Delaware restaurant, food truck owners to close separate businesses on May 3

Patricia Talorico, Delaware News Journal
Updated ·3 min read

An Ogletown restaurant owner and a food truck operator who serves breakfast sandwiches announced on social media that they are shutting down their separate businesses on Friday, May 3.

Calling it quits are Melissa Ferraro, who owns Sonora Restaurant and Bar in Chesmar Plaza, and Joe Thuet, operator of Joey T's Sausages & More, a breakfast food truck parked in the back lot of the Prices Corner Shopping Center.

Ferraro's restaurant, which serves "homey gourmet comfort food," was first in Old New Castle and then moved in May 2021 to the former site of the flagship Two Stones Pub in Chesmar Plaza in Ogletown.

Melissa Ferraro chef and co-owner of Outlandish Food Truck serves customers in front of the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts.
Melissa Ferraro chef and co-owner of Outlandish Food Truck serves customers in front of the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts.

Ferraro also operates the Outlandish food truck, which she said will remain in operation. "We are booking constantly," she said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ferraro wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page: "If I were taking the easy route, I wouldn’t have opened a restaurant. You hear people say all the time that this business is hard. It is. But unless you’ve done it, put everything you have into it and absolutely killed yourself with worry over it, you don’t understand how hard."

Ferraro said during a phone call with Delaware Online/The News Journal on Wednesday evening that she wanted to send out "a little reminder to be kind to the people who [run restaurants.]" She said it seems some patrons have seemed less kind since the pandemic.

Ferraro thanked loyal regulars on Facebook and added, "There’s time to stop in and say hello before we close our doors on May 3. Come in one last time for a beer or a mocktail. Say hello to the staff and tip the band. Find our food truck that is still moving or call us to cater an event or teach a class."

Joe Thuet's food truck business, Joey T's, is opened Tuesday through Saturday on E. Newport Pike and specializes in breakfast sandwiches.
Joe Thuet's food truck business, Joey T's, is opened Tuesday through Saturday on E. Newport Pike and specializes in breakfast sandwiches.

Joe Thuet, a retired state police trooper who ran Joey T's food truck since 2021,  announced on Instagram he is closing his 3-year-old business on Friday, May 3.

Operating a breakfast food truck is a career path Thuet, who grew up near Prices Corner, never would have imagined after graduating from Delcastle Technical High School in 1987. At that time, all he wanted to do was join the Delaware State Police, which he did in 1989. After 30 years on the force, Thuet retired in December 2018, and turned his attention to his other passion, acting.

He had a speaking part in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2019 thriller "Glass," an appearance in the movie "Creed II" and TV gigs that have included the Tom Selleck cop drama "Blue Bloods."

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Thuet said he decided to open the food truck when the pandemic dried up acting roles in 2020.

Joey T's food truck was first parked in the lot of Fletcher Plumbing, Heating & AC near Newport and later moved to Prices Corner Shopping Center off Newport Gap Pike. It operates Tuesdays through Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Thuet said he plans to sell the truck as a turn-key operation and/or individually.

If you want to read more stories from Patricia Talorico, visit   delawareonline.com/staff/2646617001/patricia-talorico You can find her on Instagram, X and Facebook. Email  ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Sign up for her  Delaware Eats newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware restaurant, food truck owners to close separate businesses