American diner owners in Norwich are going back to their roots by launching a Norwich mobile van selling burgers.
Zaks, which was taken over by Ian Hacon and Chris Carr just before Covid struck in early 2020, is remembered fondly by many for its original mobile van. It used to park up in Farmer's Avenue in the 1970s when Zaks founder, musician and entrepreneur Harvey Platt served up burgers wrapped in foil.
And it, in a slightly different form, is now set to make a return - and this time there will be two vans.
'Lil Blue' has just been painted up and finished, built from scratch to look like an Airstream trailer, about four metres long. This will be joined by 'Big Red', which is not yet finished, and is being converted from a larger vehicle to resemble the original van which was demolished years ago.
However, Mr Hacon and Mr Carr confirmed the new project will be launched on Friday, April 16 at Zaks Waterside restaurant, on Barrack Street, serving up burgers when the outdoor area can hopefully reopen as Covid restrictions ease.
Mr Hacon said: "We are going back to our roots - Zaks first started with a mobile van, it was the original street food."
Mr Carr said: "We'll be selling foil-wrapped burgers just like back in the day, and are really excited to be opening it Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April 16 when, hopefully, Covid restrictions will be lifted to allow us to open outside.
"There will be table service for drinks and you'll be able to get a burger from the mobile van.
"Throughout Covid, we have had so much love from the people of Norwich and this helps drive us. On Mother's Day, 700 burgers went out from Poringland and Mousehold, it was fabulous."
To purchase the vans, Zaks received a £41,000 grant from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) recovery and resilience fund, which was 50pc of the overall costs. This also includes another project to create an outside dining area from a converted shipping container.
As the Mousehold restaurant has no outdoor space, they plan to launch a picnic scheme whereby customers are invited to buy a takeaway and bring a rug to sit out on the heath. The Poringland restaurant does have an outside beer garden and so will be offering a 'drive and stay' service.
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