Meet Daniel Hoffelmeyer | Food Truck Owner & Brewery GM

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Hoffelmeyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, how do you think about risk?
I think risk taking is a must as a small business owner. I definitely analyze each risk before taking it, but if I passed on every one, I wouldn’t have my business today. I’ve taken risks my entire life. Changing careers, leaving secure jobs to pursue dreams, taking out loans. You just have to trust your confidence and believe in yourself.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We are a permanent food truck located at Cellar West Brewery in Lafayette, CO. We started as a hot dog cart operating 2 days a week. We then purchased a trailer in order to expand our menu and be able to provide more volume. We looked at building a kitchen inside the brewery, but the investment was about three times as much as buying a used trailer. We have been open for a little over 2 years now. We serve hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, salads, giant pretzels & beer cheese, and we spin our own ice cream. Our moto is “Elevating your hometown favorites”. We use higher quality ingredients to prepare classic sandwiches and hot dogs.

It took awhile to get to owning a food business. I started out as a cook for a sports bar in Missouri at the age of 21. I kept following promotions and raises until was managing front and back of house. I was in the industry for 4 years before I decided to go to culinary school to learn the “why” of everything food. Before culinary school, I was just shown how to make those specific recipes and the “why” was explained as “that’s just how you do it”. During and after culinary school, I was managing restaurants in Boulder, CO. Learning bar programs and product. Refining admin tasks and how to manage staff. While doing so, I got infatuated with beer and left the restaurant industry to join brewery production and actually learn how to brew beer instead of just teaching my staff how it’s done on paper.

That’s where I met the owner of Cellar West and he asked me to come help him manage his brewery and help with production. After dealing with local food trucks canceling on us often, we decided to start a hot dog cart in order to have food at the brewery when we needed it. After running the hot dog cart for 6 months, I brought in my friend, who we’ve been dreaming of a food truck together since we met. He had an investor who wanted to join our dream and we bout a trailer together and moved the hot dog business over to it, allowing us to expand our menu.

Honestly, I know I put in a lot of work and gained the experience necessary, but I feel as if these opportunities were only there for me due to being in the right place at the right time, as well as it being a lot of who you know.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Breweries – Cohesion, Milieu, Novel Strand, Fritz Family, Cellar West, Jessup Farmhouse

Distilleries – Woody Creek, Marble, Peach Street, Family Jones, Leopold’s

Restaurants – Avanti, Anchorage, Curry Corner, Cosmic Coyote Cook Shanty

Towns – Estes, Idaho Springs, Steamboat Springs, Manteau Springs, Crested Bute, Telluride, Denver, Salida

Nature – Mt. BlueSky, Mary’s Glacier, Gross Reservoir

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I couldn’t have gotten where I am with out my spouse Allyson Hoffelmeyer. She’s been by my side since the beginning and pushing me to follow my dreams. She’s been through all of the successes and failures of the decisions I’ve made.

I also want to shout out to my business partner Morgan Nelson. We met in Culinary school 10 years ago and he’s been putting in the hard hours with me and has been a huge supporter. I would also like to shout out to our other business partner Rob Hempen. He’s believed in us since the day he met us. He’s the main reason, we are where we are today as a business.

I would also like to shout out to Zach Nichols at Cellar West Brewery. He helped bring the idea to life and has been the best host to our small business. It’s a privilege to be a part of the Cellar West Community.

And last but certainly not least. I would like to thank my mother, Julie. She has always supported me in every life change and decision made. She’s the epitome of love and support.

Website: https://www.cosmic-coyote.com

Instagram: @cosmiccoyoteco