Reindeer Farm starts up their first food truck

BUTTE — Lauren Waite and her father Joshua Hardy are excited to enter the latest chapter of the family-run Williams Reindeer Farm, opening their first food truck.

“If you want to try something new, come on out,” Hardy said.

They embraced their year-round Christmas spirit when coming up with the name and overall theme, down to each menu item and the red and green painted exterior. A 3-week-old calf named Elsa can usually be found nearby since the family is bottle feeding her.

“I love how excited people get when they meet the babies. It’s pretty magical,” Hardy said. “I mean, they’re Santa’s reindeer.”

The Reindeer Farm’s new food truck is called Dasher Dawgs, LLC and it’s already piqued a lot of interest amongst locals, according to Hardy.

“We had a very warm reception our first week,” Hardy said.

Hardy said they’ve never offered food until now, save simple snacks like chips and soda. He said people have asked them if they’ll ever open a food truck for many years and they were finally gearing up to act on it right before COVID-19 broke out.

Now, the farm’s latest business venture is turning into a much needed source of extra income. With summer just around the corner and all their usual tourist-driven revenue off the table, finding ways to make up for the loss is becoming all the more important.

“We’ll have to get creative,” Waite said.

Hardy is expecting a drastically different summer. He said they’re anticipating a total loss of about one half to two-thirds of their normal amount of customers.

“I think every business is trying to figure out ‘how do we adjust?’ because we are so reliant on tourism in this state,” Hardy said.

With the current social distancing measures in place and a looming uncertainty of what future state guidelines will look like, Hardy said it isn’t feasible to hire their usual summer help. So, it’s just the family running the farm for now.

To ensure proper social distancing, all Reindeer Farm tours are by appointment only. Tour sizes are also limited.

Dasher Dawg customers do not need to make reservations, and that’s part of the pull, according to Hardy. He said it’s within walking distance of the Butte, so people can grab some food before or after their hike.

The “Dawg” in Dasher Dawgs comes from their original vision of selling hotdogs and reindeer sausage. There’s a variety of hot dog and reindeer dishes to choose from and no, the reindeer sausage doesn’t come from the farm.

“We buy it at the store like everyone else,” Hardy said with a laugh.

If the food truck takes off, Hardy said they may be able to work out a deal with a local sausage company down the road. He said it goes back to buying as many local products as they can.

Not everything from Dasher Dawgs comes on a bun. They also offer a spectrum of paninis in addition to milkshakes and sundaes. Right now, one of their most popular items is their fireweed ice cream.

“We want to buy local and support fellow Alaskans,” Hardy said. We decided to give it that touch of ‘welcome to the Valley.’”

Hardy said that thinking local is how the Reindeer Farm is going to make it through the summer. He said without the tourists and large group sizes available, they’re going to be relying heavily on customers from the community.

“We need their help they need ours,” Hardy said.

Waite said a lot of nearby neighbors have also stopped by in their 4-wheelers. She said there’s been a lot of people around the Valley who came to the food truck just to try something new. She said the immediate interest and positive feedback is very encouraging and she hopes the upward momentum keeps going.

Currently, Dasher Dawgs is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Waite said they had a great soft open May 2 and a lot of people showed up. She said they’re thinking of extending their hours beyond the weekend if the food truck becomes popular enough.

She noted people can check Facebook and Instagram for updates on schedules on menu items.

The Reindeer Farm is also gearing up for their annual Mother’s Day event, where all attending mothers are admitted for free. Aside from the normal reindeer tours, there will be pony and horse rides available. Since it’s on Sunday, their new food truck will also be serving up fresh meals throughout the day.

The Mother’s Day event is nearly booked up, but people can check availability by calling the farm or visiting their website.

For more information, call 907-745-4000 or visit reindeerfarm.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com