When you’re known for one thing above all else — in Chickie’s & Pete’s case, Crabfries — every piece of mobile equipment you put on the road has to be built around that reputation. So when the popular Philadelphia-area restaurant and sports bar chain decided it was time to add a second mobile unit to their fleet, they didn’t go shopping around. They called the same team that built their first truck: Custom Mobile Food Equipment (CMFE).
A Second Truck, Driven by Demand
Chickie’s & Pete’s mobile program started years earlier, with a truck CMFE built for them that quickly became a fan favorite at big events around the region.
“The demand for it continues to increase year to year and we felt it was time to invest in a second unit,” said Chickie’s & Pete’s President & COO Roger Falloon.
It wasn’t a single event or a sudden pivot in strategy — it was steady, growing demand that made the decision an easy one.
Designing Around What Matters Most: Crabfries
Every build starts with a wish list, and for Chickie’s & Pete’s, the priorities were clear from day one: fryer capacity and storage — as much of both as the space would allow.
“Maximizing the amount of fryers and storage space we had to ensure we could put out the most Crabfries possible,” Falloon said.
That’s where CMFE’s design expertise came into play. According to Jay Celona — lead engineer of CMFE, the new truck is a 14-foot cutaway — a noticeably smaller footprint than the previous build, a 16-foot Ford E-450 step van. The original truck was designed for big events and came equipped with a flat grill, giving Chickie’s & Pete’s the ability to serve full sandwiches alongside their famous fries. The new truck has a more focused mission: a smaller footprint for smaller events — think private parties rather than stadium-sized crowds — with the menu narrowed into what the brand is known for above all else.
“They came to us and let us go with the smallest van and maximize the space as much as possible,” Celona said.
That combination — a compact platform paired with a single-minded focus on fry output — is exactly the kind of design challenge CMFE’s team thrives on. Every inch of the smaller cutaway had to work harder, and the result is a unit built to do one thing extremely well.
A Smooth Build, Start to Finish
Ask Falloon about the experience of working with CMFE, and the word that comes up again and again is “great.” Having now gone through the process twice, Chickie’s & Pete’s knew what to expect — and CMFE delivered again.
“The communication from David and Jason was always timely and they kept us informed about what was happening,” Falloon said, pointing to the kind of consistent, transparent updates that make a months-long build feel manageable rather than stressful.
From that first conversation to keys-in-hand, the whole process took around six months — a timeline that reflects the level of care and precision that goes into every CMFE build.
Two Trucks, Twice the Reach
With two trucks now in their fleet, Chickie’s & Pete’s has real flexibility. The original 16-foot step van remains their go-to for large-scale events, complete with the flat grill setup for sandwiches and fries alike. The new 14-foot cutaway is built for something different — nimble enough for smaller, more intimate gatherings, with a menu focused squarely on Crabfries. And for the biggest events on the calendar, both trucks can now roll out together, doubling their capacity and reach.
The new van’s first big outing included an appearance at an Eagles practice, bringing Chickie’s & Pete’s signature fries straight to their hometown fans.
Built to Deliver
At the end of the day, this build was about CMFE taking a brand’s most important asset — in this case, the Crabfries that made them famous — and building a mobile unit engineered to deliver as much of it as possible, as efficiently as possible. That’s the kind of partnership that keeps clients like Chickie’s & Pete’s coming back to Custom Mobile Food Equipment, build after build.
