Merced’s new food truck park to offer affordable eats, community vibes
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- Valley Eats food truck park is scheduled to open in July on Olive Avenue in Merced.
- The site will host up to 7 vendors daily, offering diverse regional cuisines.
- Owners prioritize safety, cleanliness and community-focused amenities.
With a mix of local and regional flavors as well as a welcoming atmosphere, a new food truck park along Olive Avenue is aiming to bring the Merced community together.
The 1.7-acre “Valley Eats” food truck site at 1997 W. Olive Ave. is nearing the final stages of construction and is expected to open in July.
Owned by Merced couple Sunee Dola and Goldy Aulakh, both 46, the lot will have space to host up to seven food trucks offering a range of food including everything from tacos to barbecue and even dessert offerings such as ice cream.
Dola said the the food truck park has been designed with community comfort in mind. Construction crews are working to finalize installation of shade structures, tables, umbrellas, lighting, parking and restrooms.
“I feel like Merced needs more opportunities, more business, the city needs to grow,” Dola said. “I think people who live in Merced need to eat in Merced and not have to travel outside the city to go get good food.”
The couple said they have obtained permits to operate the food truck lot daily. While initial interest has come primarily from vendors looking to establish a daily presence, Dola said they are open to more flexible arrangements.
“We’ve received a lot of interest, we’ve been receiving a lot of applications, a lot of phone calls, people are very excited,” Dola said. “A lot of different kind of vendors (have been) reaching out to us, even willing to come from other cities to park their truck here,” she said.
Dola said the idea for the food truck space has been something that she and her husband have been discussing for the past couple of years. Having grown up in Merced and now raising two teenagers, Dola said she feels that kids and young people don’t have a lot of places to go and to sit down and enjoy affordable meals that are not fast food.
“We wanted to bring in a safe environment where people can come and sit down and hang out and have a good meal,” said Dola.
In 2016, the City of Merced amended the City’s zoning ordinance for the first time in more than 50 years. The revision now allows for food truck parking in designated areas with a conditional use permit within most industrial and commercial zones.
A zoning ordinance focus group comprised of a group of stakeholders, modeled the food truck parking concept after examples found in areas throughout the Central Valley such as Fresno and Modesto in 2016. The city’s first food truck parking area was approved by the City of Merced Planning Commission in 2018, for a food truck area located at 825 W. Main St.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM.