Sho Bo's Kitchen brings great food, owner's business vision to the Fort Smith Bakery District
A love of cooking, the desire to make a difference, and an entrepreneurial spirit has led a Fort Smith Northside graduate to open what she hopes is the first of a group of food trucks (and eventually brick and mortar restaurants) featuring a unique menu built around four basic dishes.
Rashana Bond, who is the owner and operator of Sho Bo's Kitchen, says "love and word of mouth" has been encouraging in the three short weeks since she set up her food truck in the Fort Smith Bakery District.
"My dad used to say that you need to "sho' up and sho' out everyday," and I kind of combined that idea with my last name and came up with Sho Bo's Kichent," said Bond. "We have been in the food business for awhile, and we got started selling plates to friends and coworkers out of our kitchen."
"We bought a 1980 Chevy step-van in 202o and started he food truck business in 2020 in Little Rock," said Bond. "We did pretty well, but we weren't real mobile just because we were in a 1980 step-van. We got the opportunity to secure this new trailer this year and we decided to open up here to see how things would go."
And go they have. Bond, who has lived between Fort Smith and Little Rock most of her life, said that "love and word of mouth" has her encouraged about the future.
"I have a real passion for cooking and want to build this into a brand," said Bond. "We start here, and we add more trucks and eventually go into brick and mortar down the road. Those are the long term plans."
She said she was moved "by God" to Fort Smith and feels like the area will become the home-base for what could eventually be a "franchise-like" food business.
Bond's menu features four items that she says will be a daily staple to those patronizing the business. Those include Cheeseburger Alfredo, the Bangin' Bacon Cheeseburger, Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, and PaPaw's County Dip Nachos.
In addition to those menu regulars, Bond says she will be adding daily specials based on the weather conditions and the wants, likes and needs of their customer base.
On Wednesday, that special was a vibrant and tasty taco soup. Specials earlier in the week included Grilled Cajun Alfredo and Taco Nachos. All of the food is prepared fresh daily inside the large and well-appointed food truck.
On Tuesday of this week, Bond opened up for the 5-8 p.m. dinner session and there was an immediate line of both new and repeat customers clamoring for her food. The line ranged from 20ish patrons waiting to play trivia inside the Bakery District to more mature customers awaiting their call-in orders.
In addition to the evening session, Bond also opens the food truck for lunch daily from 11 a,m, to 2p.m. She also says he can do catering and parties and hopes to expand that aspect of the business so more people can be exposed to her food.
Bond says call-in customers can contact her at 479-461-2132 to swing by and pick up orders at the food truck, which is located in the Bakery District courtyard across from th Fort Smith Civic Center.
"We want everyone to come out and try our food and see what we're all about," said Bond. "We have been encouraged by the repeat business and look forward to expanding our customer base."
