The corned beef food truck posted through the summer and fall at the Montgomery County Farm Women’s Cooperative Market in Bethesda has hit the road.
Jon Rossler, owner of Corned Beef King, said he left the market in mid-November. He was unable to generate enough business at the location, which he contributed to colder temperatures keeping local office workers inside, a lack of foot traffic from local residents, competition from other nearby restaurants and an insufficient amount of parking for customers.
“It was rough, the rent was high for me,” Rossler said.
When Rossler moved the truck to the Wisconsin Avenue market in July, he said he was excited about the potential of serving the local office community and market crowd. The truck had signed on to sell at the market from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
But the truck didn’t generate enough business at the market. After leaving, Rossler operated for a few days at the Copenhaver Swim Club on Falls Road near the Rockville and Potomac line, but was asked to leave by county officials after a nearby resident complained.
Rossler said he’s trying to work out a deal to operate out of the parking lot at the former location of Behnke Nurseries at 9545 River Road in Potomac. He says he’d like to relocate permanently to a more residential location, something similar to the Bethesda Community Store barbecue outpost on Old Georgetown Road across from the National Institutes of Health.
In the meantime, Rossler is returning the truck to its previous route that included office parks and apartment buildings on Fishers Lane and Kings Farm Boulevard in Rockville.
Rossler launched Corned Beef King in 2011 and later expanded the truck operation with a permanent location at an Exxon gas station in Olney. Since the business’s inception, its signature corned beef, which Rossler says he slow cooks for 11 hours, has been the truck’s most popular item.