Food on the Move: Chomps Street Eats offers fast, diverse menu options | Business | telegraphherald.com

Nov 03, 2024

STOCKTON, Ill. — When it comes to their family’s food trucks, two of the most important things for Jay and Cameron Upmann are quality food and speedy delivery.

The father-son duo are part of the team behind Stockton restaurant JJ & Freddie’s, and Cameron also owns and operates the associated food truck Chomps Street Eats with help from his dad, Jay.

They take pride not only in their tasty tacos, burgers and other entrees, but also how quickly they get the food into hungry customers’ hands.

“We did a wedding not too long ago where we served 181 people in 37 minutes,” Jay said. “That’s why we get a lot of requests at factories and businesses, because we’re known to get the food out very fast.”

Jay grew up in the restaurant business thanks to his own father, Joe Upmann, who owned multiple restaurants, including Joe’s Cafe in Apple River, Ill.

“I started doing dishes at 7 and cooking when I was 11,” he recalled.

After spending some years managing golf courses and supper clubs in the area, Jay felt an urge to open his own restaurant.

In 2014, he opened JJ & Freddie’s in Stockton. The name sprung from the first initials of his family members — both his brother and father were named Joe, his mother was Judy and he is Jay — and his father’s middle name, Frederick.

The restaurant developed a loyal following in the tri-states, but Jay said a food truck wasn’t on his radar until the COVID-19 pandemic intervened.

“When COVID hit, everything changed to convenient (food options) ... and outdoor events became bigger, because those events were still allowed during COVID,” he said.

JJ & Freddie’s launched its first food truck in 2020, a red-and-black trailer that Jay said is no longer in operation.

The next year, Jay and Cameron purchased another food truck and named it Chomps Street Eats.

“One of our close friends came up with the name,” Jay said. “He said, ‘What about calling it Chomps, with some big teeth wrapping around a burger?’”

Chomps Street Eats is owned and operated by Cameron, who studied business administration at University of Dubuque but found himself drawn back to the family’s passion for restaurants after graduating.

“I couldn’t sit at a desk,” Cameron said. “Getting into the food truck business was the best route to go, because you can take it anywhere.”

Cameron said Chomps Street Eats is known for its pulled pork tacos, which feature homemade corn and black bean salsa with bourbon sauce, along with chipotle chicken tacos and a signature Philly cheesesteak.

“Nothing’s out of a box,” said Jay. “It’s all hand-cut, and it’s all fresh.”

Chomps Street Eats regularly rotates its menu to keep customers coming back for more. Other popular favorites include loaded cheese fries, Bavarian pretzels and jumbo smoked turkey legs that weigh in at two pounds apiece.

“Once someone starts carrying one of those around, the conversation starts of ‘Where did you get that?’ and then (customers) are lining up for them,” Jay said of the turkey legs. “It’s all about the people for me, and we enjoy hearing their comments.”

Jay also operates a second JJ & Freddie’s food truck, which focuses on woodfired pizzas, and he is working on remodeling a former fire truck to serve as a third food truck for the restaurant.

“My goal is to have a fleet and have people run them,” he said.

Chomps Street Eats can frequently be found at local events like Galena’s Holidaze Festival and the annual Fall Into Stockton celebration.

Cameron also regularly brings the truck to UD’s campus or sets up shop at a Jo Daviess County school for the staff and students there. Additionally, both the JJ & Freddie’s truck and Chomps Street Eats do steady catering business for weddings and other large parties.

“In Jo Daviess County, there’s so many wedding venues and so much Chicago traffic that the catering is really taking off,” Jay said. “We just did a wedding of 250 people.”

As winter approaches, Jay aims to add some cold-weather favorite dishes to the menu for Chomps Street Eats, which operates year-round.

“We’re really known for our homemade soups (at JJ & Freddie’s), and we’d love to do those soups at the food truck and sell them by the quart or the bowl,” he said.

Owners: Jay and Cameron Upmann

Products: Sandwiches, burgers, tacos, fries, chicken tenders, cheese curds, pizza and other specialty items like turkey legs

Online: jjandfreddies.com or JJ & Freddie’s on Facebook

Contact: Jay at 815-238-1129 for JJ & Freddie’s as well as catering, food truck events, frozen pizzas and more. Contact Cameron at 815-499-7152 for Chomps Street Eats.

The Telegraph Herald’s monthly Food on the Move series highlights food trucks based in the tri-state area.

If you have a suggestion for a food truck for us to feature, send an email to [email protected].