Tina Tonn and her wife, Katherine, also known as The Gouda Girls, live up to their tagline “curbside comfort.” From the fun, dairy-themed graphics on their food truck to their blissful, stringy, creamy grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese, all served with a warm “thank you” and a smile, they’ve become favorites at area events.
The food truck idea was born when Katherine had to change careers due to a health issue. She and Tina, who had been a truck driver prior to starting The Gouda Girls, tossed around ideas. “Although I was a Girl Scout leader, a Sunday school teacher and school mom, I always wanted to be a ‘carnie girl’ and thought about getting a nice cart and selling fruit and frozen yogurt. And Tina was like, ‘No, that won’t sell,’” Katherine said with a laugh.
They had always loved people and crowds, and, inspired by “The Great Food Truck Race” on the Food Network, they looked into a food truck business. In 2011, Tina reached out to the owners of Tigerbite, a food truck that offered Asian style tacos, and they pointed her in the right direction to get started. That October, Tina and Katherine purchased a food truck on eBay and drove it home from Virginia.
The truck, named Ellie, today has about 75,000 miles as the Tonns travel throughout Milwaukee and beyond, serving up their gooey goodness. Neither Katherine nor Tina has a culinary background, but they put their “Gouda twist” on family recipes. Katherine was inspired by her grandmother’s cooking. Tina’s mother is from Copenhagen, Denmark, so she was raised with a unique palate.
Customers can enjoy a classic grilled cheese with white bread and American cheese, or go extreme cheesy with The Triple—Gouda, Colby Jack and Havarti. The Roma features roasted Roma tomatoes in Parmesan butter and seasonings, with mozzarella and Asiago cheese on Italian bread. Do you prefer a scoop of mac and cheese on your grilled cheese sandwich? They do that, too.
The Gouda Girls have won or placed in many food contests, including the Grilled Cheese Championship held in Dodgeville, Wis.; the World Food Championship; and Baconfest MKE. They use local ingredients including Wisconsin cheese, milk and butter, and bread from Canfora Bakery.
In 2016, The Gouda Girls were approached by Blue Ribbon Management to be part of a new food court in Eleven25 (1125 N. Ninth St.), an apartment building in part of the former Pabst Brewery. Now in the midst of a five-year lease, they’re enjoying mingling with morning customers including apartment tenants, nearby construction workers and a gentleman who was an electrician at Pabst. The Eleven25 menu has the truck items, as well as fries, fried cheese curds and more versions of their mac and cheese.
The Gouda Girls have several catering events on the calendar, and they’ll return as one of the vendors for Chill on the Hill, the popular music concert series at Humboldt Park. They’ll also be at the Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois; events at the Milwaukee County Zoo; the July 4 celebration at Lake Park; and Food Truck Friday at Morgan Park. They also go to events in smaller Wisconsin towns that usually don’t have food trucks.
Although they’re busy almost every calendar day from May through October, they concur they’ve never actually ‘worked’ a day because they love what they do. “Milwaukee is our family. We’ve never felt so supported and loved,” Katherine said.
For more information, visit goudagirls.com.
