch, the Hodges are excited and have a positive attitude about their new venture. Whitney said they are also learning how to prepare orders faster, and hoping to add more items to the menu.
“We’re very eager. John loves the students, so I’m excited to cook for them,” Whitney said. “My mother made the best quick fixes. I knew those meals would be a hit.”
Political science senior Sam Sharp was one of the first to try Study Grub during their initial week of operation.
“Study Grub is an awesome service whose food is better than fast food places, and at an affordable price. They gave me a free Gatorade squeeze bottle as a surprise,” Sharp said. “The food is awesome. It’s a home style flavor and its tastes great. I got a burger and it was cooked to perfection.”