ABOVE: Cheezers General Manager Zach Zeman, left, and Owner Brett Ekho have formed this new food truck venture here in Fairmont. Ekho said the idea came from his kids, whom he wants to set positive examples for.

FAIRMONT – While not necessarily what you think of when you think food truck, Cheezers is looking to provide ‘gouda’ options in Fairmont and beyond.

Owner Brett Ekho said the idea to start a food truck came from his kids.

“My daughter, she’s very ambitious,” Ekho said. “She wants to be many things when she grows up. One of those things is she wanted to have an ice cream truck and drive an ice cream truck around. I’m not very passionate about ice cream, but I’ve always been passionate about cheese.”

Through this venture, Ekho said he wants to set an example for his kids.

“Showing that they can start or do anything they set their minds to,” he said.

The idea first came to Ekho a year or two ago, though a realistic plan didn’t start to fall into place until November 2025.

“I just found myself having a lot more free time to be able to do something like this,” he said. “Things aligned where it was a possibility to do this, and I just took the leap.”

Ekho and General Manager Zach Zeman are very aware cheese isn’t a common base for a food truck, but that’s part of what they’re going for.

“It’s a very unique food truck,” Zeman said. “You won’t really see food trucks with this kind of style of food anywhere around here.”

“It’s most what aligns with me personally,” Ekho said. “I’m able to produce the best food for people, because it’s close to home.”

Once the ball got rolling, Ekho said he got extremely lucky when a food truck that was already perfectly suited to his taste came on the market.

“The previous owner happened to sell panini press sandwiches and grilled cheese,” he said. “It worked out perfectly. It’s really crazy how that was able to align.”

The Cheezers menu is all cheese-based, including their signature grilled cheese burger, where a burger is cooked and placed between two grilled cheese sandwiches containing Cheddar, Swiss, Gouda and Muenster.

With all the effort that went into it, and looking to make a good first impression, Ekho said their first showing, on May 1, went better than they had expected.

“I’ve been here my whole life,” he said. “I’ve made connections and friends with people the whole time of me living here. You could tell that the community came together and really showed me and my food truck support, because we saw so many familiar faces.”

Now with a few weeks under their belt, Ekho said they are off to a great start to the season but have had their share of growing pains.

“I think it’s gonna go well,” he said. “There definitely has been a lot of challenges in being mobile that neither one of us seen coming. You really gotta strap everything down. If it can move, it will move.”

Right now, they plan to be open four to five days a week. While they mainly plan to set up shop around Fairmont, they’re also looking to drive around and serve elsewhere from time to time. As the season goes on, they’re looking forward to getting better at working out any kinks in the operation.

“It’s really just getting into the cycle of things,” Ekho said. “We’re making minor improvements that make the business flow better.”

“Every time we go out, we find a new thing that we can do better,” Zeman said. “It’s just getting through the season, and keep getting better and better. The more we do it, the better we’ll get.”

For more information, visit facebook.com/CheezersFoodTruck/.