Festival street food caterer opens drive-thru takeaway in Leeds

Chantelle Davis ran a street food mobile catering business at festivals across the UK for more than ten years.

Covid wrecked her mobile business and now Chantelle is running Big Phillies drive-thru on Cross Green Lane, Leeds.

She said: “Over the last 10 years my mobile catering business has taken me all over the UK.

“In March our bookings were full through to November but obviously due to Covid, everything has been cancelled.

“At first I felt destitute, but I had to keep the business going and create work for my team.

"We looked at premises around Leeds, initially, just to use as storage for our mobile units, but when we found Cross Green Lane Industrial Estate.

"We saw the potential for a drive-thru and Big Phillies became a reality when the bank agreed to support us.

“At our peak we’ve had up to 19 casual staff working across five mobile units cooking up philly cheese, simply Caribbean, ribs of fire, Greek street and loaded donuts.

"As these have all been so popular in the past, the menu for Big Phillies includes a combination of these which will alternate periodically.

“Customers pre-order and pay online, drive to the location to collect their order whilst remaining in the car.

“We are committed to providing a safe environment for everyone.

"The wellbeing of our customers and staff remains our number one priority, so we have a slick operation that works really well from a business point of view.

“Customer feedback is amazing, after such a difficult year it’s great to know that all is not lost and in fact, could be even better than before.”

“Plans into next summer include menu take-overs, teaming up with other street food traders to expand on the concept further.”

Big Phillies is at 5 Green Cross Lane, Leeds, LS9 8LJ.

Call 0113 2494279.