CHET’S VERSION

Don’t let it be a mystery allow us to tell you a little

about us! We were recently working for a business

that allowed us to connect with the community in

various ways. With our positions there we were also able to foster kids through Montgomery and Shelby County Children Services. However, in January of 2021 we were forced to change our lifestyle! We sat back and focused on what we knew and what we wanted! Justin had years of experience in restaurants. I had years of event experience in mobile food concessions. We both

enjoyed food, wanted to be able to be flexible in order to still care for the foster kids coming into our home, as well as take them to work with us still. We also wanted to stay connected with the community that we had grown so close to and loved! So, we decided it was going to be a food truck and/or trailer. We continued on this journey only to hit obstacle after obstacle because of the pandemic. We soon realized it was too late in theyear to get out on the road with a new business. But no pandemic was going to shut down this idea we had and knew would be a success.

We continued to discuss this with our son and first foster placement Ralph. While driving in the car one day I asked him what he thought the name should be and quickly he popped off Ralph’s Mystery Food. After discussing that we wanted to leave it kind of open to make menu changes as needed, the name stuck. And with that name came the Mystery Machine theme as well to go along with it! Then in January of 2022 we ran across the perfect trailer that just needed a little love to make it what we had envisioned. While the menu started out completely different from how it’s going to end up, we’re excited! We can reconnect with our local community and still give back! You will notice our menu items will be named after people that we have connected with and want them to carry on with us even if theyaren’t able to be with us in person anymore. 

With that said, Ralph’s Mystery Food will give amazing service while providing some of the best gourmet funnel cakes and corn dogs!

JUSTIN’S VERSION

Shortly after the first year of the pandemic the two of us for reasons beyond our control were needing to leave the business, we had spent 10 years working  at. We had always talked about how great it would be to have our own food truck since one of us had previously spent many years in the carnival concession business and the other one of us in the restaurant industry for many years. At that point we said what do we have to lose by chasing our dreams. 

We started tossing around ideas for the food and the name of the business. At first funnel cakes were not going to be the main focus and corn dogs were not even an idea at that point. We tested some food and things were starting off great. However, we still did not have a name. Chet was in the car with our son Ralph and asked him what the name should be and he without hesitation said Ralph’s Mystery Food. Immediately the mystery machine from Scooby Doo popped into our heads as well as with that name it did not limit us to what we would serve.

So we continued on this journey only to hit obstacle after obstacle because of the pandemic. We soon realized it was too late in the year to get out on the road with a new business. We decided that no pandemic was going to shut down this idea we had that we knew would be a success. Then in 2022 we ran across the perfect trailer that just needed a little love to make it what we had envisioned. We got right back to work only this time to corndogs came into the picture since the trailer used to sell corndogs, but anyone that knows us knows we aren’t going to sell just regular corn dogs. So with that Ralph’s Mystery Food will be selling the best gourmet funnel cakes and gourmet corn dogs in the area with a side of amazing service.