A mom-and-pop food truck is bringing new southern variety to Trenton. 

Big Sid's Southern Cuisine
Sidney Johnson aka “Big Sid” and his wife Geraldine Johnson are in front of their famous food truck.

Big Sid’s Southern Cuisine is a family-based business owned by head chef Mr. Sidney Johnson (Big Sid), who the business is named after. His wife, Mrs. Geraldine Johnson, is a big part of Big Sid’s Southern Cuisine as an acting business partner. From producing the name for the business, creating new recipes and even helping on the truck, Mrs. Johnson does it all. “My wife is the creative part and I’m the business part,” said Big Sid.  

With southern roots, both Johnson’s have  brought their  homegrown style to Trenton with  flavors reminiscent of the days growing up.   

“We started doing seafood. We have expanded out to a lot of other things,” said Big Sid. “Sometimes we have ribs, turkey, cornbread – we have cabbage, stuffed cabbage, and more. Our menu is so big we cannot do it all at one time.”

He continued, “So, when you come to my truck, you are not going to see the same thing every time. Something is going to change, but we are always going to have the fish, the salmon, the crab fries and wedges.”

A retired machinist, Sid decided to occupy his free time with cooking. There were times when he would barbeque around the house and people would pass by saying, “Oh that smells good…can I buy some of that?” After a while, he thought about pursuing the cooking business.

“I threw up a canopy tent, some folding tables, a fryer, a burner and a pot. I started with selling some crab boils, fish and French fries,” said Big Sid. “When we started with just the canopy tent, we used to have lines going around the corner, and now we have a spot where we work on Olden and Greenwood. We still have a lot of people coming.”

When asking Sid why he decided to buy a food truck instead of opening a store, he said, “I thought about it, but I said no. If I get a store, I would be stationed and stuck in one spot. So, the amount of people who see me or know about me is limited.”

He continued, “I will be able to do areas in Trenton, but I can go outside of this area. I do Business areas in Rosedale, Mount Laurel, Willingboro and I have even taken it down to Florida one time. I can get more recognition by being mobile. So, I’m able to see more people and go to more places.”

Big Sid’s Southern Cuisine is currently not open every day of the week. However, if you want to end your week off with a delicious southern meal, Big Sid’s Southern Cuisine is open from Friday through Sunday. To stay up to date check out Big Sid’s Facebook page and website.

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