Myakka City caterer brings the guilty food pleasures to fairs and festivals in Florida
Katie Green was the first in her family to earn a college degree, but after several years working as a claims specialist for an insurance company, she returned to her roots, the food concession and catering business.
Her father, and her grandfather before her had operated concessions at fairs, festivals and special events, serving pizza, corn dogs and other popular treats.
“I was making good money, but I wasn’t happy being inside all day,” said the University of South Florida finance major.
“My dad, who has been in the concessions business for 40 years, taught me more about business than college ever could. I used all my savings and decided to buy into the ‘family’ business, food concessions. My grandparents started this business, my father and mother followed suit. I am the third generation in this legacy of amazing fair food crafted with love,” she says on her web site.
For the past eight years, Katie and her husband, Brian Green, have been traveling the state, serving hand-tossed pizza, elephant ears, funnel cakes, strawberry shortcake, cotton candy, ice cream, fresh squeezed lemonade and more.
Among their stops along the way: the Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival, the Hendry County Fair, Sarasota County Fair, the Siesta Key Seafood Festival, the Parrish Christmas tree lighting, Reggae Rise Up in St. Petersburg, and this Friday, the Punta Gorda Seafood Festival.
“When we aren’t traveling, we love to cater corporate events. Last year we served 500 people at an employee appreciation picnic. Our smallest wedding was in Gulfport, Fla., at the Gulfport Casino for 125 people. Anything from a buffet style wedding reception to deep fried funnel cakes out at your son’s graduation party is in our wheelhouse,” Katie said.
Among the special events they have catered are weddings at Mixon Fruit Farms, and at Wandering Oaks, a wedding and event venue that opened in January on 20 acres at 11325 MJ Road.
Starting with just one food trailer, the Greens now have four and one food tent. When they aren’t traveling to fairs and festivals, it’s a good bet that the couple is working on maintenance of their equipment.
“We stay pretty busy all summer working with the trailers. When we aren’t driving we are constantly doing maintenance. We want to stand out. Our food is really good and we want to look good,” she said.
Brian Green remembers that one summer, their traveling company experienced 36 tire blowouts over a three-month period.
Carnival Eats, which is a Canadian television series, once featured two of Katie’s Concessions’ offerings: a Polish corn dog (made with Polish sausage) and deep-fried strawberry short cake.
Regular corn dogs are staples at Katie’s Concessions, made from fresh hot dogs dipped in the family’s secret batter.
For more information on Katie’s Concessions and Catering, visit katiesconcessions.com or call 813-528-1803.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Myakka City caterer brings the guilty food pleasures to fairs and festivals in Florida."
