/The Mason Jar’s burgers a smash hit in Carnarvon
Tara and Andrew Schroeder stand outside their new food truck, The Mason Jar, just before opening day. /VIVIAN COLLINGS Staff

The Mason Jar’s burgers a smash hit in Carnarvon

By Thomas Smith

Tara Schroeder and her husband Andrew moved to the county three years ago to help her parents’ cottage rental business on Hall’s Lake. Tara has many years of experience managing and working in front of house, and building a business including the website development work involved. 

“I’m very familiar with the area,” says Schroeder. “I used to come up since I was a young child visiting my grandparents.”

The Mason Jar Food Co. opened on April 22 to an enthusiastic crowd and long lines.

“Our nephew’s name is Mason,” says Schroeder. “And so ever since my husband went to culinary school and has grown in his culinary expertise, Mason has been so encouraging to Andrew. Honestly, we thought of him. It was just one night when we were talking, and that name stuck for us.” In addition to the familial connection, the concept of a mason jar evokes the ideas of home cooking.

“That’s a lot of what we’re doing. The things Andrew’s making from scratch. Not everything is coming out of a box or a bag.”

“My husband went to culinary school a number of years ago,” says Schroeder. “So, he has always been in the food industry, as have I. Really, since we’ve been married it’s always been a dream of ours to run our own business and, namely, run a food truck business.

Schroeder and her husband were attracted to the location of Lola’s Meal Stop and Snack Shop located at the corner of Highway 35 and 118. 

“It’s a very busy intersection,” says Schroeder. “Years driving by there, I had always thought that’d be the perfect place for a food truck and so when the opportunity presented itself, we jumped at it.”

“It was, I think, in February. We honestly   just reached out to the previous owners of [Lola’s]and asked if they had ever thought about potentially selling the truck and it was so cool how it came about. They were like, that is so crazy that you contacted us because we were just talking about what our next steps were gonna be. It kind of just spiraled and happened really quickly.   

They weren’t selling it,” says Schroeder. “They were planning to operate this year,” says Schroeder. It was by happenstance that the previous owners began considering selling their business.

“We just started the conversation with them and explained that we were really interested,” says Schroeder. “That’s my husband’s vibe, he doesn’t feel any shame in asking questions and in that regard it worked out”

The truck was in great shape and well taken care of. 

“It was in great shape; it was practically brand new. We just had to spruce up the outside.”

The process of renovating the outside of the truck took around a month. 

“I like to play around with designs and we kind of just did it together and came up with it,” says Schroeder. “We really wanted something that was woodsy, but in a minimalistic way. We didn’t want anything busy or too colorful. We really just wanted to go with earthy tones, because of the area and the tourism. It’s based on a lot of outdoor enthusiast things.” Pinterest was Schroeder’s biggest source of inspiration. 

The menu was developed after securing their truck and location. The Schroeders took careful consideration of other restaurants in the area and their offerings to ensure that they were not mimicking or stepping on anyone’s toes. 

“We developed it just based on the area and the needs,” says Schroeder. “We started our Instagram and Facebook right away and we started developing our menu by asking the community what they wanted to see on our menu. We had a basic idea of what we thought the area needed and then we went from there.”

“We did a lot of food testing,” says Schroeder with a laugh. “We have been changing our menu up to four days ago before we secured everything.”

“Based on our logo design and on our concept, smash burgers are something we want to bring to the area and we’re hopeful to be known for our funnel cakes. Those are the two main things.”

“We’ve never seen a funnel cake anywhere in this area at all. To our knowledge, we hadn’t. We really wanted to try something fun for the community and we really hope it will become a destination place for funnel cakes in the summer.” 

Luckily, the food truck came equipped with a massive donut and funnel cake fryer, says Schroeder.

“That’s where the inspiration came from,” says Schroeder.

To begin, the Mason Jar Food Co. will focus on their current menu, but the Schroeders will keep eyes and ears open for experimentation in the future. 

“Our plan is to run it year-round, how that is going to look, we are still looking through that,” says Schroeder.

Schroeder takes great pride in her development work on the website and is excited to show off their online ordering system.

Despite the accelerated process of purchasing the business and renovations, Schroeder says that they have not had too many roadblocks. 

“Nailing down what we want to serve people, I would say that has been the biggest challenge,” says Schroeder. “It’s been a dream of mine in particular to build something that is ours, for my husband and I. That has been the most rewarding experience. Also, getting to know the community. We have had so much interaction with the community since starting this process. It’s great to meet so many new faces. Everyone is just so kind here.”

Schroeder says that folks visited the truck without it being open yet. 

“They come by, and they just welcome us and it’s so encouraging,” says Schroeder. “Especially with our branded shirts, we get stopped all the time. It’s just encouraging that people take the time to encourage us.”

“The slogan of our brand is Spread joy. Eat well.” says Schroeder. “We want people to really feel our love for serving others, because that is something we are really passionate about. This isn’t just a job for us. We want people to feel really joyful when eating our food.”

“I know we are serving smash burgers and funnel cakes which are not the healthiest things in the world, but we really want to incorporate fresh ingredients and menu items as well.”

The Mason Jar Food Co. food truck will offer gluten friendly options including buns and fries that are gluten free. Although they are not certified gluten free, they will do their best to keep their gluten free options separate.

“People can always come up to the window and ask us and we have the knowledge to provide the information as to what is available for them. We are very approachable in that way and are happy to help with that.”