by Kristen Wile

Free Range Brewing will debut a new food trailer on Saturday, Oct. 18 at the brewery’s North Davidson Street location. In line with Free Range’s commitment to sourcing locally, the trailer will work with local farms as much as possible while serving classic American fare. The menu, created by consulting chef Rob Clement of Meshugganah, will be available Wednesday through Sunday. 

Brewery guests will be able to order items like a smash burger, hot dogs made with local brand Gleezy, a vegan and gluten-free grain seasonal grain bowl, and seasonal sides sourced with help from Freshlist. There will also be beignets — a custom recipe made by Manolo’s Bakery — fried to order, with a butterscotch dipping sauce made using beer from the brewery. 

“The menu right now is very straightforward, but the plan is to really get creative,” Clement says. 

The trailer’s day-to-day operations will be managed by chef Eric Crays.

Guests can also order vanilla bean soft serve for dessert, with hopes for seasonal soft serve utilizing local ingredients in the near future. The team is also trying to make food service zero-waste by utilizing Crown Town Compost and recycling at the Innovation Barn.

Eventually, Free Range hopes to open up the trailer for pop-up residencies on Monday and Tuesday evenings, providing a recurring pop-up spot for chefs the brewery has worked with in the past. Free Range has hosted many of Charlotte’s up-and-coming pop-ups, such as James Beard Award-nominated Jimmy Pearls.

“I know personally like the pop-up game is tough without a kitchen,” says Clement, whose Meshugganah hosted some of its early pop-ups at Free Range. “It kind of opens up what people are able to do, having this kitchen available to them.”

The trailer will sit behind the brewery, and guests will order from the bar and have their food brought out to them. 

“I think the menu is going to morph into this really cool local brewery food,” Clement says. “We don’t want to deviate too much from what you would eat in a brewery, but we want it to be cool and unique and really good.”

The trailer will be open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Beer dinners will hit the calendar eventually, and the trailer will offer a catering menu for those who host events at Free Range.