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At the time back in 2015 Quiñones, who is from Garnerville, was working at Beckerle Lumber, Llanos at DaVinci's Restaurant in Chestnut Ridge. The pair had worked together the previous 12 years, on and off, at Lucianna's in West Haverstraw.
Quiñones knew a customer from Beckerle who owned a food truck. He inquired about it and found out it was for sale. He called up Llanos, who is from Haverstraw, and asked if she wanted to get a food truck.
"And she was like, 'sure,'" Quiñones laughed from inside the truck as customers trickled by to pick up food during the late afternoon, just ahead of the dinner rush.
The pair ended up buying the truck and from there 5 Senses Food Truck was born. It has since been a steady presence, Tuesday through Sunday, in the Knights of Columbus parking lot on W. Broad Street where they serve between 50 and 60 people for lunch each day.
After a soft opening in April 2015 Quiñones and Llanos kept their respective gigs and ran the truck Thursday through Sunday. Three months later they went all in and opened six days a week.
More recently the truck has been popping up elsewhere, like at the Garner Arts Festival and the Nyack Street Fair.
The menu isn't your average food truck fare with Puerto Rican dishes like chicharrones that sell out so quickly customers ask for two orders at a time.
Some of the more popular dishes include the MelieMel-grilled chicken, smoked mozzarella, bacon, avocado, and ranch dressing-and El Jibarito-steak, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, guacamole, and a special homemade spread served between two fried plantains.
Each day a daily special is announced via the 5 Senses Instagram page. The account has just under 2,000 followers and has served as the primary promotion medium for the business.
"We always thought we would do well. We didn't think it would pick up as fast as it did," Llanos said. "We're truly blessed."
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