The What Would Cheesus Do food truck, stolen Sunday night from a warehouse near West 53rd Place and Bannock Street, has been found, but owner Genevieve Hardin says it will take a lot to save her “divine” grilled cheese sandwich business.
Hardin on Monday afternoon posted an urgent call on social media to friends and fans of the grilled cheese sandwich stand on wheels, noting that she feared it had been stolen by someone who intended to sell it for parts. She attached a security video of the trailer being towed by what she said “looks to be a scrap truck.”
Her fears were confirmed Tuesday morning, when the turquoise trailer, known as WWCD, was found gutted.
WWCD was supposed to be serving gourmet sandwiches, such as the “Sweet Baby Cheesus,” made from cheddar, gouda and American cheese, and “Go Fig Yourself,” a heavenly dish made from brie, green apples, fig jam and caramelized onions, on Tuesday at Civic Center Eats in Civic Center park..
“We will have to start over,” she posted on Facebook. “We will be better than ever because of this. We will not give up.”
Hardin told CBS4 that she purchased the truck in February after working for 12 years in the brick-and-mortar restaurant business. She also was worried that the truck’s tongue-in-cheek name might have led to the theft. In April, she said, a YouTube video was posted blasting WWCD for being anti-Christian. That post led to phone calls and emails warning that she would spend eternity in hell.
The poster followed up on CBS4’s reporting with a 21-minute video calling the station’s reporting a “hit piece,” noting that the food truck’s name was blasphemous, that she had nothing to do with the theft, and saying that she was using the social media channel to exercise her right to free speech.
Hardin’s family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help her rebuild the food truck. “With Cheesus being out of commission for a while ’til it can be ‘resurrected’ any help all of us can give will be greatly appreciated.”
Video of food truck trailer being stolen:
