Food Truck Friday: Scenic 61

Scenic 61 is the New Scenic Cafe’s food trailer, and it’s getting ready to pack up and head to the Minnesota State Fair.

They’ll be making sashimi tuna tacos and a lobster roll.

Chef and Proprietor Scott Graden says the New Scenic Cafe is known for everything from casual to fine dining. But with the food trailer, they wanted “fast and fun.”

“So we had this trailer, and kind of the schtick around the old Airstreams and then kind of a spin on the New Scenic Cafe with Scenic 61, everything kind of came together,” Graden said.

The tuna tacos are extremely popular.

“We’d have people come up to the restaurant at New Year’s expecting to get them, and we wouldn’t have them. And they’d say, ‘Well, we’re leaving if we don’t get them,'” he said. “So of course, we’d make them.”

But at the 2022 State Fair, the lobster roll edged out the tacos as the most popular item. Hungry fairgoers can find them both again this year.

“Our trailer down at the State Fair is up on Machinery Hill, so we’re kind of right by the little kids farm area by the John Deere tractors and the huge Ferris Wheel,” Graden said.

The 2023 Great Minnesota Get-Together goes from Aug. 24-Sept. 4. The New Scenic Cafe is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.