PE's Court owner, Alexis Morales-Williams worked tirelessly to get the food truck park off the ground and running in Tyler.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky on Saturday, making it the perfect weather for the grand opening of a new food truck park, PE’s Court.

“I think it is necessary for families and the community to come together, come out and enjoy this,” local resident Carly Miles said. “It’s such a nice day outside and you have so many great options for something to eat.”

With picnic tables set up on the lot, the community had an opportunity to seek not only to support local businesses but to have homemade food and a family atmosphere.

“I think this is awesome,” said Terri Torres, another local resident enjoying the opening Saturday. “The community very much needed this.”

Between the boom in population growth and the rise of food trucks hitting the streets, the demand for a food truck park has been high. PE’s Court Owner Alexis Morales-Williams has been dedicated to opening the park to serve the community.

“This took a lot of prayer and a lot of faith and a lot of determination to go through the process,” Morales-Williams said. “Nothing just happens overnight.”

She started her journey by getting with the city’s planning and zoning department to figure out the logistics of what was needed and get paperwork started, then pitched her idea to a roundtable discussion all before approval from the city council.

“It took approximately three months before the city council gave me the green light,” Morales-Williams said. “Then the health department had to come out and then the fire marshal to make sure everything was OK.”

Morales-Williams had a soft opening in December with just four trucks. After seeing the success, she was approved for up to eight trucks.

“We want to have something for everybody,” she said. “We want people to come out here and enjoy themselves. We want the food truck owners to feel supported and prosperous here.”

The grand opening hosted six food trucks: The Spud Station, Mr. Taco, Titi’s Hot Dogs, Jenn Jenn’s Peace of Cakes, J. Bud’s BBQ & Catering Co., and Heaven’s Rita.

“There are so many great food trucks out there, not just the ones here today,” said Jennifer Johnson, owner of Jenn Jenn’s Peace of Cake. “Tyler has so many of these to offer… just top-notch food. So many … mobile choices!”

For Charles Burns, owner of Heaven’s Rita, there is nothing like food truck owners supporting each other.

“I’d love to see the small businesses come together to support our local owners of this property,” Burns said. “Tyler has really been behind us, supporting the food trucks, small businesses. We’ve had a good turnout so far today.”

“We needed something like this,” Johnson added. “I think what Alexis has done is amazing. She really made it all come together.”

PE’s Court is located at 706 W. Front Street in Tyler. To find out more how you can set up at the food truck park, reach out to Morales-Williams by phone 903-426-1206 or email lexmm76@gmail.com.

PE’s Court is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.