When two legacy family businesses team up, something special happens — and that’s exactly what’s playing out as Custom Mobile Food Equipment (CMFE) puts the finishing touches on a custom mobile kitchen for Manco & Manco Pizza, the iconic Ocean City, NJ boardwalk pizzeria, ahead of its debut at the MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Two Legacy Brands, One Shared Vision
For CMFE, a third-generation, family-owned business, partnering with Manco & Manco felt like a natural fit from the start.
“Anytime we can partner with another legacy brand or a family, generational restaurant, it’s really unique,” said CMFE Owner David Kyle. “We’ve both been in business for so long. It says something about both our brands, and it’s a really neat experience to be a part of something like that.”
The relationship actually goes back further than most people would guess. Manco & Manco first approached CMFE about two to three years ago to kick off an initial project, which was put on hold before the pizzeria came back to finish what they’d started. By then, the groundwork — including early design concepts — was already in place, and Manco & Manco knew CMFE was the team capable of bringing their vision to life.
What made CMFE the right partner? According to Kyle, it came down to Manco & Manco needing a custom-built unit that could hold their specific style of pizza ovens and replicate the exact processes used in their storefronts — right down to their signature sauces and prep systems. That level of customization required a builder who could develop an entirely new system from the ground up and make it work seamlessly within Manco & Manco’s established flow.
Designing a Mobile Kitchen That Feels Like the Boardwalk
One of the biggest priorities for the project was making sure the mobile unit felt authentic to the Manco & Manco experience customers already know and love.
To get there, CMFE’s engineering team studied the layout and workflow of the original Ocean City boardwalk location and mirrored it inside the truck itself. “It will definitely replicate and mimic what’s down in Ocean City,” Kyle explained. “You’ll never know the difference between the two.”
That commitment to authenticity extends beyond aesthetics. Because much of what Manco & Manco uses in its kitchens is proprietary to the brand, CMFE’s ability to adapt specialized, restaurant-exclusive processes into a mobile-friendly format is part of what sets the company apart. It’s a capability not every mobile equipment builder can offer.
The Engineering Challenge: Fitting a Storefront Into a Truck
Bringing a boardwalk pizzeria’s full operation into a mobile unit is no small engineering feat — and that challenge fell to CMFE’s lead engineer, Jay Celona.
The biggest hurdle wasn’t just shrinking a restaurant’s footprint down to fit inside a truck — it was doing so while keeping the customer experience, and the crew’s workflow, intact. Celona worked directly with Manco & Manco’s owner along with several members of the production and operations team to make sure the final design matched how the restaurant actually runs day to day.
Then came the technical curveball. Pizza ovens in a traditional storefront run off a constant gas main — a non-issue on land. But powering that same oven with bottled propane inside a mobile unit is a different story entirely, especially when the oven in question draws roughly a quarter-million BTUs and weighs close to 3,000 pounds. To make it work, CMFE had to significantly increase the truck’s gas flow capacity and reinforce the unit’s structure to safely support the added weight — all without compromising performance.
It’s exactly the kind of custom problem-solving CMFE has built its reputation on. As Celona put it, being able to make quick adjustments — swapping ovens, grills, or fryers on the fly as a client’s needs evolve mid-build — is one of the things the company prides itself on most.
Center Stage at the All-Star Game
After years of planning, design revisions, and engineering solutions, the payoff is about to arrive in a big way: the finished mobile unit will be parked right outside Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia during the MLB All-Star Game, serving fans as one of the exclusive food operations working the event.
“That’s pretty neat to see — in front of all those people, in that area,” Kyle said.
For two family businesses with deep roots and decades of history behind them, the All-Star Game stage is a fitting spotlight — and a preview of what’s next for the Manco & Manco brand beyond the boardwalk.
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