Randy Judkins stands behind the counter at Zack’s Place in Waldoboro. The restaurant, which opened June 1, is an extension of Judkins’ Thomaston food truck, The Zack Shack, where he serves freshly prepared comfort food, with offering from tacos and fajitas to burgers and seafood. (Molly Rains photo)
A food truck fixture from Thomaston has found a brick-and-mortar home in Waldoboro.
Randy Judkins, owner of The Zack Shack food truck, hopes his new Zack’s Place restaurant expansion will serve as a local-friendly gathering spot on the Route 1 corridor.
“Our plan is to have a little bit lower price point and to be supported by locals, which we are,” he said during a short break from prep work at the 1587 Atlantic Highway location on the morning of Friday, June 13.
On the Zack’s Place menu are familiar favorites from burgers and Caesar salads to tacos and fajitas. The menu is the same as the store’s Thomaston location, but some things will change in Waldoboro, Judkins said. With a brick-and-mortar location, diners can now choose to eat in or take out.
Additionally, while the food truck must close in the coldest months of winter, Judkins said he plans to be open year-round at his Waldoboro location. The food truck will remain open in Thomaston on their usual schedule, he said.
The Zack Shack is open every day of the week except Tuesdays. Except for the French fries and shrimp, all the food Judkins serves is prepared fresh, he said. This translates into hours of prep work each day to ready sauces, slaws, burgers, and more.
Yet food service is a relatively new world for Judkins, who worked the majority of his life in a very different world. Until opening his first food truck 11 years ago, Judkins built his career working in oil fields, he said. He would travel to far-flung sites to work for two weeks at a time, then travel home for two weeks off.
During his time off, Judkins built an interest in horse racing, a sport that runs in his family, he said. He kept a few horses as a hobby, and upon his retirement, wanted to continue feeding his interest in the sport. This, combined with his long-held but never explored interest in food service, inspired Judkins to start his food truck.
“It was different, but I always wanted to kind of do (food service) anyway,” Judkins said.
Judkins hoped that by opening The Zack Shack, he could bring the food truck to horse races, indulging his interest while also creating an opportunity for his children to work in a family business.
“I retired, and I thought, ‘Well, hey, if I have a food truck, it’ll give my kids a place to work, and I could be at the fair where the horses race,’” Judkins said.
While he did not end up enjoying the coordination and paperwork Judkins said is required to serve food at fairs and races, the food truck concept was a hit, and he soon found a home for the business in Thomaston.
Judkins has four children. The Zack Shack and Zack’s Place are named after his son, Zack Judkins. As to how he chose which child to name the truck after, he joked, “The Emily shack or the Sarah Shack just didn’t seem to go so good.”
Sarah Judkins currently runs the Thomaston food truck location, while Emily Judkins runs family-owned hair salon The Cutting Edge in Camden, Randy Judkins said.
As for Zack Judkins, he followed in his father’s footsteps and now works in oil, but Randy Judkins said Zack’s Place will be here for his son should he tire of the demanding oil field work and schedule.
The Judkins children were all student athletes at Medomak Valley High School, and Randy Judkins retains his MVHS pride. The walls of Zack’s Place are hung with dozens of photographs of MVHS athletes. The photos came from parents, who submitted them online, Judkins said. He hopes the decor will show patrons his commitment to serving locals and being part of the Waldoboro community.
Since opening June 1, Judkins said he’s been pleasantly surprised by how many regulars from his Thomaston location have made the drive down the coast to dine in at the new restaurant.
New faces have stopped in, too, and the restaurant has been so busy thus far that Judkins held back the radio ads he had planned to run, not wanting to overwhelm his new staff. He is optimistic for his business’s future in Waldoboro, he said, and glad to be serving a wider swath of the Midcoast.
Zack’s Place is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. For more information, call Zack’s Place at 790-4687, stop in at 1587 Atlantic Highway, or find Zack’s Place on Facebook.
Zack’s Place, a new takeout restaurant in Waldoboro at the corner of Jefferson Street and Route 1. Owner Randy Judkins hopes the brick-and-mortar shop will expand the clientele of his existing Thomaston food truck, the Zack Shack, and be an asset for locals. (Molly Rains photo)
