Sept. 11, 2020

Big flavors are coming out of an old food truck parked just west of downtown.

Tha Chicken Trap specializes in chicken wings and Trap Sauce, which is “kind of like a queso/gumbo cuz I put a lot of different meats in it and seafood,” said Bud “Tre” Theus, who runs the business with his girlfriend, Kamorla Shores.

“We put it over fries; some people like it over their burger. I have orders where they put it over their wings. We have a mac-and-cheese, and people put it on their mac-and-cheese.”

There’s also a version of the sauce that doesn’t have pork or seafood.

Theus also makes the Trap Dog, an all-beef hot dog smothered with the sauce.

The wings come made-to-order in four flavors: lemon pepper, honey garlic, honey barbecue and hot.

“We don’t coat ‘em. We just fry ‘em straight up until they crispy, and then we put the sauce on ‘em and stuff, or people can get sauce on the side,” Theus said.

Each order has seven wings, and it comes with two sides for $12.

For $2, customers can get a 20-ounce cup of Trap Juice, otherwise known as Kool-Aid but with Shores’ twist.

Shores makes desserts, ranging from cookies and brownies to cheesecake in a cup and pudding.

Theus’ father operated the truck in Sioux Falls a couple of years ago, but “it’s just been sittin’ up for a while and stuff, so I just said, what the heck, I’m gonna jump in knee-deep. And it’s been a success. For right now, we’ve been doing pretty good.”

Theus has plans to eventually expand the menu with seafood. This weekend, he’ll also be making barbecue ribs on a smoker that sits behind the truck, which is in a parking lot on Duluth Avenue just south of 11th Street.

The truck typically is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. until the food is gone, which is often by 5 or 6 p.m., Theus said.

Tha Chicken Trap’s schedule varies and sometimes includes Thursdays or Sundays. This week, it’s open Saturday and Sunday. Shores keeps the truck’s Facebook page updated.

Shores said they plan to keep serving food until the weather gets too cold.

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