Local food truck pioneer Zombie Dogz to park the truck for good

Zombie Dogz — a trailblazer of the Dayton-area food-truck scene and winner of the "Best Food Truck in Ohio" designation in Ohio Magazine's 2016 Best of Ohio Readers' Ballot — is getting out of the food truck business altogether.

"What we're about to fill you in on is kind of sad," Zombie Dogz owners David and Lee VanArtsdalen said in a Facebook post today, Friday Oct. 27. "You may have noticed that we don't make as many food truck posts lately. Well, there's a reason. I think after running long and strong for five years our little baby has come to an end."

RELATED: Zombie Dogz restaurant draws big crowd on opening day

"We don't make posts anymore because we aren't sure if half the time our trucks gonna make it! It's pulled 12,000 pounds and has several tens of thousands of miles under her belt, and unfortunately, she's coming to an end. She'll hold up for the rest of this month's scheduled events, but after this month, we're putting her to rest."

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"Thank you all for your support over the years! Our truck has brought us so many great memories and a LOT of customers who we now consider good friends, if not family. It has got us to where we are today and we'll never forget how we got this far."

The Facebook post lists the remaining food-truck events, culminating in an Oct. 31 event in Germantown that will be the Zombie Dogz food truck's final appearance.

RELATED: Zombie Dogz announces new hours, menu update (January 2017)

The retiring of the food truck essentially completes the transition of Zombie Dogz from food truck to bricks-and-mortar restaurant. Its restaurant opened on Brown Street near the University of Dayton in November 2016.

RELATED: A THIRD Dayton-area food truck will make the jump to bricks-and-mortar

Prior to opening the Brown Street restaurant, Zombie Dogz finished second in Mobile Cuisine’s 2016 Hot Dog Vendor of the Year poll.

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