Beverage truck sets up shop at The Garden Plot

For just over a month, entrepreneur Eric Danish has been serving up hot and cold beverages from his “Caffeine Machine VA” food truck at The Garden Plot, a garden center along Richmond Highway.

Danish, a Centreville resident who’s been in the coffee sales business for 25 years, said he connected this past spring with Garden Plot general manager James Stubbs in an online Northern Virginia Food Truck group. Stubbs had posted there about his interest in hosting a permanent food truck or mobile café at the garden center, including for collaboration on future events. 

Up until that time, Danish had primarily taken his full-service coffee and beverage trailer to events in various locations in the Manassas area, so when offered the opportunity for a permanent location, he was “down with that,” he said.

Credit: Caffeine Machine VA/Facebook

Caffeine Machine VA’s drink menu includes cool summer drinks and traditional hot caffeinated beverages. According to Danish, the lavender lemonade and cold brew are customer favorites, as well as frappes and iced French vanilla shaker expresso.

When the weather cooperates, customers can sit outside at tables and chairs set up by Stubbs in a “garden café” on the side of the building facing the Bestway supermarket. Summer storms, heat and poor air quality have been the biggest challenge to the budding new business location, admitted Danish, who posts announcements on social media if the truck needs to shut down operations prematurely.

On the flip side, Danish has been meeting “a lot of repeat customers,” he said. Once he replaces the noisy generator powering his equipment, he plans to open earlier in the morning to attract commuters.

Caffeine Machine VA currently is open for business at The Garden Plot, Wednesdays through Sundays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Garden Plot is located at 8453 Richmond Highway.