Shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the Top That food trailer, emblazoned on the back with a Bible verse from the Book of Proverbs, rolled into the Menards parking lot on the south end of Kewanee.

There were already 25 pre-orders to prepare even before the window opened for business to the public that had already started to gather around the trailer in anticipation.

Inside that trailer, Bob and Jenni Davis, along with their son, Ian, worked diligently to pull together an order for Galva teachers. It wasn’t the first time that Galva teachers had ordered from the food trailer, but Paula Patty, the first in line that day, had driven into town to pick it up. She herself hadn’t yet had a chance to try out the Davis’ food selection, but her daughter, a teacher of Galva, asked her to make the trip to Kewanee to pick up lunch for the faculty.

Jenni and Bob Davis are from Toulon and Jenni truly believes the entire food trailer enterprise, from the name to the idea for the unique menu, was divinely ordained.

“We’ve said all along, a lot of this is a God thing,” she said. “It came from directions and ideas.”

It’s the reason why the verse from Proverbs is inscribed on the rear of the trailer. It reads:
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plans.”

Jenni and her husband, Bob, began this business venture last year.

“We started building the trailer last June,” she said. “We started business in October of last year.”

After Bob found himself out of work after 19 years, Jenni said they weren’t sure what exactly to do, but they were determined to work for themselves. The idea for the food trailer came from “lots of signs” that propelled them forward, including a chance meeting with someone who owned a food truck. Jenni said a long phone conversation with the food truck owner clinched the deal.

“We asked ourselves what could we do that wouldn’t cost a lot but you could offer multiple things?” she said.

That question led them to decide on their food choices and the name came to her while they were traveling one day and she told her husband her idea.

“I said, ‘I came up with the name,’” said Jenni.

Their business offers a wide variety of items to top three main dishes, macaroni, baked potatoes and tortilla chips. The business logo is a top hat heaping with macaroni and cheese. With the final piece of the puzzle solved, Top That was in business.

The couple first opened their window in their Toulon driveway, and that opening came with an outpouring of support from their church and the Toulon community.

“Toulon has been awesome,” said Jenni.

The first day went about as well as you would expect, she said. It wasn’t good, but the patience from her community allowed the family to work out service issues and really dial it in, she said.

Since their driveway opening, the family has taken their trailer on the road to towns such as Galva, Wyoming, Bradford, events in Lacon and Washington and of course, Kewanee, where their food offerings have been embraced.

Their unique menu includes specialty toppings of Bacon Cheeseburger, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Chili-N-Cheese, Totally Taco, and a customer favorite, the Hog Wild, which includes toppings of BBQ pulled pork, cheese sauce, bacon bits, French-fried onions, sour cream and a BBQ sauce drizzle. Any of those toppings can be placed on macaroni, nachos or a baked potato.

That menu, with prices ranging from $4 for a hot dog to $12 for specialty toppings, has drawn in customers and the family is starting to get calls requesting their trailer, especially in communities with few restaurant options. Jenni said it’s a “pretty great problem to have.”

The trailers next stop is scheduled for the Dollar Tree/Family Dollar parking lot in Wyoming on Friday, March 1 from 11am to 1pm The hope is that by this summer, a regular schedule of towns and locations can be set and people will be able to expect the food trailer in their town on certain days of the week.

Currently, the trailer’s weekly schedule is put out over social media, Facebook, Instagram and X, on Sundays. The business also advertises corporate and private events. Jenni is hard at work on a catering menu and hopes to have that buttoned up in a week or so. In the meantime, the weird weather patterns make it difficult to schedule dates.

“It’s been crazy,” said Jenni. “It has taken off and people seem to love it and we have some amazing friends who want us to succeed.”

More information about the business can be found on the Top That Facebook page, Instagram and X. The email is info@top-that.com and the phone number is (309) 397-7671.