Woodbridge cops are behind the wheel of this new empanada food truck inside a school bus

After a long night enforcing the law, responding to emergencies and patrolling Woodbridge last week, township officers Perry Penna and George Beato didn’t head in for some shut-eye.

When their shifts ended at 4 a.m., they went to the kitchen.

“We got off work and then folded empanadas until 7 a.m.,” said Penna. “We took a nap, then got ready for the road.”

It wasn’t an unusual day for the officers, who became best friends when Beato joined the force three years ago. That’s because they’re now the owners of Bussin’ Empanadas, a food truck inside a converted yellow school bus that launched in June.

“It’s tough, but it’s fun,” Penna continued. “Right now we’re just doing events so we can work around our schedules.”

Bussin’ Empanadas can often be found at the Woodbridge Mayor’s Summer Concert Series, which runs at 7:30 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and Sundays at various township locations. They also will be at the Hispanic Heritage Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17, at town hall.

Other events and locations Bussin’ Empanadas will be at can be found on Instagram. Down the road, the owners hope to have a permanent location.

But for now, they’re having a blast making “stuffed” chicken and beef empanadas, as well as corn, bean and cheese or shrimp empanadas for special events.

“You pay $4 to $5 for other empanadas and they’re small and you have to buy four to feel full,” Penna said. “With ours, which are also $4, you buy two and you’re full. They’re absolutely stuffed.”

The empanadas are available with a homemade hot sauce; the “Bussin’ green sauce,” which is a mild, creamy sauce made with cilantro and jalapenos; and a non-spicy traditional empanada sauce made with a blend of mayonnaise, ketchup and spices.

Beato, who was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the U.S. when he was 12, grew up watching his parents cook.

“Cooking takes me away from everything else – when I’m in the kitchen, I’m focused and I really get going,” he said. “I freestyle everything, but now we have our empanada recipe written down, of course.”

Penna is also a foodie, but prior to Bussin’ Empanadas, he was more on the receiving end of the kitchen. He used to order Uber Eats nearly every day – but now, he sometimes makes his own quesadillas.

“I introduced Perry to a lot of spices he didn’t know existed,” Beato said, laughing. “But now, Perry cooks just as well, if not better, than I do. He made the empanadas for our last two events, and they were on-point.”

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Beato’s empanadas were what launched Bussin’ Empanadas. He made them for Penna’s Cinco de Mayo party last year. Once the party ended – and over a few beers – they decided to start their own food truck.

“I told Perry I’ve always wanted to open a food truck and he said, ‘Are you serious? Me, too,’" Beato said. "The next day, Perry was asking me, ‘What do you think about this or that,’ and I realized he was actually serious.

"So I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ "

However, finding a reasonably-priced food truck wasn’t so simple. In December, they stumbled upon a school bus for sale on Facebook and bought it – inspiring their entire name and concept.

“We bought the truck and we didn’t have a name – we weren’t even formed as a company yet,” said Beato. “ ... We were brainstorming names and we figured it’s a younger crowd, ‘bussin’ means food that’s really good, and it’s also a bus, so let’s go with that.”

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The truck was far from ready when Bussin’ Empanadas headed to its first event in June – it didn’t have any letters or signage on it yet – but Penna didn’t want to miss the Iselin Volunteer Fire Company’s 100th anniversary celebration, as he volunteered with the company for a dozenyears.

Needless to say, the empanadas were a hit.

“People loved it," Penna said. "... That’s when we knew we were onto something.”

Go: instagram.com/bussinempanadas/

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA Today Network New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Contact: JIntersimone@Gannett.com or @JIntersimone.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Woodbridge NJ: Bussin' Empanadas food truck is run by police officers