A longtime Bristol food truck business is branching out into a brick-and-mortar restaurant – in Terryville.
Steve’s Top Dog, owned and operated by Steve Lavoie, has been a fixture in Bristol for 20 years, serving hot dogs, burgers, steak sandwiches and chicken.
He says his business took off in a big way during the pandemic lockdowns.
“A food truck’s the epitome of take-out so you didn’t really have to teach us anything,” he said. “I at least quadrupled my client base in that time alone.”
Then the town of Bristol changed its rules to insist that food trucks have a brick-and-mortar commissary facility, and Lavoie said that provided the motivation he needed to finally find a site to develop a restaurant, which had been a long-time dream.
He leased the former Lucky Cup restaurant at 18 Main St., in Terryville, and has done a four-month gut renovation of the 1,800-square-foot property, helped by his father Gil Lavoie, a former contractor.
“Me and my 80-year-old father built the restaurant with our own hands,” he said. “The day I walked into this place, I pictured what I built.”
He invested $250,000 in the renovation, and has hired 28 full- and part-time staff, including a head chef.
Lavoie says the food truck business will also continue as he gets the restaurant off the ground.
“A lot for me is about my flavors,” he said. “I’m still smoking meat, I’m training someone to smoke meat. I never plan on being an absentee boss, that’s not in the cards for me, but it’s good having other people that can hold up their end of the table.”
Steve’s Top Dog and Smokehouse has its grand opening July 14.
